No question, Diaz and ’Canes will face some
Technically, the Miami Hurricanes won’t take the field for their first practice of the new season until July 26.
But Thursday morning, Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz, linebacker Shaq Quarterman and receiver K.J. Osborn will take center stage at this year’s A CC Kickoff, the conference’s annual media-days event that serves as a sort of unofficial start to the season.
For the better part of seven hours, the Hurricanes will face a series of questions from television, radio and print reporters, along with representatives from the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will pose for countless photos, shoot promotional videos and will, more than likely, be one of the more buzzworthy teams in Charlotte, given all that has transpired in Coral Gables since last season ended.
Although Quarterman has already run the media gauntlet at ACC Kickoff, representing Miami there in 2017, this will mark Osborn’s first appearance after the redshirt senior joined the Hurricanes as a
graduate transfer earlier this year.
It’s also, of course, Diaz’s first appearance at the event, and the first-time head coach will likely be a popular interview, along with the ACC’s other new coaches such as North Carolina’s Mack Brown, Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins and Louisville’s Scott Satterfield.
So what kind of questions might Diaz, Quarterman and Osborn face Thursday? We take a look at some of the major points of conversation the Hurricanes could be asked to tackle. from Buffalo
So, what exactly happened last season? Last July, the Hurricanes were riding high when they arrived at the ACC Kickoff. They were the defending Coastal Division champions, the favorite to win the division again and a projected preseason top-10 team.
In the 12 months since, things have changed. Drastically.
The Hurricanes endured a four-game losing streak that kept them from repeating as Coastal champions. They dealt with quarterback issues on and off the field. The offense struggled to move the ball as Miami sputtered to an underwhelming 7-6 record.
And Diaz, Miami’s popular defensive coordinator, briefly left the program to take over as the coach at Temple before returning to Coral Gables when former Hurricanes coach Mark Richt abruptly retired three days after Miami’s disastrous 35-3 season-ending loss to Wisconsin.
In late December, the Hurricanes seemed a mess of a team poised for another rough season. But over the course of the past six months, Diaz has done his best to try to move Miami in a better direction.
He quickly fired all of the Hurricanes’ offensive assistant coaches and hired former Alabama quarterbacks coach Dan Enos as his new offensive coordinator. He mined the NCAA’s transfer database for players such as Osborn and former Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell to bolster Miami’s roster. And he brought David Feeley from Temple to run the Hurricanes’ strength and conditioning program, a move that’s been praised by multiple UM players throughout the offseason.
Will all that lead to success for the Hurricanes this year? That remains to be seen, but at least for now there’s an optimism and energy around Miami that simply wasn’t there in late December. And all of that will generate plenty of questions for Diaz and Co.
Any idea who’ll be the starting quarterback? One indication of how tough things have been for Miami since Brad Kaaya’s decision to leave Miami after the 2016 season? The fact this will be the third straight year the Hurricanes will likely face plenty of quarterback questions at ACC Kickoff.
In 2017, Richt had to settle on Kaaya’s replacement. Last summer, many wondered whether veteran Malik Rosier — who started all 13 games for the Hurricanes in 2017 — could hang on to his job with youngsters N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams pushing him for playing time.
Now, Rosier, who alternated starts with Perry last season as both struggled to complete more than 53% of their passes, has exhausted his eligibility. That has paved the way for Perry, Williams and Martell to compete for the starting job.
Of those three, only Perry has any kind of significant experience, appearing in 11 games and completing 51% of his 191 passes for 1,091 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Williams appeared in just one game last season, Miami’s blowout win over Savannah State. And while Martell was rated the nation’s No. 2 dualthreat quarterback when he came out of Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High, he saw limited action at Ohio State, completing 23 of 28 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown, while running 22 times for 128 yards and two more touchdowns.
Each quarterback experienced his share of highs and lows during spring drills, with both Diaz and Enos saying they expected this summer to be a critical stretch for all of the signal-callers.
Was any progress made on that front? Has anyone emerged as a potential front-runner in the quarterback race? And if nothing’s significantly changed on that front, how concerned is Diaz, considering the Hurricanes are set to open camp in a little more than a week and face rival Florida in a little more than a month?
Can Miami’s defense built on the success it had when Diaz was coordinator? In his three years as Miami’s defensive coordinator, Diaz turned the Hurricanes defense into a force.
In 2018, the Hurricanes allowed an average of 4.3 yards per play, which ranked third in the nation. They led the nation in tackles for a loss with 136 in 13 games. And no team had better success at containing opponents on third down, with Miami allowing 47 conversions on 186 attempts.
Quarterman, a former freshman All-American and a firstteam All-ACC selection last year, is again expected to be one of the defense’s most productive players after totaling 82 tackles last season. He, fellow linebacker Mike Pinckney and striker Zach McCloud are expected to be the heart of the defense, and defensive end Jonathan Garvin is expected to be one of Miami’s leaders on the line.
But there are questions the Hurricanes will have to answer, particularly in the secondary, which lost veteran safeties Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine along with cornerback Michael Jackson. Up front, the Hurricanes will have to adjust to losing tackle Gerald Willis, who had a teamhigh 18 tackles last year, and end Joe Jackson.
There are players the Hurricanes are confident will make an impact, including cornerbacks Trajan Bandy, Al Blades Jr. and DJ Ivey and safeties Amari Carter and Gurvan Hall. Miami also added former USC safety Bubba Bolden to its roster, and incoming freshmen Christian Williams, Keontra Smith and Te’Cory Couch will all look to work into the rotation.
Pat Bethel, Nesta Silvera, Scott Patchan, Jordan Miller and Jahfari Harvey are all linemen worth keeping an eye on once camp begins. Can they be as successful as some of the Hurricanes who came before them?
What’s going on with the offensive line? While quarterback play was definitely an issue last fall, the Hurricanes’ offensive line endured its share of struggles too. And as rough as things occasionally were, that group still lost a group of veterans including Hayden Mahoney, Tyler Gauthier, Tyree St. Louis and Venzell Boulware.
Offensive line coach Butch Barry faced another challenge in the spring when Corey Gaynor, who is projected to be Miami’s starting center this fall, got hurt. And Butler transfer Tommy Kennedy, who many hoped would provide instant help, struggled to crack the starting rotation in the spring. That meant the Hurricanes started January enrollee Zion Nelson in their spring game, along with sophomore DJ Scaife, junior Navaughn Donaldson, redshirt freshman Cleveland Reed and redshirt sophomore Kai-Leon Herbert.
That entire group has a combined 19 starts at the college level, with only Scaife and Donaldson contributing to that number.
Having Gaynor back once camp begins will be significant. And this summer, junior college transfer Ousman Traore said he was planning to join the Hurricanes, though he is not yet listed on Miami’s roster. Will Barry be able to find an effective rotation to protect Miami’s quarterback, whomever it may be? Is there enough depth there to weather any potential injuries? Those are issues the Hurricanes will have to address.
Bonus questions: Any and everything about the Turnover Chain: OK, yes, Miami’s turnover chain is now a 2-year-old phenomenon. And last season, it didn’t quite generate the same frenzy as it did in 2017. But the Hurricanes’ favorite celebratory prop was a hot topic of conversation in Charlotte last year, and that was without Diaz — who came up with the idea for the chain — there to answer questions.
With Diaz meeting much of the ACC media for the first time Thursday, it would be shocking if he didn’t answer a question or five about the trend he helped create. He’s already told local writers there will be a new version of the chain and that he’s hoping to come up with an equivalent prize for the offense. So yes, jewelry questions have to be coming. The Dolphins won’t be able to accurately evaluate quarterback Josh Rosen solely on his work in practices.