#CanesCamp Notebook (August 19)

The Miami Hurricanes returned to practice Monday for the second-to-last day of #CanesCamp. The Canes left the UM intramural fields and practiced at Mark Light Field. The outfield at “The Light” was transformed into a 70-yard football field as the grounds crew finalizes its work on the Greentree Practice Fields.

#CANESCAMP NOTES

• #100Days Countdown to Kickoff: 11 days (Miami opens 2013 season Aug. 30 vs. FAU at 8 p.m. on ESPNU)
• Monday was the second-to-last day of #CanesCamp. The Hurricanes will have one session Tuesday before breaking camp.
• Monday’s practice was held at Mark Light Field, while the grounds crew finalizes its work on the Greentree Practice Fields. The Canes had been practicing on the UM intramural fields since late last week.
• The outfield at Mark Light Field was transformed into a 70-yard football field. Kickers and punters were kicking balls over the right-center field fence, while several drills and stations were set up along the warning track.
• Players wore full pads for Monday’s two-hour morning session. Most notably, no players were in yellow non-contact or red no-contact jerseys.
• Senior DL Shayon Green, junior C Shane McDermott and junior WR Phillip Dorsett were team leaders for Monday’s practice and were not in pads.
• Defense won the first 11-on-11 drill, while the offense won the second – both were back-and-forth contested battles.
• In the fifth quarter drill with the 1s, big catches from sophomore WR Herb Waters and big runs by sophomore RB Duke Johnson stood out. Senior DE David Gilbert registered a sack.
• With the 2s, Beau Sandland, Standish Dobard and D’Mauri Jones hauled in nice catches, while Dallas Crawford and De’Andre Johnson both broke up a pair of impressive runs.

QUOTABLES
Al Golden on depth chart…
“Obviously we have two more days of training camp and then we have another 10 days of preparation where a lot of those jobs are going to be determined. So I think there’s one that we’ll break camp with and then there’s still going to be – let’s say – there’s 50 or 60 percent of the jobs that are still going to be settled in those next six or seven practices.”

Golden on positions that are still uncertain…
“There’s a lot. I mean there’s a lot on the D-Line right now. I think there’s a lot in the secondary. I think there’s a lot at wide out. I’m concerned about our depth at wide out. We’re not deep in terms of our scholarship numbers and if we get nicked up like we have been the last couple of days, I’m worried there. I just think there are still a lot of battles. There are a lot of battles at tight end.”

Golden on the receivers that have been nicked up…
“It’s been Allen Hurns, he’s been nicked up. Of course Malcolm (Lewis) is fighting back still. Rashawn Scott has been in and out. Again, when that happens we just don’t have 11, 12 wide receivers on scholarship right now so our numbers are low. Obviously that’s a target for us moving forward.”

Golden on his overall impression of the second scrimmage…
“It was good. It was a good run. The guys played hard. We had a lot of guys making effort plays. They took it seriously. We really conducted it like a game. We slowed it down, like TV time outs and had a halftime and everything just so the guys can get used to staying focused through those things and not letting them be a distraction. It’s a mature team; I’ve been saying it all along, so hopefully they can keep their focus up.”

Golden on the players running during practice…
“I think if you didn’t give the type of effort that’s the standard on offense and defense here and certainly the standard of the Shayon Greens, the Jimmy Gaines, the Jon Felicianos, and all those guys you’re going to run. That’s it, period. You can run during the game and give one hundred percent or you can half plays and run on your time. That’s the standard the guys want and we’re going to give it to them.”

Golden on Stacy Coley…
“He’s just a freshman. He’s a talented freshman that is a long way away from playing a whole game or being the guy. But he’s talented. We’re happy that he is what he thought he was coming out. As I said this morning, I prefaced it by saying I don’t want to jump from here to Canton (Pro Football Hall of Fame). It’s one step at a time here. Learn the process; get better every day, which has been fun to watch. There’s a maturity level there. He has to study football because he doesn’t get a lot of ME’s. And then he shows willingness to block, even though he doesn’t have the strength levels of Allen (Hurns) and Rashawn (Scott) and those guys. He shows willingness to block. All those things are great qualities for a young wide receiver.”

Golden on the veterans influencing the new guys…
“At the end of the day, when you start to change a culture and kids start to buy it and it perpetuates itself. That’s what we’re seeing right now. Phillip Dorsett, Allen Hurns, those guys they lead by example. Malcolm Lewis coming off a foot injury, he’s out there blocking everybody the other night. I’m sure you guys have heard by now, he had an unbelievable block on a long play for Mo Hagens which was just effortless. So those guys are setting the standard, and guys like Stacy (Coley) coming in, it’s easy to say okay I know what it means now.”

Golden on Maurice Hagens…
“I think he’s a really, really talented fullback. I think he’s obviously under the radar in terms of being recognized. I think as an organization we all recognize what he can do and his value. He’s a very unselfish player, a guy that’s tough all the time, and he does all the little things we ask him to do. So we’re happy to have Mo for sure.”

Golden on how to convert a great practice player into a great game player…
“I think that’s a good point. That’s why we have to take it step by step. Get in the game; make some plays, then the next step. Then feel comfortable. Then the next step is play more. And then winning a starting job. So there’s a progression there. Because a young man is talented, sometimes we forget the progression here at Miami. I get it. Hopefully he stays grounded. I think the guys around him will help him stay grounded; certainly Stephen’s (Morris) a positive influence on him. But it’s like everything else. I’ve been around guys who lit it up and then same thing. So I think there’s got to be a confidence there. You’re better off being a game late than a game early with a lot of kids because you can destroy their confidence. So we’ll just take it easy with him. As he grows and progresses, so will his role.”

Golden on how he brings a golfer’s mentality into coaching kickers and punters…
“Absolutely in terms of how you teach. I studied under Dr. Rotella at University of Virginia and golf is not a game of perfect, that’s the name of his book. And I believe in that. When it comes to finite focus, as a punter you can say ‘I’m going to aim over there at that deserve victory sign over there’, but I would prefer if they said ‘I’m going to aim at that Y at the end, that’s exactly where I want to put it.’ So one day, we’re out here, and here’s Pat O’Donnell and he’s a man, he’s a mature guy. So I asked him—he hit a kick off perfectly—and I said, ‘What were you aiming at?’ And he said ‘the B in Coach Barrow over there on the field.’ And I said, ‘Okay he gets it.’ And it’s a great lesson for all the young guys to understand. It’s like golf. You can’t say I want to aim it in that direction or I want to aim it at green. You know, what’s your focus is it finite enough? We can all learn from that for sure.”

Golden on Deon Bush…
“Deon was in a green shirt (Sunday) and I think he progressed well. And again, I’m like you guys so I’m excited for him. Let’s see how he goes out here and does today and hopefully today’s a step. And he’ll keep on making progress and I think that’s really important for him to have the confidence. I think a lot of it is confidence right now and just understanding that he’s not going to be one hundred percent any time soon but the only way to get there is just make increment improvements every day.”