Stroud: ‘A great camp so far’
’Canes confident depth, experience will keep defensive line humming
CORAL GABLES — For the third straight year, the Hurricanes will have a new coach supervising the defensive line.
And for the third straight year, expectations are that won’t matter and Miami’s front will again be a force.
Yes, defensive end Joe Jackson and tackle Gerald Willis III are trying to earn spots on NFL rosters. And veteran end Demetrius Jackson has moved on, as has tackle Tito Odenigbo.
But through two weeks of fall camp, Hurricanes defensive line coach Todd Stroud, who joined coach Manny Diaz’s staff in March after Jess Simpson took a job with the Atlanta Falcons, says he’s been impressed by not only Miami’s depth on the line, but the talent and athleticism he’s seen.
“There’s a lot of competition. I said in the spring one of the biggest things that we’re trying to do is identify our top eight or nine guys and we have a room with about 19 guys in it right now, so it’s a challenge,” Stroud said Tuesday after Miami returned to the practice field for the first time since their first scrimmage of camp on Sunday night. “But boy, competition creates a lot of good things in practice. When you’re one deep, when those guys are clear cut, it’s kind of a status quo deal.
“But we’ve got some good competition right now in camp going into the final week, going into the final scrimmage. … We’ll have to see how it plays out. … Their effort, their attitude, been a great camp so far.”
Amid that competition, though, there have been standouts.
Former Lake Worth standout Jonathan Garvin is coming off a breakout season where he started
all 13 games last year, finishing with a career-high 60 tackles and 17 tackles for loss. Tackle Pat Bethel and end Scott Patchan are emerging as two of the vocal leaders in the group. Former Dillard standout Jon Ford has bounced back after being hurt in the spring and impressed early in camp, as has Jordan Miller. That’s helped ease the short-term loss of tackle Nesta Silvera, who underwent foot surgery last week but is expected to return in six to eight weeks.
Meanwhile, a pair of transfers — end Trevon Hill from Virginia Tech and tackle Chigozie Nnoruka of UCLA — are trying to stake their claims to playing time, while freshmen Jared Harrison-Hunte, Jason Blissett and Jahfari Harvey have all earned praise from both Stroud and Diaz for their athleticism and ability to make plays.
That long list of players is one reason Stroud said it’s not out of the realm of possibility that as many as 10 of his linemen could see significant playing time when the Hurricanes open the season Aug. 24 against rival Florida in Orlando.
The other reason? Despite all the changes, the Hurricanes intend to remain as aggressive as they were last season when Miami led the nation in tackles for loss, averaging 10.46 per game and was 11th in the nation in sacks (3.08 per game).
“I usually try to play 10 folks, okay? So I’ll play the two deep and then, if I have a couple special pass rushers, they might be numbers nine and 10 that you can plug in on a third-and-8 or a different situation or with a different front or as a stand-up guy,” Stroud said. “But we’ll carry 10 and we’re rotating eight in there. What Coach Diaz demands, in this defense, all we demand is that you go harder than you can go. There’s not many humans out there that can really play harder than they can play more than six plays. So, if a drive extends, we reload and that’s been our mantra in this defense probably for about the past 25 years. We’ve got to have quality depth. You can’t play this defense one deep. It’s too physical and too demanding with what we ask these guys to do.”
To name a QB or not to name a QB?
Diaz has said it’s his hope that the Hurricanes will settle on a starting quarterback after Miami’s second scrimmage of camp, which should take place this weekend.
But on Tuesday, he said that while he and offensive coordinator Dan Enos may decide if that job belongs to Tate Martell, N’Kosi Perry or Jarren Williams this weekend, there’s no guarantee he’ll publicly announce a starter before the opener.
“That depends,” Diaz responded, when asked if he was planning to announce a starting quarterback next week. “That’s something we’ll have to talk about inside and whether we choose to announce that or not.”
As to how the quarterbacks played in Saturday’s scrimmage, Diaz said the group was effective and better than it has been in the past.
But he’s still hoping to see more from the quarterbacks in the coming days.
“I think we’re seeing, maybe the better word is elevation from the quarterbacks. They all continue to get better. They all continue to make plays. It’s just now … this week’s going to determine it. We’ve gotten to this week intentionally, on purpose,” Diaz said. “Had a great day out there in very, very trying conditions to now really see the final push of who’s going to make it. So compared to where we were in April, compared to even where we were eight days ago, we’re better. We’re encouraging. We’re going to be okay. It’s just that we don’t want to be okay. That’s really what it’s all about right now. It’s better than it was. But better is not good enough.”