South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Sophomore CBs’ time is now
Can Te’Cory Couch, Christian Williams step up?
As the Miami Hurricanes cornerback unit no longer has its most experienced player in Trajan Bandy, one or both of UM’s sophomores at the position will have to step up this season.
Christian Williams and Te’Cory Couch were each four-star recruits in Miami’s 2019 recruiting class. After playing sparingly last fall, they will be looked upon to contribute in nickel packages or even challenge projected starters Al Blades Jr. and DJ Ivey.
When the Hurricanes held the four spring practices they got in before the coronavirus outbreak put all college athletic activities on hold, Williams and Couch impressed the coaching staff. Williams, at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds from Daphne, Alabama, even got some starter reps.
“[Williams] was having a great, great spring camp, and then TC was doing a lot of good things, too,” said UM defensive coordinator Blake Baker earlier this month. “I’m excited about those two. I think they’re nipping on the two older guys’ heels.
“We were rotating them every day based off of daily production, and I’m not sure Christian wasn’t the most productive two or three of those days in that entire room.”
Both played in all 13 games as freshmen but largely on special teams as Blades and Ivey, now juniors, split time as a starter opposite of Bandy, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent after leaving college a year early.
When playing the nickel defense, Blades and Ivey were often on the field with Bandy. Couch, a 5-10, 185-pound ChaminadeMadonna grad, saw meaningful reps at nickel in the opener against Florida last season when Ivey was suspended.
As recruits, Williams was ranked the nation’s No. 20 cornerback in the 2019 class by the 247 Sports composite rankings, while Couch was slotted at No. 35.
Blades started seven games as a sophomore last season, with 36 tackles, two interceptions, six pass breakups and a blocked kick. He was also recognized by coach Manny Diaz as a team leader in offseason workouts ahead of the spring. Ivey started six games and notched 25 tackles, three interceptions and a pass breakup.
Miami’s two cornerback signees in the 2020 recruiting class — four-star prospect Isaiah Dunson (6-2, 180) from Georgia and three-star Marcus Clarke (5-11, 175) from Winter Park in Central Florida — will also be joining the Hurricanes.
Baker, heading into his second season as defensive coordinator, feels Williams and Couch’s ability to push Blades and Ivey is consistent with something he sees across his defense. Baker likes that he has more competition at various positions than he had in his first campaign leading the unit previously coordinated by Diaz.
“That, to me, is probably the biggest difference from last year to this year, defensively. I don’t know if anybody has a job secured,” Baker said. “Last year, when I got here, there were a bunch of guys — four, five, six guys — that played a lot of football here.
“The biggest difference, to me, is going to be competition and amount of depth we have across the board defensively. I think it’s much greater than last year. Whenever guys feel like they have a fair shake to compete for a job, they compete that much harder.”