King motivated by underdog status in opener with Bama
Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King was upbeat in saying he’s full go in his recovery from knee surgery and expects to start against No. 1 Alabama.
Miami quarterback D’Eriq King is fully vaccinated, almost fully healed from his torn ACL and meniscus and judging by his words and those around him Wednesday at the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff, ready to take that first hit against Alabama on Sept. 4 in the season opener.
Make that 18-point favorite defending champion Alabama.
The bigger the bark, the more fun the challenge.
“I kind of laugh at it,” King told three ACC beat writers, when asked during a private interview what he thinks of the 18-point spread. But be assured that he’s not laughing at Alabama.
“I like the underdog mentality,” he said. “My whole life I’ve been an underdog. So I’ve taken and run with it. It’s just motivation. Obviously, I’m looking forward to every single game, but being an 18point underdog to the defend
ing national champ Week 1, you’ve got something to look forward to.”
King, a sixth-year senior who was a Maxwell Trophy semifinalist last season, threw for 2,686 yards with 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions in his 10 games before the injury. He also rushed for 538 yards and four scores. He completed 64.1 percent of his passes and his 3,224 total yards for the 8-3 Hurricanes ranked
11th in the nation.
Determined and expected to start against the Crimson Tide, King said he began cutting while running last month. He injured the knee Dec. 29 during UM’s Cheez-It Bowl loss to Oklahoma State and had surgery Jan. 4. He said he is running at nearly full speed (“.3 seconds off my max speed for 15-yard bursts.”)
‘SMASHING’ THE WORKOUTS
UM coach Manny Diaz said earlier in the day that King, safety Bubba Bolden and receiver Mike Harley — all in Charlotte for the ACC kickoff — “are not just going through the workouts. They’re smashing the run. If we’re running 110s, they’re not making the time, they’re racing.
“That’s the leadership, real leadership, maybe more than the Hollywood speech of ‘Rah-rah, let’s go!’ ”
Harley insists his close friend King will be ready for Alabama.
“He does everything with us. He lifts with us, he runs with us. He’s in the front with me and he’s squatting like 300 pounds. He’s cutting laterally with no breaks. I have no doubt in my mind. He’s D’Eriq King. He’s been through a lot. This is another reason to root for him.’’
And this from Bolden: “D’Eriq will be 100 percent. I see him every day. Ask him yourself.”
King said he’s “full go.’’ “I don’t get hit in practice anyway, so I don’t think I’ll be limited in anything,” King said. “Obviously, I’m still taking it day by day. I feel good right now, but I’ve got to also listen to my body. So if a couple days I might be hurting or my knees are sore or whatever, I’ve got to be honest and tell the trainers and [physical therapists]. But I feel great.”
Does King, who confirmed with a smile that he stands a tad under 5-10 and still weighs 195 and is down to 11 percent body fat, look forward to that first Alabama hit?
“I’ve been hit so many times in my life. I can take a hit. It’s different for quarterbacks. They don’t get hit from the bowl game to eight or nine months later. That first hit always rings a bell in my head that ‘All right, now I’m good.’
“If I’m not 100 percent confident in my knee, in myself, taking a hit or running a route, I’m not going to be out there.”
King said he talked to former UM star running back Frank Gore, among other players, for his encouragement regarding ACL rehab. “The consistent message was, ‘Don’t rush back.’ ... You want to take your time and make sure everything is 100 percent ready before you can go out there.’’
And despite “a lot of stuff to work on coming up in camp,” UM’s signal caller believes the Canes “can win some championships this year, whether it’s the ACC or national championship. We have big goals. We should. We all work our tails off every day. We have a lot of guys coming back and now it’s time for us to put it together.”
On his thoughts about his NFL chances: “It’s depending on how I play. I’m confident in myself. I think I’ll play well. At the end of the day, I can go out there every single Saturday and play as best as I can, and when that time comes, whether it’s quarterback or a different position, I’ll just get one opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to that.”
NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS
King also is looking forward to making extra money for his “six or seven” NIL deals struck with various companies beginning July 1. But he insists it won’t get in the way of his and likely other players’ football focus after some — even all with the $540,000 offer from American Top Team’s founder Dan Lambert that includes every scholarship player — have struck their own deals.
“I think the guys on the team doing NIL deals are the leaders of the team,” he said. “It’s just like anything else. I tell people all the time, If you were a distracted guy before NIL and you were letting other things distract you from football, it’s going to be the same thing with this.
“It’s well understood on our team, from the leaders, from Coach Diaz, from everybody, football is the main goal. Nobody is going to miss a practice for NIL stuff. Nobody is going to miss workouts. We’re here to play football.”
King said he is trying to help teammates get NIL deals whenever possible, “for everybody from offensive linemen to the thirdstring deep snapper.” He said he hasn’t seen any jealousy yet. “In the locker room, people think we just talk NIL. We don’t really talk about it. We talk about regular stuff: workouts, how crazy [strength and conditioning] coach [David] Feeley is, doing regular football stuff.”