’Canes football
Team’s talented freshmen are turning heads.
CORAL GABLES — Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory arrived in Coral Gables this summer as the top two tight end prospects in the nation.
Al Blades Jr. walked onto the Greentree Practice Field where his father once played with a glittering high school resume. Gurvan Hall, an early enrollee who was sidelined in the spring with a wrist injury, has returned with a vengeance.
Though they haven’t been practicing very long, a handful of the Hurricanes’ top freshmen have wasted little time in impressing their coaches. They are also making an impression on some of the veteran teammates they would challenge for playing time when Miami opens its season Sept. 2 against LSU.
None of this is unexpected, not when the Hurricanes signed their first top-10 recruiting class during coach Mark Richt’s brief tenure at his alma mater. But it’s been a pleasant development nonetheless, and with the Richt and his staff having already shown their willingness to play talented freshmen, every expectation is that young players will have an impact on this team.
Figuring out which ones they’ll be and how much they’ll play is part of the goal during the camp. Though none of the freshmen have moved atop the depth chart yet, things could change after the Hurricanes hold their first scrimmage this weekend.
“The first week, all the freshmen go with the third group. That way, there’s kind of no status or whatever. That way all of the recruiting stars fall right to the ground,” Hurricanes defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “Also we can limit some of the calls — make some things easier — so they can show
us they can play without having to do so much thinking, not make it so complicated. …
“We’ll scrimmage on Saturday, and after Saturday we’ll start to break up the depth chart. We’ll start to move some guys and maybe some of the young guys can go. But you can’t really make an assessment until you get to that scrimmage day, because it’s just different with a scrimmage. All of a sudden, guys start going crazy. And with our first game being in such an intense environment, it’s not just, ‘Can you play?’ But, ‘Can you play on that stage? At that level?’ That’s not a talent question, it’s really a [question] of poise, mental toughness and not thinking you know what to do. You have to know what to do in the opener.”
Jordan, Mallory, Blades and Hall aren’t the only freshmen who have earned praise through the first days of camp.
Defensive end Greg Rousseau, who emerged as a force working as a reserve during the spring, has continued playing well. So, too, have running backs Lorenzo Lingard and Cam Davis. Receivers Dee Wiggins, Marquez Ezzard and Mark Pope have made some nice catches, and quarterback Jarren Williams continues to build on his solid spring. Offensive lineman DJ Scaife could work his way into the rotation.
There is potential. There are also, their coaches remind them, lessons to learn. When classes begin, time management will be especially important. And properly taking care of their bodies as they adjust to the rigors of college football can sometimes be a struggle for young players.
Then there is adapting to the speed of the game and coming to the realization that while they may have been stars in high school, they’re starting all over on Greentree. That’s something offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said fullback Realus George experienced this week
“Realus has the physical tools, he’s big enough. Doesn’t get it here yet,” Brown said. “It’s about the mentality. In high school he was 40 pounds bigger than everybody else. These linebackers will knock you slap out, and I don’t think he realizes that yet. He got a little wake up call [Monday] and hopefully that’s the last time that’s going to happen. But it’s hard to play the fullback position. It’s a different spot, a different mentality. He has the physical tools, but he just has to get a lot stronger. He’s a big dude size wise, but strength is going to be definitely take some time to catch up to.”
Miami’s freshmen can take comfort is in looking at some of their sophomore teammates, who endured not only the rigors of camp, but went on to make big plays last fall during the Hurricanes’ first 10-win season in more than a decade.
Receivers Mike Harley and Jeff Thomas are now seasoned veterans. So are offensive linemen Navaughn Donaldson, running back DeeJay Dallas, cornerback Trajan Bandy and safety Amari Carter.
Their jobs now, they say, is helping Miami’s new crop of freshmen find their way, because the Hurricanes will need them at several positions, from kicker to tight end to the defensive line.
“It’s a process. I tell them, don’t beat yourself up,” Harley said of his advice for Miami’s freshmen receivers.