Different Paths, Same Goals
By Camron Ghorbi
HurricaneSports.com
It was dubbed ‘The New Miami’ by head coach Manny Diaz.
And it’s that refreshed mentality – the one pervading the Hurricanes football program through two spring practices, the one omnipresent during strength coach David Feeley’s spring workouts – that helped draw redshirt sophomore Tate Martell and true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Payton to The U in January.
.@TheTateMartell 💬:
“There’s a fresh attitude that’s running through the whole program right now. You can sense it from every part of the operation – the players to the coaches to the strength staff, the trainers. Everybody feels refreshed. Now everybody just wants to work.” pic.twitter.com/guqp5UOffh
— Canes Football (@CanesFootball) February 2, 2019
“I’m really excited to be down here. After meeting with Coach [Dan] Enos and Coach Diaz when I came down, I knew this was the spot I wanted to be,” said Martell, whose waiver for immediate eligibility was approved on the first day of spring ball. “There’s such a great vibe around the whole team right now. Everyone is working so hard in the offseason, and it’s fun to be around, because you see the guys want to be great.”
we aren’t ready yet.. but we will be!
oh btw… I’M ELIGIBLE TO PLAY! pic.twitter.com/jSr9wmwiqi
— TATE MARTELL (@TheTateMartell) March 19, 2019
For Payton, the December shakeup in the offensive coaching staff was never going to alter his plans. He always knew where he wanted to end up: the picturesque campus in Coral Gables.
“Going through the process, my parents told me that if you’re going to fall in love with a program, you have to fall in love with the school first,” Payton said. “I always knew I was going to a great school. I still knew the guys who were here. Coach Diaz came in and told me, ‘We want you to come, we want you to play right away.’
“There was no reason to go anywhere else.”
DIFFERENT PATHS
Make no mistake about it – the college paths of the dynamic offensive duo are as stark in contrast as can be.
Payton never altered the course, sticking to his plans after committing in the spring of his junior year out of Neptune Beach in Jacksonville. It took a while longer for Martell – a highly touted quarterback prospect out of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, and a two-year member of the Ohio State football team (2017-2018) – to arrive in sunny south Florida.
Yessirrrrrrr #surge19 🤘🏾✅ pic.twitter.com/biAW8QAPDU
— doce✝️ (@paytonsho_) December 19, 2018
For both, however, the assimilation into the Miami locker room has been as breezy as a March day on Key Biscayne.
“It’s been rather easy transition – easier than I expected,” said Martell, a high school teammate of tight end Brevin Jordan. “All the guys have been really cool and accepting. We have a good group of guys in the locker room, and I’m excited to be around them. It has been fun to get to know them.”
Payton said it’s not just in the wide receiver meeting room where he has made some early connections.
“Brian [Hightower], Mark [Pope], Jarren [Williams], Brevin – they’ve been keeping me on track,” Payton said. “B.J. [Bradley Jennings, Jr.] and all the Jacksonville guys – Mike [Pinckney], Shaq [Quarterman] – we’ve all been close.”
SPRINGING TOGETHER
Payton knows all the names: Andre Johnson. Santana Moss. Reggie Wayne. As he gets set for his first practice in pads as a Hurricane, Payton says he couldn’t wait to get his career started and follow some of the all-time greats before him.
“Watching them go out and play, and now to wear the same jerseys with your name on your back, knowing the people that came before you, you can go out there and make a name for yourself – it’s amazing,” he said.
For Martell, the team-wide chemistry was palpable from the very first day in the weight room.
“There’s a fresh attitude that’s running through the whole program right now,” he said. “You can sense it from every part of the operation – the players to the coaches to the strength staff, the trainers. Everybody feels refreshed. Now everybody just wants to work.”
How would the newly eligible quarterback describe the phrase going around town, the one shortened on social media to #TNM?
“You’re going out with energy because at the end of the day, we want to be national champions and go win the big one,” he said. “Everyone has that vibe, and that’s what their mindset is right now. That’s exactly what you want it to be.”
