Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
How quickly can Phillips factor in for Canes?
CORAL GABLES — The Miami Hurricanes’ defensive end combination of Greg Rousseau and Quincy Roche — two of college football’s top 10 sack leaders from last season — could already be one of the nation’s fiercest tandems.
That doesn’t even account for what redshirt junior Jaelan Phillips could provide the UM pass rush this fall. The former five-star recruit has finally practiced with the team during the start of spring drills after sitting out all of 2019, following his transfer from UCLA.
Phillips used the time he couldn’t spend on the field in the weight room with Miami strength and conditioning coach David Feeley. He transformed his 6-foot-6 frame from 220 pounds to 260 — as shown with beforeand-after photos he posted on social media.
It’s evident Phillips is motivated to contribute as Miami’s next pass-rushing specialist.
Rousseau and Roche, a grad transfer from Temple, had a combined 28 1⁄2 sacks last season.
“He’s a special dude,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said of Phillips. “The thing that’s very impressive about him is
how well he hits. He understands leverage. He does a great job getting into the offensive tackle’s pads.”
That’s especially encouraging considering Phillips hasn’t played in almost two years. Before sitting out in 2019, he missed most of 2018 at UCLA with a concussion and various other injuries.
“He’s a freak of nature. He’s huge. He’s fast,” Rousseau said. “I’m just happy for him because I know what it’s like to come back from an injury. It’s tough, and he’s worked so hard for these moments and he’s really going to take advantage of them. I believe in him 100 percent. We all do.”
Coach Manny Diaz said that Phillips’ presence could push Rousseau and Roche.
“It gets back to that word competition,” said Diaz, who alluded to how well Phillips looked when the Hurricanes took a day to run the stairs at Hard Rock Stadium last week. “We’re trying to add as many highly competitive, talented football players as we can to our defense.
“He’ll learn the framework. He was not allowed to practice the last calendar year, so [Monday] was really his first practice since I don’t know how long. It’ll take him a minute to get him back into the feel of things, but we expect him to be fighting for time. That’s why, whether it’s Greg, there’s no one that should be comfortable on this team. No one. Guys like Jaelan are a big reason why.”
As Phillips gets acclimated, Baker is confident he’ll round into form quickly.
“Every guy is different. Obviously, it’s a huge boost to get him here in the spring,” Baker said. “I would assume probably by the end of the spring. It ought to come back to him pretty quick.”
Last year, Diaz and Baker found ways to get three defensive ends on the field in pass-rushing packages — with Rousseau lined up inside and flanked by Jonathan Garvin and Trevon Hill on the outside. With Garvin and Hill headed to the NFL, Baker said there could be a place for a similar Rousseau-Roche-Phillips front in obvious passing situations.
“Yeah, I think there definitely could be a point in time where we could make that lineup happen,” Baker said.