Competition is Contagious Early in Canes Camp
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Head coach Mark Richt and his coaching staff have always emphasized the importance of intensity and competitiveness in every rep of every Miami Hurricanes football practice.
Monday was Day 3 of fall camp and the Hurricanes practiced in shells for the first time, giving the Canes an opportunity to add a little physicality to their intensity and competitiveness.
“Guys have waited since April to hit,” Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “We looked eager. I’ll say, [for] both sides of the ball…our two days in helmets were highly competitive. Sometimes those can turn into glorified walk-throughs. Highly competitive and today was the same way. A lot of big hits and a lot of guys really playing with an edge about them, both sides of the ball, which is good. We’ve got a thing now – like we mentioned in the spring – this team has an edge about it. It’s been a little feisty out here, and as coaches, I think we think that’s a good thing.”
Diaz is excited to see the competitive edge players have shown early in camp and believes it comes from a desire to accomplish more. After a 10-win season, an ACC Coastal title and an appearance in the conference title game, the Hurricanes have had a taste of success and they are hungry for more of it.
“Probably wanting to take the next step,” Diaz said. “It’s really not about how last year ended, it was everything about last year. It’s about that level of consistent play and playing at a high level, week in and week out. I think everything is coming off of that.”
While the physicality is increased, the Canes are not in a full contact scenario. Instead, Miami’s players are using a technique that they call ‘thud’ that is intended to allow contact but tries to prevent a serious and unnecessary injury.
“With thudding right now we are not trying to hit below the waist, or tackle from behind,” defensive lineman Joe Jackson said. “We are trying to keep each other healthy. We don’t want to hurt our teammates. That would be bad for us, so right now we are just thudding.”
“Coach Richt is very big on safety,” Jackson said. “So even when we put full pads on, it’s just to get a feel of it. We’ll probably most likely still be ‘thudding.’ We might have a few live periods, but we really won’t get to really hit each other until the first scrimmage.”
One of the players most excited to be back on the field hitting someone is redshirt senior Demetrius Jackson. The defensive lineman had his 2017 season cut short due to a knee injury, but he is back competing and that is exactly how he likes it.
“It felt good, because it’s been like a span of 10 months since the last time I played ball,” Demetrius Jackson said. “It just felt good to be back out here. It’s a blessing to be back out here with the guys in my last go-round and give it everything I got.”
The elder Jackson has been impressive early in camp, showing he is fully recovered and ready to contribute for the Canes.
“He’s come back strong,” Joe Jackson said. “He came back and we need that presence. He can play multiple positions. He can play d-end and he can play tackle in some packages, so that adds to our versatility. Him coming back helps us a lot.”
As veterans, both Demetrius and Joe Jackson have taken on major leadership roles in their position group. They are making sure Miami’s defensive linemen, especially freshmen Gregory Rousseau, Nesta Jade Silvera and Jordan Miller, are learning and preparing for the upcoming season.
“There are a lot of guys in that d-line room now, so now it’s basically, ‘when coach is talking, young guys in the front, you’re taking notes. You have a question, come ask us and we’ll tell you,'” Demetrius Jackson said. “In the drills, ‘get behind us and pay attention.’ Just everything like when I was a young guy and what the older guys did to me, like Anthony Chickillo and Tyriq [McCord], what those guys did to me is what we’re doing with them. We’re grabbing them by the waist and [saying], ‘even though you just got here, we have to go.’ We hit the ground running. We have a game in three and a half weeks now.”
The Canes are also competing on the offensive side of the ball, with veterans like junior running back Travis Homer making sure the offense is playing to the high standards the Hurricanes hold themselves to.
“The first day, we didn’t really come out with energy, but I like what I am seeing with these past two days,” Homer said. “The offense is coming out with a lot of energy and we are just trying to work as hard as we can.”
Homer also likes what he sees from his roommate, redshirt senior quarterback Malik Rosier. The veteran signalcaller is preparing for his final collegiate season and it shows.
“I see him talking a lot more, bringing that energy,” Homer said of Rosier. “He’s completing more passes. He’s just coming out with that fire.”
A year ago, Rosier led the Hurricanes to 10 consecutive victories for the first time since Miami won 34 consecutive games from 2000-02. But Rosier is hungry to do more and he spent the entire offseason working to improve his game.
“[There were] two things me and coach Mark Richt talked about a lot,” Rosier said. “He said one was shortening up my throwing motion, so I really harped on that. The second one was when I went back, I talked to David Morris and he said sometimes I over stride, which gets my body wide and gets my arm down. He said I’m starting to overthrow balls. Those are the two biggest things I worked on.”
Rosier completed 54 percent of his passes in 2017 and he is focused on elevating that number this season. He believes all of the quarterbacks have improved their accuracy and are pushing each other with every rep in practice.
“It’s not even [just] me being accurate; it’s all the guys being accurate,” Rosier said. “I’m pretty sure Cade Weldon was throwing 80 percent [completion rate] yesterday, N’Kosi [Perry] was in the 70’s and I was in the 70’s. So we have guys, it’s not even [just] me…it’s so good to know the guys behind me, if something happens to me, we’re going to have a guy that can step up and make plays.”
Miami’s defense has received most of the accolades heading into fall camp this year, but Rosier is pleased with what he has seen on his side of the ball, especially in terms of quality depth and talent.
“We’re really exciting,” Rosier said. “It’s not even [just] the receivers. We have four tight ends that can play. We have four running backs who can play. Actually, today, we went back and watched the first spring that the coaches were here. I’m pretty sure we had two walk-on receivers with the twos [second string], we had two walk-on lineman with the twos, and now it’s all scholarship guys. It’s nice to see guys compete. You’re seeing guys compete for the starting jobs and it’s amazing.”
