Canes Spring Practice Report: April 5

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

After the workout – which included periods of live scrimmaging – head coach Mario Cristobal shared his thoughts on the day.

Here’s what he had to say…

On how he thinks the day went, for the offense and defense:

“The offense is doing a really good job running the ball, and then throwing the football, a little bit inconsistent today. I give credit to the defense in two areas: the way they affected the pocket and affected the passer was really effective and then coverages, they were on point, really snug, really just locked up and very competitive. Every ball seemed to be contested at some point in time. A little bit of success in the red zone, but overall, think the defense had a better day than the offense today.”

On how the defensive install is coming together under new defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman:

“It’s probably on schedule. Super-intense guy. Extremely smart. High football IQ. Really, really intense. If you’re not about learning, if you’re not about intensity, and just bringing it on a daily basis, it’s not going to be for you. … It’s like [offensive coordinator] Shannon Dawson, they’re both elite professionals. Coach Hetherman has brought in his own style, his demeanor of being a tough and physical defense that communicates really, really well, lines up and makes no excuses. Technique and fundamentals are at the forefront. There’s been a lot of progress, and you saw it today. If you talk to them, they’ll tell you we still need a lot more, a lot more work, a lot more improvement. But you heard the guys coming off the field: there’s legitimate excitement because it’s really starting to look different.”

On what he’d like to see from the team during the last week of spring drills:

“Put our foot on the gas and go forward and get better. That’s all we’re looking for. This is not the time for ease and comfort. We’ve made a lot of progress at the University of Miami the last couple years and we want to continue that trajectory. To do so, this next week has got to be a really strong and hard work week. Continue to work situations, continue to work our rotations and find out what guys can contribute in what packages and just galvanize ourselves as a program and as a team.”