Veterans Leading Offensive Line in Spring Practice
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Dominating the line of scrimmage is important to the success of any football team.
The 2017 Hurricanes were known for their fearsome defensive line that wreaked havoc behind the line of scrimmage, but Miami’s offensive line also had plenty of success a year ago. Four of the five starting offensive linemen earned All-ACC recognition while helping Miami’s offense average over 400 yards per game on the season.
Miami’s starting unit is in flux this spring, as seniors Kc McDermott and Trevor Darling will graduate before the 2018 season. In addition to finding two new starters, the Hurricanes are looking to replace the leadership and experience that McDermott and Darling provided.
Rising seniors Tyler Gauthier and Tyree St. Louis are two prime candidates to lead the offensive line in 2018. Each player has proven himself to be an excellent player and has extensive game experience.
Gauthier, who has played both guard and center, is currently penciled in to return as Miami’s starter at center. But St. Louis has shifted to left tackle after playing most of the last two years as Miami’s starter at right tackle.
“I like it, it’s much more comfortable for me,” St. Louis said. “I didn’t start playing football until my freshman year of high school, but the first two and a half years that’s all I played. My junior year of high school I went to right tackle, then [as a] senior back at left. While I’ve been here I’ve been playing some of both left and right. Last two years mostly right, but now kicking me back out to left – it’s bringing out the old high school days. I feel like it’s a lot more comfortable.”
Freshman All-American Navaughn Donaldson is back for his second year as a Hurricane and he is likely to return as a starter on the offensive line. After enrolling at Miami for the 2017 spring, Donaldson has entered his second spring in better shape and ready to take another step forward in his progression.
“I’m sure you guys can tell when Navaughn walked around here that he’s lost weight,” Gauthier said. “He’s able to move a lot quicker, run a little quicker…he’s more in tune with – I mean, after playing a full season – he’s gotten the playbook. He makes calls up there with me when we are getting ready to run a play and it’s definitely good to see.”
Beyond the three returning starters, Miami has a large mix of talented linemen looking to earn a spot among the starting five. Returners like Jahair Jones, George Brown, Corey Gaynor, Hayden Mahoney, Kai-Leon Herbert, Zalon’tae Hillery and Zach Dykstra are looking to emerge as veteran candidates. Brown and Jones have caught the attention of their fellow linemen early this spring.
“I mean, watching him work today, you can tell that he’s a different kid from the fall,” Gauthier said of Brown. “He got in the weight room this year, he got a little heavier, got a little stronger and his footwork was really good, so I’m impressed with him.”
“Jahair’s my dude,” St. Louis said. “We’ve been cool since we first got here and it’s really nice to play with someone that you’ve been with the whole time, especially now that he’s older. He’s a senior like me and we’ve been together for years and we both communicate very well. It’s going well [for him], I like it. I like him at left guard.”
While the returners have an advantage in terms of experience, early enrollees John Campbell and Delone Scaife arrived at Miami in January looking to earn playing time.
“The two offensive line does have a lot of newcomers or first-year guys, mid-year guys like [John] Campbell and DJ Scaife and they’re actually doing pretty good,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “They probably don’t think so right now because there are so many things that are going in and their heads are spinning a little bit because we’re going at veteran’s pace. They show signs of athleticism. They show signs when they make contact that they have strong hands and can get movement which you’ve got to get in the run game. Obviously you’ve got to be a good athlete if you’re pulling or hitting or trying to pass protect. They have the length of the arms that you want, the athleticism that you want. We are pleased with them. They’ve got a long way to go to learn what to do, but it’s very encouraging the last two classes we’ve signed.”
As an experienced upperclassman, St. Louis is doing his part to help bring the younger and less experienced linemen up to speed this spring.
“Now I’m an older guy, the young guys are going to come to me more and the team is going to expect me to say more, especially being a senior left tackle,” St. Louis said. “Now it’s not just [about] doing my job and doing everything right, but making sure that other people around me try to encourage younger guys, younger teammates and older teammates to play at the same level and have the same intensity.”
Regardless of who lines up on the offensive line for Miami, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown knows they will be expected to be great just like everyone else who wears a ‘U’ on their helmet.
“There is a standard here at Miami,” Brown said. “I’ve told them, ‘ I don’t care if we’re good. That’s not the standard. The standard is to be great and every day you should want to be great. If you come out here with anything else in your mind, then you’re wrong and you’re in the wrong place. We’re going to push you to be great.’ When we sit down and make goals and ask guys what they want to achieve, everyone says, ‘I want to be great. I want the team to be great. I want to achieve greatness.’ Well that doesn’t come easy. Every team in the country is saying the same exact stuff so what’s going to set you apart? We’re going to hold those guys accountable and that they do their part.”
