New coach making solid first impression
CORAL GABLES — During his time with the Miami Hurricanes, Demetrius Jackson has seemingly played for a revolving door of defensive line coaches.
There was Jethro Franklin. And Randy Melvin. Then Craig Kuligowski arrived with coach Mark Richt, and the hope was there would be some stability, especially considering Kuligowski’s reputation and his proven record when it came to developing defensive linemen.
Then, in a surprising move last month, Miami issued a brief statement announcing Kuligowski’s departure from the program.
Just days after National Signing Day, Kuligowski left Coral Gables to join Nick Saban’s staff in Alabama, and Richt was tasked with, for the first time since taking over at Miami in 2015, replacing one of his assistants. He decided on former Atlanta Falcons assistant Jess Simpson, a coach known for his extraordinary success in the Georgia high school ranks, where he led Buford High to seven state championships in 12 years. A former tight end at Auburn, Simpson also spent a year coaching the defensive line at Georgia State before joining the Falcons staff.
His credentials — and Richt’s faith in him — helped his new players approach his hire with an open mind. After a few days of working with Simpson, two of Miami’s veteran defensive linemen say their new coach is off to a solid start.
“He’s a very fundamentally sound guy. He seems like he’s slow to anger, and he didn’t come in rubbing anybody the wrong way,” said Jackson, a redshirt senior who is continuing to rehab after season-ending knee surgery last season. “He came in talking to us like young men and treating us like young men.
“I love his style so far. He’s very, like I said, into fundamentals and I can see over the past couple days he’s been here how he wants us to attack things. … He seems like a really good coach that knows his stuff, and we can’t wait to get the pads on and keep learning from him.”
Added rising junior Joe Jackson, who was among Miami’s leaders with 6.5 sacks last season: “He seems like a really good coach, coming from the Falcons. He has a lot to teach us, we have a lot to learn. We have to accept that and be openminded to what he has to offer us and try to become better players.”
When the Hurricanes start spring practice on March 20, Simpson will be working with a defensive line that’s changed drastically since the Hurricanes closed out their 10-3 season with a 34-24 loss in the Orange Bowl to Wisconsin.
The Hurricanes graduated veteran leaders Chad Thomas and Trent Harris. Juniors RJ McIntosh and Kendrick Norton declared for the NFL draft. And promising freshman DJ Johnson transferred, as did redshirt sophomore Ryan Fines.
But Richt said Wednesday during an appearance at the YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s annual Inspiration Breakfast that he’s confident Simpson can rise to the challenge of rebuilding Miami’s defensive line and helping the unit compete as the Hurricanes look to make another appearance in the ACC Championship Game.
“Everything Jess has done has been excellent. That’s one of my coach’s mission statements. The very first statement I have is to basically do your job with excellence and everything he’s touched has been excellent. He’s been a winner at every level, assistant coach, head coach in high school. As a head coach he won 7 out of 12 state championships in dominating fashion,” Richt said. “[He’s] always been a strong offensive, defensive line … He’s built his teams around strong offensive and defensive lines. There are some guys in the profession that you know, it doesn’t matter what level of ball they coach, they’re going to kick butt and he’s one of those guys. He’s the right kind of coach, he’s the right kind of person. … I know he already has and will continue to be a really good fit for this staff and for me personally in how I like to do things.” he’ll be cleared to be a full participant once the Hurricanes open training camp this summer.
On Wednesday, Richt said receiver Ahmmon Richards — who dealt with knee and hamstring injuries last fall — is expected to be at 100 percent by the time the Hurricanes open camp in the summer.
“We hope for his sake, and for our sake, that he is healthy,” Richt said. “If he just plays normal for him, he’ll be one of the best receivers in America. He’s that talented. … He was battling injuries all year last year, even when he was in there, he never seemed to be 100 percent. He gave us all he could. … He’s going to be 100 percent healthy and ready to go by the time the fall rolls around and we hope [for] and expect big things from him.”
ccabrera@sun-sentinel .com, Twitter @ChristyChirinos