Hurricanes Begin Spring Practice

March 21, 2006

Coral Gables — – The Miami Hurricanes began their spring practice this afternoon on the Greentree Practice Fields, going through the first of 15 scheduled sessions. The team worked in shorts without pads.

“It was the first day and obviously there was a lot of enthusiasm, guys running around having fun,” said head coach Larry Coker. “The coaches had a lot of enthusiasm, too, and there was a lot of teaching going on, which is very important. We need a lot of teaching and learning this spring. We had a great start. We need to develop a personality over the next 14 practices.”

With 22 players having departed, there were a lot of new faces in key positions on the field. Starting jobs are open at both cornerback spots, at two linebacker positions, at three places on the offensive line, and several other positions. One player back after having missed the last two seasons was cornerback Glenn Sharpe, who is penciled in as a starter for now.

Quarterback Kyle Wright, who is heading into his second season as the starter, commented, “It was the first day and we learned some new things, and although players had great energy, they were also thinking so much. They way we’ll do things now will be a little different. Today we focused on our quick game–getting rid of the ball quicker–and that will really help us in the run game and the deeper passing game. Definitely the emphasis is on me to get the ball out quicker, and I’ve been working on that.”

Coker agreed. “Kyle and Kirby (Freeman) were both working on getting the ball out of their hands fast. That’ll be very important this year. They need to make decisions, and that ball needs to be gone.”Several players have changed jersey numbers: punter Brian Monroe went from 39 to 15, cornerback Glenn Sharpe from 31 to 4, and middle linebacker Darryl Sharpton went from 40 to 50.

The Hurricanes will practice again on Wednesday, with a 3:20 practice session. All practices are closed to the public this spring. The annual spring game will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 15 at the Orange Bowl and is open to the public. The spring game will be followed by the BankUnited CanesFest.