Meet The Press: @GoldenAl Previews Virginia

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami Hurricanes head coach Al Golden met with members of the media Tuesday to preview Saturday’s ACC Coastal Division game vs. Virginia. Saturday’s game will kick off at noon ET on ESPNU.

Saturday’s game will also kick off its “Uniendo La Familia” (Uniting the Family) campaign. During the celebration of the Hurricanes’ last home game, the Hurricanes will show their appreciation of the diversity within the South Florida community with an on-site concert featuring radio host celebrity, DJ Laz, and popular artist, Maffio, along with pre-game activities appropriate for all ages. The event will give attendees the opportunity to partake in a variety of family-fun activities, including an Instagram booth and photo opportunities.

Opening remarks…
“I think the team has done a good job, taking yesterday off and moving forward. Today we had a good practice getting ready for Virginia. Obviously through all the disappointment over the last couple of weeks, it’s really been about moving forward, supporting the seniors and doing everything we can to play a really good game against a Virginia team that has obviously played us well.

“I’m very impressed with David Watford – he’s [at] 60-percent completion percentage, I think he leads the conference in completions. He’s doing a great job – escape ability, can run, might see some copycat runs from him from the last two weeks. He’s a guy that is very impressive to me. Jake McGee at tight end is a kid who has played well, I think he has 36 catches on the year. Kevin Parks has done a great job running the ball and being downhill. [Darius] Jennings, [Tim] Smith, Keeon Johnson, all those guys are doing an excellent job for them, and [they] have a big, physical offensive line led by [Morgan] Moses.

“[They are] very active on defense. Top 20 in takeaways, sacks are up, takeaways are up, third down percentage is down. They’re doing a really nice job – obviously those are all trademarks of Jon Tenuta on defense. Eli Harold is doing a great job for them [with] 11 tackles for loss and five sacks or so. Henry Coley is strong inside, a real physical MIC linebacker. [Daquan] Romero is doing a nice job for them. [David] Dean is doing a nice job. [Mike] Moore and [Jake] Snyder are doing a great job for them. And on the back end, [Anthony] Harris leads the country with interceptions. It’s going to be a great challenge for us on Saturday, and the biggest challenge is for our team to invest and make sure we support our seniors and send them off the way they deserve to be sent off.”

On the importance of his senior class…
“They stood with us when it was really hard. I know for the most part it’s over now, but there really weren’t many days where they could see the future in the last two years, the last 28 months. Those guys, I’m really proud of them for the way they’ve delivered us through this. They’ve adopted somebody else’s problem as their own. They fought through it, they resolved it and they’re allowing us to move forward now. I just want to make sure everyone in our organization understands how pivotal that was for us, and that we send them off the right way.”

On if he gets more involved with defense after the team’s struggles…
“I’m going to keep saying it, that I’m involved in every aspect of football here at the University of Miami. I’m responsible for it all. Right now, we’re not playing well enough collectively. We had some good performances the other night – I indicated those to you on Sunday. But it’s really not good enough collectively, and I’m responsible for it.”

On if he has noticed any differences in success with defensive alignments and shifts…
“We had more success earlier in the year by pressuring out of both, and we’ll continue to do that. We need more tackles for loss. We need more sacks, no questions about it. We need more takeaways. All three of those can be tied together – not that they’re always tied together, but all three of those can be. We need that kind of output to return.”

On the play of junior linebacker Denzel Perryman…
“Denzel is starting to mature. It started all the way back in April and May when we gave him his goal weights and he looked at us like we were nuts, because it was time for him to move forward in his strength, in his weight and in his conditioning. By August he ended up making his goal weights and was still in condition. He still had his explosion, but he still wasn’t practicing the way he needed to.

“I brought him in after the first or second scrimmage, but he’s really learned to practice at a higher level. It’s a great testament to preparation, work ethic and bringing it to the game. I’m very excited about him, and I know he’s excited about the changes that he’s making and will continue to make. He has a full different gear. If we’re a stick shift, he’s in third right now – he has a whole gear to go to continue to prepare, continue to play fast, make interceptions, more caused fumbled, returned fumbles – all those explosive plays that really personify what we’re looking for from that position.”

On if he has explored any different personnel or rotations for his defense…
“I can’t get into all of them, because we’re playing an opponent, but some of them we released already on the depth chart. That’s really as far as I want to go. [Justin] Renfrow is going to play a little more outside, so Curtis [Porter], who played well last week, and Earl Moore can play more inside. I think that’s an indication. Obviously Corn Elder is on the depth chart now, because he’s going to get more reps. Jamal Carter got a lot of reps today. Some of those guys are earning some reps and doing a good job in the roles that we’re giving them, so we’ll see if some of those guys can’t spark us or add something to it.”

On if personnel decisions are ever class-based…
“No. It has nothing to do with their age, because the one thing I want everyone to know, we’re going to support the seniors through this. Because we lost a couple of games now, I’m not going to all of a sudden turn my back on the seniors that really stood with us through all this tumult. I’m not going to do it. Certain kids – I mentioned Jamal [Carter], Al-Quadin Muhammad, [Ufomba] Kamalu, Corn Elder – they’re earning reps, and they’re earning reps because they’re producing. It’s like Stacy [Coley] – Stacy is earning reps because he’s producing when he’s in there on kick and punt returns, so now he’s going to earn more reps. It’s not that we’re taking reps from any seniors. It’s that some of these guys have earned reps, and we’re going to give them an opportunity.”

On what he has seen from the younger defensive tackles…
“Jelani [Hamilton], Earl [Moore] and Corey [King] all played for us last year, and all of them right now are down on the scout team cultivating skills. That’s what you really want. You want to have that, where you’re down there, you can grow, cultivate skills, get strong, get tough and then transition them on the field. Obviously [Ufomba] Kamalu is doing a really good job for us right now. He is coming on. In terms of our depth, it’s top heavy. We’re recruiting the heck out of that position, especially guys that can come in and help us right away, because of how old some of the guys are – [Justin] Renfrow, Luther [Robinson], Curtis [Porter] and those guys.”

On the importance of former Virginia defensive tackle Justin Renfrow to the defense…
“Obviously he’s bailed us out incredibly. It’s well-documented what we went through in recruiting last year. To be able to have him and [David] Gilbert come has been huge for us. We needed guys that could come in and help us. Justin is a very inquisitive kid, very bright kid, he has brought some maturity there – not just physical, but mental maturity. Whatever ways they parted on, we’ve really never talked about it. It’s always been about what he’s going to do to help us, getting a graduate degree at Miami and all that. It wasn’t about where he left and even this week, he’s just trying to get ready to play. Although it’s a little bit awkward, but we’ve all been there. I think he’s a very mature kid, he’s doing his job, and that’s what he’s been doing all week – not worrying about any of the sideshow.”