By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – When Mike Harley learned his new offensive coordinator spent the last two seasons holding the same job at SMU, the first thing he did, of course, was study the film.
 
What Harley saw as he watched the 2019 Mustangs score touchdown after touchdown was that the receiver wearing his same number – James Proche – had plenty of touches and lots of big plays.
 
Harley was inspired.
 
“I’m looking at it like, ‘Okay, he wears No. 3, too. He’s catching a lot of balls. Let me study this guy,'” Harley said. “And then I looked up all the [records] for the University of Miami – the career leaders and stat leaders in yards and catches and I realized this offense can put me in the right position to break records and be remembered, from an individual standpoint. … This offense is just great for my skill set, but as a whole, on offense, everyone can eat.”
 
Cam’Ron Harris had a similar realization when he, too, watched how some of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s former players performed last year.
 
Former SMU running back Xavier Jones totaled more than 1,200 rushing yards, a number that caught Harris’ attention, particularly given his efforts to be Miami’s lead back this fall after the departure of DeeJay Dallas.
 
But what Harley, Harris and the rest of the Hurricanes are learning is that if they’re as to be as dynamic as they want to be in Lashlee’s offense, they’re going to have to make changes.
 
The biggest? Adjusting to a much faster tempo that doesn’t give anyone on either side of the ball much time to catch their breaths between plays.
 
“The past two years, I wasn’t in a fast-tempo offense. … It’s not easy,” Harris said after the Hurricanes wrapped up their second of 15 spring practices on Tuesday. “You have to get ready within eight to 10 seconds every play. We can run 30 yards and we still have to get back, every play. [Lashlee’s] been on top of us, every day. If we’re loafing, there’s punishment. If we do the little things wrong, there’s punishment. He’s been on our tail, but I think that’s what we need as a whole unit.”
 
Added receiver Dee Wiggins, “We’re going to get tired, but I mean, it’s a process thing. You know we have to get used to it. So as the days go by, we’ve got to get better and better at it. We’ve got to get better at conditioning. … It’s only Day Two, and we’re getting the hang of it. We’ve just got to take it day-by-day and keep working.”
 
Though the Hurricanes used their offseason workouts with strength and conditioning director David Feeley to prepare for the start of spring practice, players and coaches know it’s only repetition on the field that will help them get used to the in-game pace they’ll face this fall.
 
And while their players have spent just two days running Miami’s new offense, both Lashlee and head coach Manny Diaz say they’ve been encouraged by what they’ve seen from the Hurricanes so far.
 
“I mean, it’s chaotic. There’s a lot of good and there’s some really bad. But that’s the way it is when it’s the first few days of installing something new. We’re nowhere near anywhere as consistent as we need to be or want to be, but we’re just kind of throwing guys into it and we’re going to keep doing the same things over and over until they become habits,” Lashlee said. “I think the first two days, I like where we are in terms of their attitude, their desire to buy in and wanting to do what we want to do. But I also think they are understanding nobody really cares what you say. It’s about what you do.”
 
Said Diaz, “They’re hanging in there. They’re learning what they can do and as time goes on this spring, we’ll start to extend the drives a little bit longer. Your team is never going to be prepared for game-shape by what you’re doing in the offseason program. This time of year, you’re trying to make strength gains. So, they’re playing their way into shape a little bit. But the encouraging part is that they’re not flinching. And once they get more comfortable doing it, they’ll realize they can make it mentally. It’s mental as much as anything and then they’ll go from there.”
 
After two days without contact, things will start getting tougher, gradually, for the Hurricanes.
 
But both players and coaches are confident the response they want will be there and as the players’ confidence grows, things will only continue improving.
 
“The guys here are all here for a reason. They were recruited to come play at the University of Miami because they have ability. … We’ve not even put pads on yet, so it’s a little premature, but we’re excited thinking that we have a chance,” Lashlee said. “We’ve got kids that care. They want to win. They love Miami. They’re fully buying into the coaching staff and what we’re trying to do offensively. I know they believe in Coach Diaz and what we’re doing as a program. That gives you a chance.
 
“It’s our job, as coaches, to help them learn what we’re trying to do [and] develop their skills. … One thing that stands out is we have speed and athleticism. We have kids that care and want to win. But we’ve got to show them how to win.”