Huff could pay dividends for ’Canes
For Avery Huff, much of December was an emotional roller coaster.
It started with a gut-wrenching loss to Lakeland in the Class 7A state championship game. Then, the St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker, who verbally committed to Miami in part because he wanted to play for former Hurricanes defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, was stunned when Diaz accepted the head coaching job at Temple.
Still, days later Huff signed with the Hurricanes during the Early Signing Period, his hopes set on the fact that then-Miami coach Mark Richt and co-defensive coordinators Jonathan Patke and Ephraim Banda wouldn’t change much of the defensive scheme that Huff felt best suited his skill set.
Then came Dec. 30, when Richt stepped down as Miami’s coach and everything seemed to be in chaos.
“I was scared. I was worried the scheme was going to change,” Huff recalled. “I called [St. Thomas coach Roger Harriott] and he told me to just stay cool and relax, that everything
was going to be OK. But at that point, I was wondering if I could take other official visits and look at other schools. Coach Harriott, though, he just kept telling me to wait and see.”
Huff ’s wait to see what would happen next at Miami didn’t last long. Late that night, Miami announced Diaz would be returning to Coral Gables — this time as the Hurricanes’ head coach.
Huff — like many of Miami’s recent signees and plenty of Hurricanes fans — was thrilled. Now, five months after that whirlwind, Huff is set to begin his college career when he and several other members of Miami’s 2019 recruiting class report to campus early next month.
Huff, who was homeschooled for part of his high school career, expects it will be a transition that will come with some challenges. But he says he’s ready for what’s ahead, especially after working with his mother Chenell Dickerson, who administered his classes through the Classical Conversations curriculum, and Harriott and St. Thomas Aquinas linebackers coach and former Hurricanes star Twan Russell.
Huff credits all three, including both coaches, with helping him prepare not only for college football, but for all that awaits him at Miami.
“They weren’t just coaches for me. They gave me good tips about life,” Huff said. “I could call them anytime if I needed help or I just needed a second opinion, an outside opinion on things. Sometimes, you get too inside things yourself. They helped me.”
On the field, the expectation is that Huff — who underwent offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum — will be able to make an impact sooner than later, considering Miami’s depth issues at linebacker.
Huff, a four-star prospect who was rated the No. 12 outside linebacker in the nation by recruiting website 247Sports.com, says doctors have told him he should be ready for the start of preseason camp in late July.
That news is likely encouraging for Diaz and the rest of Miami’s coaches, too, considering they had to move former defensive lineman Patrick Joyner to the linebacker spot during spring drills while veterans Zach McCloud, Bradley Jennings Jr. and Waynmon Steed all dealt with injuries.
“With where we’re at numbers-wise, I think they’re going to be called on early,” Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker said last month of Huff and fellow linebacker signee Samuel Brooks of Miami Northwestern. “As far as positions … Sam will probably start at MIKE and Avery probably at WILL. But our MIKE and WILL are pretty interchangeable, so we’ll see once they get here and get to work with them and maybe see them move more. [We’ll] make those decisions down the road.”
Of what Huff can give the Hurricanes, Harriott said, “He’s extremely talented as a player, extremely gifted with his size, strength, athleticism and speed. From an intellectual standpoint, his football acumen is at a high level. … He demonstrated a substantial amount of growth in terms of understanding nuances in a game. … He’s an extraordinary human being to be around, extremely humble. He has a resilient personality. … He comes from a strong family-oriented background and just has a refusal-tolose type of mentality. The last thing he wants to do is disappoint people or let them down.”
For his part, Huff says he is looking forward to continuing the tradition set at Miami by greats like Russell, Ray Lewis, Jonathan Vilma, Dan Morgan and Jon Beason. He’s eager to learn from the Hurricanes’ newest generation of standouts, including McCloud, Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney.
Seeing how that trio all earned the opportunity to start as freshmen, Huff said, has been inspiring.
Now he’s ready for his opportunity and he hopes he can continue to set an example for not only his younger cousins who look up to him, but for young football players in his Hollywood community, many of whom aspire to play college football.
“I want to make a legacy for myself, make a name for myself and show people that all my hard work paid off,” Huff said. “I want to take care of my family. I constantly say that, but I really do mean that. If I ever feel myself slacking, I think of them. My family is on me to make sure that doesn’t happen. … I know there are big shoes I’m stepping into, but I think I’m prepared for it.” 2 Ceevee (E.Zayas)
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