@CanesFootball Opens Week Five of #CanesCamp
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami football team returned to the Greentree Practice Fields Tuesday morning for the 13th day of spring practice under head coach Mark Richt.
The Hurricanes began practice at 9 a.m. on a sunny day in South Florida. The 13th practice once again placed the team in full pads as the Hurricanes began final week preparations for Saturday afternoon’s spring game.
Following practice, Richt, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, quarterback Brad Kaaya, defensive back Robert Knowles, running back Mark Walton and running back Joe Yearby spoke to members of the media.
The Miami football spring schedule will conclude on Saturday with its spring game (2 p.m.) at Lockhart Stadium and will be aired live on ESPN3. The Hurricanes’ spring game also will be open to the public and will be free for all fans.
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Spring Camp – Day 13
Mark Richt, Head Coach
On his level of concern regarding the offensive line after last Saturday’s scrimmage…
“I’m not too concerned. Some of those sacks belong to the quarterback and getting rid of the ball when he is supposed to. Sometimes a back doesn’t block like he should, or sometimes a guy runs a wrong route and a quarterback, instead of throwing it up for grabs, I’d rather him take a sack than throw a pick. There’s a little bit of that going on.
“On the other hand, you’ve got some pretty good pass-rushers, which is good. You have to give them credit too. You want your defense to have some success as well, so I don’t have a big concern right now with that.”
On players who have developed since his accepting the job in December…
“I just think the whole group. Today we watched cut-ups of everything we’ve done to this point, by plays we’ve called the most, to the ones we’ve called the least. When you watch the first couple of days of practice, it’s comical, for all of them. You could see how bad their footwork was, or a decision was, or a route was – so many things that weren’t even close to being right. And then the tape went on, everyone got better and better.
“I just think as a unit, as a team, we’re slowly getting where we need to get. It seemed like the second day in shoulder pads and helmets, we started to even resemble some kind of execution on offense to where it looked like the play we called was run. Early on, it didn’t look good. And I’m sure the guys were wondering there for a minute if what we were putting in was any good. Over time, we’ve gotten better and better at executing. I just think it’s a group thing.”
On if improvement has been a result of players going from ‘thinking’ to ‘playing’…
“It is. It’s a learning curve. If you ride a bike – you’re going to start trying to ride it – you’re going to fall down a few times. You’re going to mess up. Hopefully you don’t get hurt bad enough that you don’t want to try again, but that’s the whole point – when you fail at something, as you’re learning it, you have to get back on and try again, and just keep banging away. Over time, you start to master it. Then, before you know it, you gain confidence and then they play faster, like we’re talking about, on both sides of the ball.
“But the good thing is we’ve installed a bunch – at least 80 percent of what we’re going to give them, we’ve put in offensively. The rest will be little curveballs here and there off of something we create a tendency on. They’ll have the experience of the great majority of the system, so from now until two-a-days start, they’re going to have a chance to really become more and more familiar with it. Nowadays in the summer time, the guys stick around – they work out, they go do pass skeleton, seven-on-seven, they’ll do stuff against each other in pass rushing and all that. All summer long they’ll be doing things to help them get to the point where when we start camp, we install something on Day One, it will be so much different.”
On the format of the Spring Game…
“We’ll have two sides. We’ll have an Orange team and a Green team and we’ll be on different sidelines, and we’ll run plays. We won’t kick off. We’ll spot the ball probably at the 25 [yard line] or something like that. We’ll punt the ball, but we won’t rush the punt. We’ll punt them and field them and move the ball probably 40 yards – for a field goal, we’ll do live, I think we’ve got enough work in that. We’ll be able to do that.”
On how he picks the Orange and Green teams…
“It’ll be the No. 1 offense with the No. 2 and No. 3 defense versus the No. 1 defense with the No. 2 and No. 3 offense. But we’ll split the coaching staffs – there will be some offensive on each sideline, some defensive coaches on each sideline, and we’ll just play a game.”
Brad Kaaya, Junior, Quarterback
On which players have stepped up in spring practice…
“I think [Michael] Badgley has stepped up a lot. His leg has gotten strong. From my group, Stacy [Coley] looks like he has gotten a lot stronger, a whole lot stronger. I think Braxton’s [Berrios] injuries that he had last year don’t seem to be affecting him too much right now. He’s real quick. He’s going outside and inside, having to learn two positions. Those two guys seem to have really stepped up their game a lot.”
On the upcoming spring game, to be held April 16 at Lockhart Stadium…
“It should be fun. It should be cool to see all of our fans out. We’re in Broward [County] this time, so we’re hitting all three counties. It should be a fun little time.”
On the offensive line, and if he has felt the need to get the ball out quicker in spring practice…
“Not really. It’s all about trusting them, and getting through my reads. I can’t really speed up my process and have to worry about what the defensive line is doing or what the offensive line is doing.”
On working with head coach Mark Richt on forgetting about ‘bad’ plays and moving on…
“Like I said, it’s all about trusting the guys up front. Last year there were times where I had to get the ball out faster than other plays. It happened a few times in different games. You can’t let that get to you, because after a while it might start to influence your footwork, or you might be used to getting hit, so you’re throwing off your back foot to complete a pass. It’s all about getting rid of old habits and trusting the guys up front.”
Robert Knowles, Redshirt Freshman, Defensive Back
On last week’s scrimmage…
“I just wanted to execute and play hard. I was happy. When I got in the end zone, all my teammates came and jumped on me. It makes you feel good and like you did your job.”
On the benefits of a redshirt year and how it helped him coming into the spring…
“The redshirt it was helpful. I’m still learning and trying to get better, but playing against the ones on scout team helped me with my agility and just get my skills better overall.”
On the defensive playbook…
“It’s basic. You just need to stay in your playbook and keep working. If you have a question, they’re always free to answer and help you figure it out.”
On what he as learned from the new staff…
“How to be physical, keep my eyes on the luggage, watch the receiver’s hips and not to look them in the face. Watch the receiver’s hips and go where he goes and then look for the ball.”
Mark Walton, Sophomore, Running Back
On the running backs…
“I think everybody is getting a fair amount of reps. It’s hard to tell because we are all getting the same amount of reps.”
On his one-handed touchdown catch in Saturday’s scrimmage…
“We work on ball drills throughout practice. Coach [Thomas] Brown works with us on catching the ball out of the backfield. It was almost second nature for me when it came. I saw the ball out in front a little, so I reached my left hand out and caught it. I saw [Rayshawn Jenkins] coming, so I tried to tuck it and dive for the end zone and it turned out well.”
On the upcoming spring game…
“I think it’s more fun to be able to go all out against the defense. This is our last chance in gear against our defense. It’s definitely going to be fun.”
Joe Yearby, Junior, Running Back
On the competition…
“I’m enjoying the competition and it’s making us all better. I think I’m much better mentally and I am starting to get there physically.”
On how the competition gone at the running back position…
“The competition level is very high. We set high standards for each other. If I go out and do something big, I’m going to hold the guys to the same standard, so they can try to do the same.”
On whether anything that Coach Richt has said to the team has resonated with him…
“Yeah, he said ‘we’re going to be champions, but have to work hard. If we really want to be champions, we have to work hard for it.’ He means in everything you can do, even when no coaches are around.”
