''This Is Where I Was Made''
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – There’s no doubt his alma mater looks different these days.
There’s a sparkling indoor practice facility that provides shelter on stormy South Florida days. A sprawling weight room filled with just about everything an athlete could need to train at the highest level. High-tech meeting rooms for coaches to study film and teach.
But every time Damione Lewis steps outside and onto the practice field, there’s nostalgia.
“Greentree will always be Greentree,” said Miami’s new defensive tackles coach, a former Hurricanes defensive lineman himself. “When you go out there and look at that field, you can see plays that were made with guys going against each other. You’re seeing Edgerrin James breaking tackles, or Santana Moss looking like he’s 12 feet in the air, catching the ball. Reggie Wayne breaking somebody down the line of scrimmage, all these different things, these different visions.
“This is home. This is where I was made. This is where iron sharpens iron, for me. Just being back on Greentree, the beautiful thing about it now is you’re coaching, and you want these guys to have that same experience, that same passion.”
Early on, his new players say they can see how much this opportunity means to Lewis.
“It’s just that old-school Miami … Now, you really see it in full effect. … [It’s] just him pushing us every day,” said Hurricanes defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. “Him telling us what they used to do and what he used to do and what I can do to help my game go higher.”
For Lewis – who most recently coached linemen at the University of Colorado and has also coached at the NFL level with the Seattle Seahawks – returning to Miami has felt like the opportunity of a lifetime, even if he’s only been back on campus for a few weeks.
He’s reconnected with Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, who served as a graduate assistant for the Hurricanes when Lewis suited up in orange and green. He’s working alongside a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Miami Dolphins legend in defensive line coach Jason Taylor.
And, most importantly, Lewis notes, he has the opportunity now to mentor a new generation of Hurricanes that he hopes will understand the responsibility that comes with wearing Miami’s famous “U” on the side of their helmets – particularly when playing on the defensive line.
“The standard is the standard, especially up front,” Lewis said. “From Jerome Brown to Cortez Kennedy and Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp and myself and on and on and on, the standard has always been the standard. That’s point-blank period. We’re going to play good ball up front. That’s just who we’ve been since 1981. That’s the football team we’ve had. And if you just match it, you come in and you hold the line, your defensive line should be fine. I want to keep that and help them understand what that is because it’s been a while, since 2001 [that Miami has won a national championship]. What’s missing? What are the pieces that we need? Wha’s the attitude we need to have to become a championship football team again? Those are the things I like talking about with the young guys.”
Lewis knows exactly what it takes to build a championship-caliber program.
The native of Sulphur Springs, Texas arrived at Miami in 1996, during a challenging stretch for the Hurricanes, who were under NCAA sanctions at the time.
But by the time Lewis left – after starting 41 games and totaling 220 tackles, 15.5 sacks and five forced fumbles – Miami was on the verge of not just winning a national title but thoroughly dominating the college football landscape.
“We put our hard hats on, we came through the probation period, and we turned this thing into a national championship football team before we left,” Lewis recalled.
He was drafted 12th overall by the then-St. Louis Rams in 2001 and spent nearly a decade in the NFL with the Rams, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans. During his time in the league, Lewis started 65 games, notched 277 tackles and recorded 23.5 sacks.
That experience – combined with Taylor’s expertise and knowledge of the game – will, Lewis hopes, make an impact on the young defensive linemen the two are coaching at Miami.
“We’re getting each other’s rhythm. I think the past couple of weeks, we’ve gotten a chance to get in sync with one another. It’s been really, really fun,” said Lewis, of the chance to coach alongside Taylor. “Just knowing how he works, what he wants to do in the pass rush stuff, what I like to do in the run game and the pass rush and kind of marrying that stuff together. … He’s done it, he’s a gold-jacket guy. Me, myself, I had a very good career as an NFL player, so we are sitting here, marrying it and staying together and getting it working for the guys and I think it’s awesome. I think a lot of magic’s going to be there.”
Said Taylor, “D-Lew’s been great. I mean, he’s obviously very experienced at it. Coached in the League, has coached in college out there at Colorado, played for a long time, played here. It always means more for guys that played at the place that they’re coaching. D-Lew does not walk in with an entitlement because he played here, because he’s part of the history here. He comes in and works and he’s fiery. High-energy, [has] always got the juice.”
And Taylor is right.
Coaching at Miami is extremely personal for Lewis and the former defensive linemen says he’s going to do everything in his power to make sure the Hurricanes’ defensive front continues finding ways to make big plays and impact games.
His coaching journey started after his playing days, when he realized he wanted to give back to the game that has given him so much.
He worked his way from the high school ranks in North Carolina to FIU. Internships with the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers followed before he had the opportunity to join the Seahawks and eventually, Colorado.
Now, Lewis is back at the place that changed his life and he’s ready to not only dive deeper into the work of building another formidable defensive line at Miami, but making sure his players experience the same kind of positive growth as Hurricanes that he did.
“For me, it’s always been about giving back to these kids, not just in football, but also in life,” Lewis said. “Being a football player is not the conventional upbringing. There are a lot of things that get thrown at kids, especially if you’re having success and people don’t know how to help them through some of those moments.
“Then, when you get injured or when things aren’t going really great, you’ve got all these emotions and feelings that are tied into that. We’ve been through it. J.T.’s been through it. I’ve been through it. So, we can share those things with them, share those stories with them, help them stay on track and accomplish what they want to accomplish out of this. That’s my gratification out of it. … It’s extremely personal.”
