Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
O-line develops winning formula
’Canes hope improved chemistry, technique will lead to success
As the Hurricanes sputtered through a disappointing 7-6 season last fall, most criticism of the team fell on the shoulders of former coach Mark Richt and his quarterbacks, N’Kosi Perry and Malik Rosier, both of whom were often inconsistent.
But Miami’s offensive line wasn’t exactly immune from negative attention, either.
Last fall, the Hurricanes mustered an average of 358.8 yards per game, which ranked 105th in the nation. They allowed 2.08 sacks per game, which ranked 59th in the nation. Continuity was tough to come by, with Miami using at least five different starting combinations on the offensive line through the first 10 games, and Rosier and Perry often faced intense pressure, which, undoubtedly, contributed to some of their struggles.
Things in the spring weren’t exactly better, with Miami’s revamped starting and reserve offensive lines — a group which was now without veterans Tyler Gauthier, Hayden Mahoney, Tyree St. Louis and Venzell Boulware — giving up nine sacks in the Hurricanes’ spring game in Orlando.
And so, in the summer, one of coach Manny Diaz’s priorities became not just helping the offensive line improve its technique, but finding ways to build up the group’s confidence, something he said, more than once, took a hit last fall.
Offensive line coach Butch Barry, who was an assistant offensive line coach with the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers last year, provided help on that front, as did former UM linemen Bryant McKinnie and Brett Romberg, both of whom spent time on campus working with Miami’s linemen and sharing stories of what made their group so special when the Hurricanes were among the nation’s elite.
“Honestly, that was pretty cool. You’re sitting there and those are two guys, one that’s in the UM Hall of Fame and one might be in the NFL Hall of Fame. It was really great,” said right tackle Kai-Leon Herbert, a former standout at American Heritage in Plantation. “We got to watch film with them and everything, so they were breaking down what they would do in certain situations, how they would look at things and view things and then they came out here and worked with us on the field. Honestly, everybody got better that day. … I would say, with Romberg, [he said] it’s a mental game, and with McKinnie, it was [about] hand technique.”
Added center Corey Gaynor: “They’re legends, and they instilled a lot of knowledge in us these past couple weeks.”
Now, though, with their Aug. 24 season opener against Florida inching ever closer, Miami’s linemen understand it’s time to take what they learned in the offseason and channel into an improved performance on the field.
Though positions are still up for grabs across the field, after two weeks of practices and a scrimmage, the Hurricanes have been primarily using a starting line that includes January enrollee Zion Nelson at left tackle, former Freshman All-American Navaughn Donaldson at left guard, Gaynor, a former Douglas standout at center, sophomore DJ Scaife at right guard and either Herbert or redshirt freshman John Campbell at right tackle. At least, that’s the case during most portions of practice reporters are allowed
to watch.
Between them, that group has a combined 19 starts at the college level, with only Scaife and Donaldson contributing to that number. Still, both Barry and offensive coordinator Dan Enos say they’re encouraged by the line’s progress of late.
“We’re just playing faster. The guys understand what
we’re doing. Again, I said this in the spring, when we got here they were not only learning new techniques, but they learned a new language. I was speaking French 5 and they were in French 1, and I forgot French 1 and I was trying to talk to them in those terms, if you will,” Enos said. “Every time we called the play it was something they had to process and learn, and remember and think. And you can tell now a lot of the words and the things that Coach Barry is teaching them, the calls that he has are just quicker. It’s better. … They’re trying to play physical, and as long as Coach Barry’s here coaching them I know they’re going to play with great effort.”
Added Barry, “As a group, there’s always things you can correct. There’s always things you see that you can correct. But the biggest thing I wanted to see [in the scrimmage], was guys playing together because we’re shuffling guys around, trying to find the best five and play with effort and toughness. We talk a lot as an offensive line, you have to be smart, tough and dependable. And we’re not going to stop talking about that because we have to be that, and our effort and toughness have to be there. … That was the biggest thing I wanted to see. We had flashes of it … Where there wasn’t the flashes, we have to get that caught up to speed.”