Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Still some room for improvement
QB Williams can grow despite record performance
CORAL GABLES — Where does quarterback Jarren Williams go from here after setting the Miami Hurricanes’ record with six passing touchdowns in a game?
UM offensive coordinator Dan Enos believes Williams can improve in several areas, including going through reads and progressions.
“Some of our plays within our offense, there’s multiple options on those plays, some of the [run-pass option] stuff in particular,” Enos said. “He’s gotten through phase one, and we haven’t gotten to phase two or phase three on those things. There was a couple of opportunities on those things last week that we missed, that we didn’t just quite make the right decision because it was a situation that hasn’t occurred as much as another one, so for a young player those are reps and that’s experience.”
Williams, who has thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions since being reinserted at quarterback in the fourth quarter at Pittsburgh on Oct. 26, has a plan in place to improve in that area.
“That really just comes with watching a lot of film and just really understanding the offense and the ins and outs because we have answers everywhere in our offense,” Williams said. “So, just really mas
tering it and understanding where everything is and where to go with the ball versus different looks.”
Enos also noted that there have been instances where Williams doesn’t survey an early option he may have available.
“I think there’s still some times where he’s really sure about what he’s going to do on the front side of a concept, but we may have what we call a free-access throw or an alert throw on the other side,” Enos said. “Sometimes we look at it to confirm whether we have it or not and sometimes we don’t confirm whether we have it and we miss it, if you will.”
All this, of course, is nitpicking on the finer details for a redshirt freshman who is still in his first year as a starter and missed significant time in the middle of the season.
“The guy is still young, in a way,” coach Manny Diaz said. “[It comes with] the more times you see all these pass concepts, the more times you get the reads of what’s going on down the field.
“No quarterback is ever going to play perfect. More than anything, it’s still just to fit in the offense, like he didn’t set out two weeks ago to throw six touchdowns. He just set out to play well and orchestrate the offense and do with the plays that were called.”
But in order to get to this point, Williams has made strides in his pocket presence and keeping his eyes downfield, away from the pass rush — issues that arose in the opener against Florida — and his lower-body mechanics that allowed him to get better arm strength on his deep throws.
“I do think one of the biggest improvements he’s made has been in his fundamentals and his technique, as far as his drops, his pocket posture, his bringing his hips through on the throws,” Enos said. “We were just commenting [Monday] morning because we practiced [Sunday] night, just watching him function in the pocket is like night and day from where we were in the spring and even during camp.”
Diaz is hopeful Williams will continue to evolve as a leader.
“As long as he keeps that mentality, how to deal with some adversity, how to deal with success — and we kind of went through that as a team and with Jarren individually,” Diaz said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing as a team and as we see Jarren continue to evolve as being able to handle the position of being the Miami quarterback through good times and bad times.”