Weather No Problem for Hurricanes Practice

Aug. 13, 2004

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The weather cooperated long enough on Friday afternoon for the Miami Hurricanes football team to get in a two-hour practice in at the Greentree Practice Facility on the campus of the University of Miami.

“I’m glad we got this in,” head coach Larry Coker said. “We had no idea what the weather was going to be like. Honestly, we had a good day for everything today.”

The Hurricanes practiced in shells again on Friday and will hold their first full-pads practice of the year on Saturday afternoon.

The weather did play a role in the Hurricanes’ practice with wind gusts upwards of 30 m.p.h. “It was windy today, but that is good because we need to work in different conditions,” Coker said.

Coker was pleased with the play of the defensive secondary, which spent the day breaking up passes and making interceptions.

“I thought the secondary did a nice job of knifing in and making plays,” Coker said. “They were not only making nice plays but making interceptions. It is one thing to knock the ball down, but it is another thing to get the interception and now we are on offense.”

The development of the freshman running backs will be important for Miami as fall practice progresses, and Charlie Jones, Derron Thomas and Andrew Johnson all got to flash the skills that brought them to UM in Friday’s practice.

“I will tell you that I like all of those guys,” Coker said. “I see some things from each of them. With Andrew Johnson, you have great running ability. Charlie Jones has excellent speed, but he is very powerful inside. Along with Derron Thomas, all three show a lot of promise.”

The Hurricanes will return to the practice field at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for the squad’s first practice in full pads. Saturday’s workout is open to the public.

“Tomorrow won’t be a lot different than what we did today, other than we may have a little scrimmage at the end,” Coker said. “We are just looking to see them carrying the pads well and the intensity.”