Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
More than just talking from Hurricanes
Message coming from UM camp feels real
CORAL GABLES — The Miami Hurricanes aren’t going to erase all that went wrong in 2019 during the 15 practices of spring football, but there’s a sense of optimism during the first week of spring that it’s starting to turn around.
It may sound like a message that’s been played out, but UM coach Manny Diaz sees two major differences that have him confident that, this time, it’s for real.
“It’s different because of the people we have here,” said Diaz after Friday’s fourth practice in five days. “What I keep coming back to is that there’s just not the same people here that there were last year. … The people that are here can feel the difference because they know they’re around different style of people.”
Miami hired Rhett Lashlee to be its new offensive coordinator, Garin Justice to coach its offensive line and Rob Likens to lead the receivers, along with adding Hurricanes legend Ed Reed as chief of staff, although he hasn’t been around for the first four spring practices.
But it’s not just the new people around. It’s what being implemented with those hires as Lashlee is incorporating an uptempo offense in Coral Gables.
“There’s no question that what’s happening offensively and what’s happening in terms of the pace of play at practice changes everything,” Diaz said. “Every guy in that locker room will tell you, ‘We’re not playing the same sport we played a year ago.’
“It’s not going to be the scheme that saves us. It’s not going to be the magical plays that save us. It’s going to be the young men we have, the decisions they make and the ‘how’
that we play with. That’s the coolest thing that we’re doing now. You have to force the ‘how.’ Because it doesn’t work at half speed. It’s got to be done with all you have at all times. I think that’ll be the biggest difference.”
Diaz understands reservations some fans may have upon hearing all of it. It was a similar optimism that was fed to them throughout the past offseason that only materialized in turning a 7-6 team in 2018 under previous coach Mark Richt to 6-7 last fall.
“Of course, everything this time last year had been positive and ‘Hooray’ and whatever else,” Diaz said. “And guess what? There’s 130 teams playing spring ball right now, and no one is talking about, ‘We’re going to find a way to go 0-12.’ Everybody’s got some sense of optimism.”
The up-tempo style they’re transitioning to is pushing the team in more ways than just the offense. Players have been forced to go to practice with a heightened level of preparedness.
“It’s been hard. The coaches have been relentless in terms of getting after them,” Diaz said. “They have no choice. For this thing to work, the gas pedal has got to get pushed down all the way. And anyone who doesn’t have it pushed down all the way is now completely obvious to not just the coaches but to the rest of their teammates.
“One of the great things about what we’re doing is it puts the pressure up on everybody and it’s such a high-intensity operation now [that] it’s very hard for a guy to not bring it every day. The most rewarding thing about that is no one seems to be shying away from that.”
The first four practices of the spring have also marked grad transfer quarterback D’Eriq King’s first action with the team beyond offseason workouts.
“You can see what he does when he has the ball in his hands, in terms of the plays he makes with his arm and his feet,” said Diaz of the former Houston signalcaller, “but what is equally as exciting is some of the connections he makes with the players in between series.”
On Friday, Miami got into live tackling, fully to the ground and did some situational drills in 11-on-11 drills that put the team in the fire of how the offense will move come fall. It also has put the defense under the pressure of constantly defending against tempo.
“I think the guys are seeing there’s a different edge about us,” Diaz said “There’s certainly a different edge about us offensively and that will do nothing but get us better defensively.”