Canes Spring Practice Report: April 1

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes were back on the Greentree Practice Fields on Tuesday as spring drills continued at Miami.

After practice, wide receivers coach Kevin Beard, defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator Zac Etheridge and safeties coach Will Harris spoke with reporters and shared their thoughts on the day’s workout, and how their groups have progressed.

Here’s some of what they had to say Tuesday, in their own words…

Wide receivers coach Kevin Beard

On the veteran presence of transfer receiver CJ Daniels:

“Really good job in leadership. He’s the older guy, oldest guy in the room. And you need that older guy, the big brother. And they lean on him from that perspective and from day one, he said, ‘Hey, Coach, can you make a group thread with just the players, not the coaches?’ and they’re on it all the time. So, they’ll text, ‘Hey, we’re going to watch film at five o’clock’ and you’ll notice a lot of guys in the building around that time because we’ve got to take this thing to the next level. It’s a constant mindset of ‘How do we get better?’ If we did good, ‘Good job. How do I get better?’ If we did bad, ‘Dang, how do I get better?’ That’s how we’re going to end it off. …

“He’s a worker. He’s a worker. You don’t have to tell him to catch [on the] Jugs Machine. He’s the one initiating it. And he’s kind of been through it and he knows he has a lot of young guys behind him, so he is trying to show them the way.  When I was here, that was the process. The freshmen come in, and the older guys show them the way. And then when the older guys leave, you take it over. That’s really what I’ve respected from his approach. And we’re going to need it to continue to get better at it.”

On the competition between young receivers Malachi Toney and Ray Ray Joseph :

“It’s going great. I hope that everyone watching from the side can see it. That’s what the University of Miami has been built on, good players pushing each other to be the best player and taking advantage of the opportunities when they come … I encourage it. I try my best to egg it on and push it and not try to whisper about it like, ‘Hey, Ray, he’s coming. Mali, you saw the plays he made today? Come on, let’s go.’  It’s definitely a competitive vibe right now and there’s no animosities, there’s nothing negative about that. It’s all positive and we’re trying to do everything we can to help the Hurricanes win games.”

On wide receiver JoJo Trader:

“JoJo is learning how to play through hard. He is so talented, naturally, that he has an advantage against anybody just because of his talent level. And what happens is, because he is so talented, he can wake up in the morning and just put cleats on and just be really good. But what happens when you meet another really good player? Now what? You’ve been able to make it this far in your life just by making it. Now, this team is preparing to take you out of the game. The DB is thinking in his mind, ‘I’m going to get drafted off of you.’ How are you going to respond? And he’s learning how to respond every day. And he’s doing a really good job of it.”

Defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator Zac Etheridge

On how the cornerbacks group is coming together:

“We’re starting to jell together. … Early on, we had a lot of guys banged up and trying to get out there and trying to manage the reps for every guy to go out there and be able to compete. But the biggest thing I’ve been impressed with is guys in the meeting room. They’re taking coaching. They’re coming up, spending extra time trying to figure out exactly what we’re trying to do. I’ve been really impressed with their attention to detail and trying to get better every day.”

On transfer cornerback Xavier Lucas:

“He’s really smart. He eats up the film room. He wants to be coached. He wants to be developed. For a guy his size, he has good twitch. He’s been playing well, showing up in the run game, playing the ball down the field, making big plays and obviously, he’s smart. He can make the checks at the corner position. You can put him at safety. He knows what to do. So, just really been impressed with his attention to detail, like I said. And obviously, just coming out every day and just being consistent.”

On how the cornerbacks group is building chemistry, given the number of new faces in the room:

“It’s really the growth. Right now, you’ve got a lot of new faces, not just the coaches. You’ve got a new defensive staff, but you’ve got a room full of new guys as well. And everybody’s coming from different places. So, the biggest thing we’ve been emphasizing is building a relationship and connecting. Because if we connect off the field, it eventually shows up on the field because we have to play as one. That’s the thing we take every day, making sure we’re on the same page. We meet together, we see it together and make sure guys go out there and communicate. They have to communicate. They have to be able to talk. But I’ve been really impressed with the group from day one to where we’re at now. … The guys have done a great job of trying to work on those communication skills.”

On cornerback Damari Brown, who missed a large chunk of last season with an injury:

“I’m glad to have him. I’m glad to have him at Miami and have a chance to coach him and develop him. He’s been banged up, but, throughout the spring, he’s gotten better. Our medical staff has done a great job of just trying to get him back and he’s been building confidence. He got out there a couple downs and made some plays and that’s what you want to see from a guy that had a lot of football experience, how you go about your business every day to be a pro and he’s been attacking his offseason like a pro and continues to get better.”

Safeties coach Will Harris

On how the safeties have come together during the first weeks of spring drills:

“Awesome. I mean, going into it now with five practices left, I think it’s just consistently getting better as communication goes and understanding the defense with the new defense going in and just everybody being on the same page. It’s going in the right direction.”

On takeaways:

“I’m all about takeaways. That’s how you get paid. Wherever I’ve been, I think that’s the biggest thing I keep preaching is making sure [there are] takeaways, giving our offense more opportunities to score. So that’s one thing that we harp on every single day.”

On working with Zac Etheridge:

“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s unique because a lot of people want to say, ‘Oh, safety coach, corner coach,’ [but] really, at the end of the day, he and I both coach both positions and have our own room as the whole five. So, we really do a good job of switching it up. Sometimes, I’m with the corners, sometimes he’s with the safeties. It’s just he and I just being on the same page, just like you tell these young men.”