'Canes All-Access Photos & Video: Recapping Practice #1

March 5, 2011

Photo Gallery: Golden, Ayles, Finnie, D’Onofrio & Kehoe

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The spring season officially started for the Miami Hurricanes football team on Saturday morning as the team laced up their cleats and buckled on their helmets for the first time in preparation for the 2011 season. Intensity and focus were the themes as the program starts a new era under head coach Al Golden.

Spring ball got underway a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. with special teams work, followed by a stretching period. The team moved on to other drills throughout the morning, including seven-on-seven, two-minute drill and special situations. No pads were worn. There was plenty of teaching and learning going on as a new system is being put in place.

Everything was done at a fast pace with full effort demanded from everyone at all times. Here are some notes from Saturday.

A New Beginning
Saturday marked the first time that Al Golden and his staff got to coach the players on the football field. All assistant coaches, with the exception of Micheal Barrow, are new to Miami from last year.

Plenty of time was devoted throughout the day to giving the position coaches a chance to work their players as a group and as individuals. Spring is critical learning time, as the foundation is set for the upcoming season.

Golden mentioned on Thursday that the first couple practices would probably not be up to his standards of pace because of the time that was needed to implement his ways. That was true on Saturday, as there were times the coaching staff had to slow things down for teaching moments. This is necessary in the grand scheme of things.

Welcome Back
Offensive line coach Art Kehoe made his return to practice field coaching up his talented group of linemen. Kehoe spent 27 years at Miami during his first tenure from 1979-2005 starting as a graduate assistant and eventually moving his way up to assistant head coach in addition to offensive line oversight duties. Many on the sidelines took notice of Kehoe’s intensity out there on the field.

Clock Management
Al Golden ran a very detailed practice with every drill allotted a certain amount of time. If a drill ran a little bit over, that was made up somewhere else. The coaches were on the players encouraging them to move quickly from drill to drill to stay on time and keep up the intensity. One of Golden’s goals is to have a focused and disciplined team out there every day.

There was very little wasted time as even the players on the sidelines were responsible for something. For example, during team work, there was the live offensive unit and then there was another 20 yards back that was fully lined up in the same formation.  That secondary group would snap the ball and move on the cadence of the live group. 

Finish it out…
One of the biggest themes of the day was “play to the whistle.” The coaches repeatedly yelled that out to instill the message to the players.
 
Depth Chart
Players wore jerseys corresponding to their spot on the depth chart with offensive starters in green, defensive starters in black, reserve offensive players in white and reserve defensive players in orange. Injured players wore red or yellow.

TB3
Travis Benjamin has added six pounds to his frame despite splitting time with football and the track team, where he has been impressive during the indoor season, including breaking the school record in the 60m dash.

He made one of the best catches of the day going up in double coverage on the far sideline to bring down a Spencer Whipple pass. If they were on the basketball court, it would have looked like an alley-oop from half court.

Competition
Golden told the media that all spots on the starting unit are up for grabs in the spring. “Players that prepare and practice the best will start the games,” he said.

There will be depth chart – and corresponding jersey color – change on a practice-by-practice basis.

Number Change
LaRon Byrd changed his jersey number from 47 to No. 2 to honor a cousin who passed away in 2009.

Brand New
Freshmen Thomas Finnie and Olsen Pierre participated in their first practice as a Hurricane on Saturday. Both enrolled early and have been taking classes at the University of Miami this semester.

Finnie is currently listed at the top of the depth chart at cornerback. His successful transition from high school to the top of the depth chart is a rarity.  He has impressed the coaching staff with his work ethic in the off-season workouts so far, as well as doing all the right things in the classroom, meetings and off the field activites.

Diet
Marcus Forston told the media that he has lost 21 pounds this offseason by eating chicken, spinach and turkey.

Vistors
Approximately 200 alums, local coaches and special vistors were on hand to witness practice Saturday. Football alums in attendance included Bernie Kosar, Juan Comendeiro, Randall Hill, Ed Hudak, Don Bailey Jr., Anthony Chickillo Sr., Kevin Beard, Phil Tracy, Todd Lehman and Tony Griffin. Board of Trustees member Paul DiMare was also at practice in addition to Ted and Todd Schwartz. The Schwartz donated five million dollars to the athletic department to fund the Schwartz Center for Academic Excellence.

Coming Up
The Hurricanes will be back on the practice field on Tuesday afternoon at 2:15.