O-line has changes after first scrimmage

CORAL GABLES – After the Hurricanes’ first scrimmage of the spring Saturday, there were plenty of questions about the play of Malik Rosier, N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams, three of the quarterbacks vying for Miami’s starting job.

Turns out there remain just as many — if not more — questions about the players tasked with protecting those quarterbacks.

The Hurricanes entered spring practice last month knowing they had to replace two veteran starters on the offensive line: left tackle Kc McDermott and left guard Trevor Darling.

Through nine practices and a scrimmage, offensive line coach Stacy Searels is still making adjustments to his group, on Tuesday moving freshman All-American Navaughn Donaldson from right guard to right tackle and giving reserve Hayden Mahoney time with the first unit.

During Saturday’s scrimmage, when the offensive line didn’t give Rosier, Perry and Williams much time to work, Hurricanes coach Mark Richt indicated that center Tyler Gauthier was at times shifted to right tackle and Mahoney was moved to center.

The changes were made in part to try to help the offense find a rhythm against a defense that totaled nine sacks. Fortunately for Rosier, Perry and Williams, play was whistled dead before any of them could be tackled to the ground.

None of that made Searels — or Richt — particularly happy, even if the offense did rebound and put together a better effort late.

“They even tweeted that I was frustrated, and I was. You know, [Tyler] Gauthier did an outstanding job. Once we put him in there, we took it down, we scored, we did a good job over there,” Searels said. “What it is is we have to find five guys we trust. And that’s the process right now.”

As tough as that process may feel in the spring, Searels said he remains optimistic some of Miami’s younger offensive linemen — including early enrollees Jon Campbell and Delone Scaife — have the potential to be contributors.

The challenge, now, though, remains getting them used to the phyiscal demands and the expectations at Miami, where the Hurricanes will enter the season looking to improve on a 10-win season and again play for the ACC title.

“At right tackle, most of the time I have two, but who’s the third? Right now, we’ve got one tackle and who’s the second one?” Searels said. “There are a few guys – we have some young guys who are going to be really good. Some of them should be getting ready for the prom, but they are here. Some of them are young and have to grow up quickly. That’s still a work in progress.

“Navaughn [Donaldson] got some reps out there today and looked good at tackle also, so we will see who ends up being the best five. … I wouldn’t say anybody’s ‘first team’ right now.”

Searels isn’t the only Hurricanes assistant hoping for better from his position group as Miami approaches its spring game.

Quarterbacks coach Jon Richt, along with coach Mark Richt, has been keeping tabs on the progress made by Rosier, Perry, Williams and Cade Weldon, who missed Saturday’s scrimmage with an eye infection. Jon Richt said Tuesday he wants to see all of Miami’s quarterbacks find more consistency.

Jon Richt on Tuesday reiterated that Rosier, last season’s starter, remains the front-runner for the job. He added, though, that coaches want to see Rosier’s accuracy and leadership improve.

“We’re still working on it. There’s always room for improvement, but some of it is us and some of it is other things. We have to learn that when we have a perfect pocket, we have to trust it every single time. That’s one thing we didn’t do Saturday. [The defense] got to us a few times and I think it got to us mentally,” Jon Richt responded when asked about Rosier’s accuracy. “So we were rushing throws, we were doing things we don’t normally do. We have to understand that the next pocket is going to be perfect, and we have to trust it, trust our line and trust our teammates and be able to stand in there and rip the ball when the opportunity presents itself.”