QB King ‘eager to get back’
Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz offered updates on the status of several players with spring football beginning next month.
Prime among the injury concerns throughout the entire offseason will be the status of quarterback D’Eriq King, who tore his ACL in Miami’s Cheez-It Bowl loss to Oklahoma State on Dec. 29. Nonetheless, UM stated in the days following the injury that King is expected to return for the start of fall camp in August.
“I was chatting with him [Wednesday],” Diaz said. “He’s so eager to get back. It’s just the way that he is. Anything that he’s allowed to do, he’s doing. He’s working hard in his rehab. Everything’s been very
encouraging so far. It’s all about him meeting his benchmarks, but everything, right now, has been very encouraging.”
Junior cornerback Al Blades Jr., had his 2020 season cut short due to a myocarditis diagnosis after his run-in with COVID-19. Diaz said the team is still waiting on his clearance for spring football.
Freshman running back Jaylan Knighton missed the final two games due to a shoulder injury.
“Jaylan, I do believe, is on track for being available for spring practice,” Diaz said.
Freshman safety Avantae Williams could not play his first college season due to a pre-existing medical condition that UM doctors found when he enrolled.
“We’re still waiting,” Diaz said. “He’s got an appointment that will come up in the next few weeks. We’ll find out more.”
Diaz said freshman offensive tackle Issiah Walker should be available for the spring after he did not play in 2020 coming off his transfer from Florida months after signing with the Gators out of Miami Norland High.
The three transfers — cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (Georgia), receiver Charleston Rambo (Oklahoma) and defensive end Deandre Johnson (Tennessee) — are on campus going though the team’s offseason program. On top of the eight early enrollees from the 21 recruits signed in December, Diaz said “10 or 12” more freshmen will join the program in the summer.
Diaz confirmed offseason reports that quarterback N’Kosi
Perry will not participate in spring football as he completes courses for his degree at Miami during the semester before transferring out in the summer.
“I think that’s a cool story, by the way,” Diaz said. “I think the fact that N’Kosi wanted to graduate from the University of Miami, was only nine [credits] away from doing it. … I think that’s putting education first, which I think we need to applaud. N’Kosi Perry’s a University of Miami success story for coming here, getting his degree and he’s going to get a great opportunity, I’m sure, after graduation.”
While many of the seniors that are taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility announced their intentions on social media, safety Amari Carter never did, but Diaz said on Wednesday that Carter is set to return for a fifth season.
Diaz said March 13 will be the first day of spring practice for the Hurricanes, a later open than last spring when the early start did allow UM to get four of its 15 spring practices in before the onset in earnest of the coronavirus in America.
“We’re making a huge emphasis in our offseason program of getting our team stronger, taking a full seven weeks of lifting to really change this program,” Diaz said. “When we looked back, we thought we were hampered a year ago a little bit by the pandemic. Some of our guys suffered without a full offseason program.”
Diaz added that the does not yet know when the spring will conclude and what the date of the spring game will be, nor if any fans or media will be able to attend spring practices.