Hurricanes Work On Oklahoma Drill Again

March 29, 2005

Coral Gables, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) – – The Miami Hurricanes finished their eighth practice of the spring with another spirited session of the Oklahoma drill, in which one lineman from both offense and defense face off, and a running back choosing a lane to run through. The Oklahoma drill is famous for instilling toughness to any football team.

“We videotape the drill, and it’s really good to see if you see guys coming off with the pads low and hands inside,” said head coach Larry Coker. “We borrowed it from (the University of) Minnesota. They do a great job running the football (the Golden Gophers ranked fifth in the country in 2004), and that’s something we wanted to incorporate into our offense. We want to get a little tougher. It’s a drill in which you’re not going to get injuries. It’s one-on-one, and it really stresses technique and toughness.”

Coker commented on the performance of his team’s defense earlier in the practice. “We were flying around pretty good,” he said. “We need to get a lot better on offense and on pass protection, but we’re running the ball pretty decently with consistency. But like I told the guys, `We’re playing for jobs. And jobs will get you to Tallahassee (for the Sept. 5 season opener at Florida State).'”

The football team will take Wednesday off and practice again on Thursday and Friday at 3:20 p.m. and again at 10:00 a.m. Saturday at the Greentree Practice Fields. All practices are open to the public.