Diaz hopes youth movement will fix Hurricanes’ defense

The Miami Hurricanes’ youth movement fans have been clamoring for since the beginning of the season may be arriving soon as coach Manny Diaz looks to find answers to shore up UM’s defensive problems.

While Miami has shown marginal improvements in its rush defense compared to last year, it’s taken a step back in other areas through this season’s first six games under a veteran-led unit.

“Young guys are going to be able to play more,” Diaz said. “They deserve the opportunity.”

The changes to get more of the underclassmen playing time have already taken place on the depth chart and were on display during Miami’s loss to North Carolina last Saturday.

True freshman safety James Williams is now listed as the lone starter alongside Bubba Bolden, replacing Gurvan Hall Jr. in the role. Both Williams and fellow true freshman safety Kam Kinchens played more snaps than Hall against UNC.

Second-year freshman cornerback Marcus Clarke is listed as a co-starter along with DJ Ivey and Te’Cory Couch next to primary starter Tyrqiue Stevenson.

After making his way onto the depth chart for the first time a couple of weeks ago, true freshman defensive tackle Leonard Taylor had the fourth-most reps at his position against the Tar Heels, while second-year defensive end Elijah Roberts has made his way onto Miami’s depth chart.

The changes have been made with the hopes it’ll provide some solutions for a UM defense that’s struggled with tackling and preventing explosive plays throughout the season.

“I’m not pleased with the performance of our defense,” Diaz said. “It’s been well below our standards. When you look at some of the gross attempts at tackling from this past weekend and some of the fundamentals — people are just losing their training out on the field. It’s hard to unpack in every situation: what causes somebody to abandon their training like that.

“But at this point, it doesn’t matter why. It’s been way too inconsistent and a lot of times it’s been guys who have proven it and done it in games before, and for whatever reason, they’re not getting it done. It’s our job as coaches to get it fixed.”

And to Diaz, many young players have proven they’re ready for more.

“One, they’ve got to be able to fundamentally execute when they’re in the game, but two, they’ve gotta be able to know what to do. So those guys, our young guys in general, are getting better, they are getting more knowledge.

“We just got to get the simple things right. That’s just kind of where it’s going. We won’t know for sure until the end of the week of how we’ll be allocating the snaps, but there are some guys that we know that we found out on Saturday their role is to simply have to be reduced a little bit.”

Practice observations

Third-year reserve linebacker Sam Brooks was not seen during the 20-minute portion of Tuesday’s practice open to the media. Brooks didn’t play in the loss to North Carolina and has played in two games this year after playing in eight of 11 games last year.

Backup quarterback Payton Matocha wore No. 13 during to represent N.C. State starting quarterback Devin Leary.

Starting kicker Andy Borregales wasn’t at practice due to a non-COVID-19 virus that’s been spreading throughout campus, but is expected to be available against the Wolfpack.

Pope, Wiggins off roster

After Diaz said he expected the wide receiver duo to enter the transfer portal, Mark Pope and Dee Wiggins have been removed from Miami’s online roster.

Pope and Wiggins, both of whom are fourth-year juniors out of Miami Southridge High, had their roles significantly reduced this season after being starters in 2020.

Pope will finish his career with the Hurricanes with 52 receptions for 680 yards and four touchdowns in 34 games, while Wiggins will finish with 62 catches for 791 yards and seven touchdowns in 40 games.