CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes held their final afternoon practice of the week Friday on Day Four from the Greentree Practice Fields.
With summer classes ending on Friday, Miami head coach Al Golden was impressed with how his team balanced academics and athletics in the first week of its 2014 preseason camp.
“The kids finished up their finals and papers this morning and got locked in,” Golden said. “Again, I’m proud of them. They did a great job this week. Great maturity, excellent leadership, good focus.”
Freshman Brad Kaaya may have been the most impressive quarterback on Friday, though the position group has been turning heads early in #CanesCamp. Kaaya connected with senior Phillip Dorsett on a deep touchdown pass and also got some help from senior tight end Beau Sandland, who laid out to make a diving catch for a 30-yard gain.
While Kaaya has impressed on the field early in camp, Golden would like to see the freshman be more vocal in the huddle.
“Take command of the huddle,” Golden said of Kaaya. “Continue to be more vocal. I think that’s the one thing Jake Heaps is right now. He’s vocal. He’s not afraid to get after other guys and communicate and be loud. We’ve got to continue to work with Brad and Kevin [Olsen] and Malik [Rozier] on that. So that was the challenge to Brad today, just continue to be more vocal. Obviously he’s learning a lot. We’ve got a lot going in on the front end.”
Miami’s running backs also excelled on Friday. Gus Edwards showed his strength as a runner, taking a screen pass from Heaps and powering past defenders for a 35-yard gain. Junior Duke Johnson also shined, breaking off several big runs.
Defensively, Antonio Crawford picked off his second pass of #CanesCamp, hauling in a deep ball to prevent a huge play by the offense. Golden has been pleased with Crawford early this preseason.
“He’s finishing better,” Golden said. “The only thing we wanted him to do is continue to work on his conditioning and by virtue of that his mental toughness…and just finish, constantly. Finish every play, finish every rep, finish on the ball and he’s doing that, because he’s one of the fastest guys we have. Smart kid.”
While Crawford has stood out among the defensive backs, linebackers coach Hurlie Brown has been pleased with how his unit has looked over the first four days of #CanesCamp.
“I love them,” Brown said of the linebackers. “They’re a great group of guys. They work hard, they come out here every day ready to work. They love the game. They play hard, they’re smart, and they’ve had a great teacher. I’m trying to keep them on the way [Micheal Barrow] left them off.”
Brown credits veterans like senior Denzel Perryman and junior Raphael Kirby for helping him make a smooth transition from coaching running backs to linebackers.
“Denzel is great. Denzel, Raphael, all those guys,” Brown said. “They’ve been in the system for a while, they know it, they’re bought in. They want to win. They want to compete. Those guys come out here and go to work every day…I’ve been around them for the past four years. It makes it easy.”
Friday was the fourth day of the NCAA acclimatization period. Miami spent the first two days in just helmets, before adding shoulder pads on Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s practice will be the first opportunity for the Hurricanes to wear full pads.
After practicing in the afternoon over the past four days, The Hurricanes will return to Greentree at 8:20 a.m. Saturday for its fifth #CanesCamp session. For the latest information on Miami Hurricanes Football, follow @MiamiHurricanes on Twitter and the official blog for Hurricanes Football, www.theufootball.com.