Richt defends QB decisions, play calling
CORAL GABLES With the Miami Hurricanes reeling after two straight losses and having lost six of their last eight games against Power-5 opponents, Mark Richt finds himself in a somewhat uncomfortable position for the first time since he took over as coach a little less than three years ago.
His shuffling of quarterbacks Malik Rosier and N’Kosi Perry has prompted questions about how he has managed the position. Miami’s lackluster offensive performances against Virginia and Boston College also have many outside the program wondering about Richt’s playcalling.
And on social media, a growing number of angry fans say they’ve given up on the season and won’t be at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday evening when Miami (5-3, 2-2 ACC) hosts Duke in another critical Coastal Division game.
On Monday, Richt acknowledged there are problems his team is trying to address — but he also defended some of the decisions he’s made, including the decision to start Rosier over Perry this week against the Blue Devils (5-3, 1-3).
“I’ve decided he’s the starter, and that’s what I’ve decided,” Richt responded tersely when asked about his decision on WQAM 560’s Joe Rose Show. “It’s based on what we know and what other people don’t know, I guess.”
He continued, “[Perry’s] not in the doghouse. He’s just still developing and still getting to the point wherehecanhandleevery-
thing that was going to come his way. He’s close and we’ll see how this week goes. But that’s where we’re at right now.”
Rosier, a redshirt senior who helped lead Miami to a 10-3 record last season, started the first four games this season. He was replaced early in the FIU game on Sept. 22 by Perry, who played so well it became virtually impossible for Richt to reinsert Rosier.
Then, Perry started the next three games before struggling early at Virginia, prompting Richt to go back to Rosier.
It’s a move that has baffled many outside the Hurricanes locker room, considering that both quarterbacks have similar numbers and that Rosier, even when Miami was winning, struggled with his accuracy.
Richt told Rose that he believes Rosier has been hampered not only by the mistakes he’s making in games, but mistakes the rest of Miami’s offensive playmakers may be making, too.
“When everything is right, you have to be accurate enough to hit guys on the run. That’s his part,” Richt said. “But offense is about 11 guys doing it right and we’re still not getting that consistency across the board. We’re still getting too many mistakes by this one guy. Again, if you have 11 guys and they only make one mistake in the game, you could cost 11 different drives. So everybody on offense has got to get it right. That’s coaching.”
Richt expressed a similar sentiment when asked about the play of the offensive line and the plays the Hurricanes are running.
“The plays aren’t bad — the plays are not executed enough on a consistent basis,” Richt said. “And again, that’s on us as coaches to make sure they can do that.”