Miami Joined By Military Personnel at Practice
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes returned to the Greentree Practice Fields for Day 8 of #CanesCamp Thursday, and were joined by some newcomers to the sideline.
In addition to freshman Cedrick Wright, who was making his first appearance of camp, roughly 25 members of the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserves and University of Miami ROTC watched the morning practice under the direction of head coach Mark Richt.
“It’s great to see the support that Coach Richt and his team give to the armed forces in the area,” U.S. Air Force Captain Michael Kemp said. “To see a team like this and to have Coach Richt open his doors to us, so that we can watch practice, is huge for morale purposes and camaraderie. One of the biggest things that ties us together as a unit is talking about the universities that we support, so it’s great to see that this team supports us as well.”
The military personnel in attendance were treated to another lively practice, where the defense “won” the day thanks to a late surge. After the practice, military members and student-athletes shared lunch together in the training table.
“It’s going to be exciting to start working on a game plan of somebody besides our own defense, and vice versa. Right now, we’re competing. Defense won the day,” head coach Mark Richt said. “It was close until the very end, and then defense had a couple of turnovers at the very end that made the difference. It was a good day overall, though.”
Wright must go through a NCAA-mandated, five-day acclimation period before donning full pads like his new teammates.
“Mostly just learning,” Richt said of Wright. “I did hear Coach Banda [say], which was excellent, ‘I want you to learn how to practice’ – meaning effort. He said, ‘I’ll teach you techniques, we’ll teach you signs, we can teach you all that. But what you have to learn today is the tempo of how we work.’
“He didn’t get a lot of reps obviously, because he couldn’t get in there during team work. But I think he’s at least watching and observing to see how we go about our business.”
Junior defensive lineman Trent Harris said he thought the entire defense performed well one day after taking the field for the first scrimmage of the fall.
“We’ll find out later when we watch the film, but I felt like we had a pretty good day as a whole on defense,” Harris said. “We were flying around later on in the practice.”
Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who described a system the Miami coaches call the ‘chaos index’ to track disruptive defensive plays, said he views underclassmen no different in the new defensive scheme.
“If you look at what we’ve done since we’ve been here, we’ve had freshman in our starting lineup. To me, we don’t have freshmen and sophomores and those type of things, we just don’t have that luxury,” Diaz said. “They were all freshmen by the time this coaching staff got here in January. They all have the exact same amount of at bats.
“Normally, on a college football team, the difference with your experience is that they have been in your system for a long period of time. Whether you’re a senior or a freshman, you’ve been at 15 practices this spring and nine practices this fall. It’s a unique situation for the young guys to come into because everyone started off on equal ground.”
Read on for more reaction from Day 8 of #CanesCamp on the Greentree Practice Fields:
Head Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement…
“Another good, fundamental day. Offensively, we finished our second-to-last installation. We’ll do red zone tomorrow, short yardage tomorrow, maybe a little goal line tomorrow. That’s about it, as far as installation. We might have a day here sooner or later for one-minute drill and what we call “four-minute drill” as well. That’s what’s left…we’re getting close. It’s going to be exciting to start working on a gameplan of somebody besides our own defense, and vice versa. Right now, we’re competing. Defense won the day. It was close until the very end, and then defense had a couple of turnovers at the very end that made the difference. It was a good day overall, though.”
On if he saw any players separate themselves after the first scrimmage…
“We’re so busy. Usually I sit down with the defensive staff and talk about what happened, talk about personnel. But we’re watching film, installing the next day…it’s just not the time of the year to even have a break in the action. There’s really no time to grab them and find out what the deal is, but they’re kind of handling that as they go. The depth chart that will start to be meaningful is when we do that ‘practice game,’ that third scrimmage is when we’ll be kind of declaring this guy is No. 1, this guy is No. 2. Right now, it doesn’t mean a whole lot.”
On his takeaways from the scrimmage in general…
“I just think the vision of the swarm on defense. Offense actually had a lot of nice plays. [Brad] Kaaya had nice yardage, and when we started drives in the 50, we scored three times in a row in the offensive ones [first string] versus the [defensive] twos. Mostly the one units did good against the two units. I really like how fast everybody is playing, and how much they’re just running to the ball. It’s an image that is very, very positive. One exceptional play that happened – I said there was a pick-6, but it really wasn’t a pick-6. It was a pick that went down inside the five. I didn’t realize it, but [Joe] Yearby, of all people, we threw the out route, it got picked and looked like an easy touchdown. Yearby turned and ran like a mad man and knocked him out of bounds at about the three yard line. It [would have] allowed our defense to line up and possibly force a field goal or turnover. The same kind of play happened on [Adrian] Colbert early on, I don’t know if I mentioned it…a run broke out, looked like an easy touchdown, but the backside cornerback from the wide field came all the way across the field and knocked him out right about the two or three yard line. We actually showed that play to the team – the Colbert play – sure enough, the very next practice, Yearby decided to go knock somebody out of bounds.”
On the absence of defensive lineman Al-Quadin Muhammad from practice…
“He had some personal things to work on. I plan on him being at practice tomorrow. If there’s something to report, I’ll report it to you.”
On the addition of safety Cedrick Wright, who practiced for the first time…
“Everybody else was in shoulder pads, and he was in no shoulder pads, because he has to go through that five-day acclimation period…he got his feet wet. We allowed him to be in a non-contact coverage drill. But mostly just learning. I did hear Coach Banda [say], which was excellent, ‘I want you to learn how to practice’ – meaning effort. He said, ‘I’ll teach you techniques, we’ll teach you signs, we can teach you all that. But what you have to learn today is the tempo of how we work.’ He didn’t get a lot of reps obviously, because he couldn’t get in there during team work. But I think he’s at least watching and observing to see how we go about our business.”
On any concerns lingering from the spring and if fall camp has helped address them…
“I feel better about our depth at the offensive line, if Sunny [Odogwu] stays healthy. Sunny looks very good. I guess that’s one little bit of news. He looks healthy, and he looks quick. He’s energized. We got our center [Nick Linder] back. That kind of helped our depth. Receivers definitely added to it – with Ahmmon [Richards], Dayall [Harris] and [Sam] Bruce. They’ve absolutely helped. Then the other guy who came in and wasn’t here in the spring, [Malik] Mayweather, he really has helped us – with just giving a good look on both sides of the ball.”
On the status of senior fullback Gage Batten…
“Gage will probably have to have surgery to take out whatever plate was in there. It was something that was planned from the very beginning. We put him on the 105 [roster] so he can be learning and getting ready. We felt like he could hopefully help us before the year is over.”
On the status of incoming freshman Dionte Mullins…
“He’s not here yet, but we plan on him being here.”
Defensive Lineman Trent Harris
On where he has been practicing early on in #CanesCamp…
“I’m on the right side, working with the twos right now behind Quan [Al-Quadin Muhammad].”
On how he thought he performed today at practice, running with the first team…
“We’ll find out later when we watch the film, but I felt like we had a pretty good day as a whole on defense. We were flying around later on in the practice.”
On any differences he has noticed in his own play from last season to this one…
“I feel a lot quicker than I was last year. I’m able to use my quickness more this year, getting off the ball instead of sitting back and reacting. The strength coaches have done a good job.”
Defensive Back Sheldrick Redwine
On the play of freshman wide receiver Ahmmon Richards…
“He’s a real good player. Fast. Quick off the line. He’s learning to use his hands real well. Good routes. He’s going to be a great player.”
On the young wide receivers…
“He’s more of a speed guy down the field. Sam [Bruce] is more, if he catches the ball, he’s going to make somebody miss. Dayall [Harris] is a real smooth, head-fake, quick guy. They all have their differences, but they’re all real good.”
On playing press coverage…
“We like it. We try to step up in all competition. If it’s man, zone, whatever it is – we take what he says, apply it to the field and try to go as fast as we can, go hard. It’s an opportunity to show, when it’s just me and the man across from me, who’s going to be better. It’s on us to step up more.”
Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz
On the depth of the defense…
“We’re going to feel confident with the best players that we have available through 29 days of practice. I think the players enjoy knowing that the best players are going to play. It proves that there’s not a recruiting spiel. If you earn playing time then you get playing time and that’s how it works.”
On the experience level of the defense…
“If you look at what we’ve done since we’ve been here, we’ve had freshman in our starting lineup. To me, we don’t have freshmen and sophomores and those type of things, we just don’t have that luxury. They were all freshmen by the time this coaching staff got here in January. They all have the exact same amount of at bats.
“Normally, on a college football team, the difference with your experience is that they have been in your system for a long period of time. Whether you’re a senior or a freshman, you’ve been at 15 practices this spring and nine practices this fall. It’s a unique situation for the young guys to come into because everyone started off on equal ground.”
