Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Big-hitting Carter set for larger role
Defensive star won respect as freshman
WEST PALM BEACH — Like most of his fellow Hurricanes freshmen, Amari Carter arrived at Miami last year with wide eyes and hopes of impressing his new teammates, who already knew the challenge of transitioning from high school football to the grind of college ball.
It didn’t take long for Carter to find a way to catch the veterans’ attention.
“Every practice, every time he’s on the field, everybody’s looking because we know he’s going to give a big lick,” said senior safety Jaquan Johnson, a second-team All-American. “That’s just the way he plays, and the team respects him for that. He had to find a way to earn his way, earn the respect of the guys in the locker room, and that was one of his main keys to earning our respect.”
Carter, a former standout at Palm Beach Gardens and the Sun Sentinel’s 2016 Palm Beach County Defensive Player of the Year, leveraged his big-hitting ability into significant playing time last season.
While the Hurricanes reeled off 10 consecutive wins to open
the season and chased down their first Coastal Division title, Carter made his presence felt early and often. He notched four tackles and forced a fumble in his college debut, Miami’s season-opening win over Bethune-Cookman.
He recorded three tackles in the Hurricanes’ ACC opener at Duke. Had another against Florida State. Three more against Notre Dame. And against Virginia Tech in a key division game, he recorded the first sack of his Miami career, hitting Hokies quarterback Josh Jackson for a 10-yard loss.
Carter finished the year with 26 tackles and two sacks. As he continues preparing for his sophomore season, the safety said he thinks he’s ready to take on a bigger role for a defense that is expected to again be one of the top units in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“I just want to be a player that helps the team. I think that’s what everyone wants to be, someone that helps the team do better,” Carter said last week when he and some of his Hurricanes teammates worked with young football players at a satellite camp in West Palm Beach. “I want to be that guy and do whatever that guy has to do … whatever play needs to be called, I want the coaches to have confidence in me to be able to do it, and my players, which is most important.”
Johnson, the leader of Miami’s secondary, believes Carter has the ability to continue growing into a special playmaker. The two share a morning offseason workout group, and Johnson noted Carter has become stronger, faster and smarter than he was a year ago.
“He’s everything you want to see in a freshmen progressing,” Johnson said.
And his coaches believe Carter has the potential to take on a bigger role, too, especially with the Hurricanes knowing they’ll be losing Johnson and fellow senior safety Sheldrick Redwine after the season.
“His toughness jumps off the table. He’s probably the hardest hitter we have on our defense. If not, he’s right up there,” defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “Amari’s very intelligent. He’s a great young man, and what he’s had to learn how to do is trust himself. There are guys that can sometimes worry about all the ‘what ifs’ because they can process the game so well and they think all about the different scenarios, and sometimes, you just have to believe you know the answer and go with it. As Amari starts to do that more, he plays faster and faster, and that’s what we started to see this spring. He’s a guy that’s starting to trust himself. He already knew the answers to the questions. Now he believes that he knows the answer, and he can go out there and think more.”
Added safeties coach Ephraim Banda: “Development is highly tied into how much you love the game, and he loves the game. He’s going to spend the extra time in the film room. He’s going to spend the extra time on the field when no one’s around. He’s going to lift harder when no one’s looking. That equals development. … It takes a certain kind of young man who loves the game to really come in and play quickly. He’s really done a good job.”