Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
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Davis works overtime to get in tip-top shape for role as the lead RB
CORAL GABLES — As Miami Hurricanes running back Cam’Ron Harris watched the UM offseason unfold, he knew there was going to be a lot more of a workload on his shoulders heading into his junior season.
First, DeeJay Dallas opted to leave Miami for the NFL draft a year early. Then, the Hurricanes hired Rhett Lashlee as their new offensive coordinator. His up-tempo offense at Southern Methodist last season ranked No. 3 nationally in plays per game (more than 80).
The combination for Harris, who spelled Dallas as a sophomore and then took a lead role once Dallas went down with an elbow injury, meant there would likely be a lot of carries coming his way in the fall months of 2020.
Extra work for Harris with Miami strength and conditioning coach David Feeley over the past two months ahead of spring practices has not gone unnoticed. UM coach Manny Diaz made it a point in his news conference after Monday’s first spring practice to identify Harris as setting the example in offseason training.
“I was doing extra cardio, extra lifting because I got to hold weight on my back with this offense,” said Harris, who last year averaged 5.1 yards per carry on his 114 attempts. “I got more explosive with coach Feeley. He’s been helping me on the off days. I’ve been coming, doing extra stretching, extra squats, extra front squats, doing a lot of explosive stuff. I’m feeling so good right now. I can’t wait for
the season.”
Harris said he’s now 5 foot 9 and 209 pounds, gaining 4 pounds of muscle since the end of last season.
“He was already a huge guy when he came here, and he’s just getting even stronger,” said junior cornerback Al Blades Jr., who added he grew up playing youth football with Harris in South Florida. “Cam’s a worker. All throughout life, he’s just been constantly getting better, mentally and physically. You see what coach Diaz says, him in the weight room. That’s not something he’s just doing. He’s doing that for the betterment of the team, not just himself.”
The only other scholarship running backs available in the spring are redshirt junior Robert Burns and freshman Jaylan Knighton as fellow early enrollee Donald Chaney Jr. is out with a shoulder injury. Lashlee has only had two practices to see what he has in Harris, but when he combines the small sample size with the previous workouts, he likes what he sees.
“What he did in the offseason workouts, you can tell that he has some explosion,” Lashlee said. “He seems pretty focused. Whether that’s the same or different from the past, I don’t really know. In the first two days, he’s done a nice job of just going out there and doing a good job in showing guys like Jaylan how to do things. Hopefully, he can become a leader for us.”
And Harris is prepared to fill that leadership void Dallas leaves behind, as well, in addition to the running back workload he’ll have to pick up.
“DeeJay’s gone,” Harris said. “I just know I have to step up and be a captain of the team. I watched him last year be a captain of the team, so I have to follow his footsteps.
“I learned by him telling the offense, ‘Let’s be great.’ If we have a bad day, he pushes every day, even when it’s a rainy day, we’re doing bad stuff. He’ll be on us every day. He comes with a different mindset, and he’ll be on us every day.”
Said junior receiver Dee Wiggins: “Every time he gets the ball, he’s running very hard. He’s coming back tired. If you’re not coming back tired, you’re not working hard.”
Lashlee’s offense at SMU last season, contrary to popular belief, actually ran the ball more often than it threw, averaging 41 rush attempts per game to 39 passes.
“The running game is very important,” said Wiggins. “If it’s no running game, you can’t pass the ball.”
Harris is confident in his preparedness for UM’s new up-tempo offense and feels it will best suit the Hurricanes’ athletes on offense.
“Miami — what we call Miami, The U — we’re a fast team,” he said.