Canes Spring Practice Report: April 2

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

After the workout, head coach Mario Cristobal, running backs coach Favian Upshaw and tight ends coach Mike Viti shared their thoughts on the day’s session and more.

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

Head coach Mario Cristobal

On the play of wide receiver Joshua Moore:

“Yeah, we’re counting on him. He was banged up early in the spring, so there’s not much to talk about right now. Had a couple of catches today where he looked really good and we’ve always felt, since the day we recruited him, that he was going to be, and is going to be, a big-time player here. Spring will get rolling more and more with him in the coming days. He was nicked up, nothing too serious. But big plans for him. He enjoys getting coached hard and getting pushed. [He’s] really not affected by that. Now, you know what? He’s not a freshman anymore, so we need maturity, physicality, durability, all that good stuff and use all 6-4, 6-5 of that body and go up and make plays and be just as physical in the running game. I don’t think he got enough credit for his role in the way he blocked down the stretch in the playoffs.”

On Miami’s younger quarterbacks:

“That’s a talented room. … They’re off to a great start. Judd [Anderson] with another year in the system, same thing with Luke [Nickel] You can tell. It’s just showing up, right? They’re quicker on their reads. The ball’s out. It’s more accurate. They anticipate better. They understand protections better and Dereon [Coleman’s] a quick study. I mean, you’ve seen the way he throws the ball now. He’s uber talented. So, that competition itself has been extremely high. We’re going to keep ramping it up there though. A lot of confidence in that room and again, we see nothing but continued development and the onus [is] again on the coaches to make sure we get that out of our players.”

On new tight ends coach Mike Viti:

“He’s exactly what we thought. Relentless, intense energy. He’s an animal, in a good way. High-level teacher, tremendous aptitude, capacity, progression, teacher. Really detailed. Hard worker. Early mornings, late nights, super-high care factor and you know his history. He’s done things in life that a lot of us can never fathom. I can’t. Certainly, appreciate him for his service. He’s been very impactful in the short time that he’s been here.”

On new running backs coach Favian Upshaw:

“I’ve known him for a while but certainly had not stayed as much in contact over the years. He’s exactly what the guys at the [Denver] Broncos said that he was and is. Again, another really high-level teacher with high aptitude, and high capacity. His experience at all the different positions, starting at the quarterback position, lets him have a tremendous grasp of what we’re doing offensively, and he understands the other side of the ball. When you’re in that league [the NFL], there’s no recruiting. You just spend hours and hours studying stuff. So, he’s brought, and Coach Viti has brought, some really good ideas to the table. That’s really important for our staff. We always talk about player development, [it’s] important for our staff to keep developing as well and bringing in new people with fresh ideas, really applicable ideas, is paramount to the continued growth of our program.”

On running back Mark Fletcher Jr. growing into his role as a leader:

“He’s always been on that steady growth incline. I mean, he came in with some leadership qualities already, was already leading the freshman class. [At] the end of the year, he had that injury in the postseason, but up to that point, he was doing a great job just rounding up the guys and helping set a standard. So, he’s never stopped. He’s never stopped growing. We all know that during the postseason last year he took it to a different level and it just hasn’t stopped.

“He’s limited now in the spring because of our choice. He had so many carries last year. We’re making sure that his body is healed up and that we’re also programming him from a strength and conditioning standpoint to keep getting bigger, stronger, faster, more flexible, [and] injury free. But he is getting a lot of reps as well, the reps that he needs to stay sharp and also be present and visible. But no, he’s exactly what you want. There’s no one out there you’d ever trade for Mark Fletcher.”

On freshman offensive lineman Ben Congdon:

“He’s the right kind of guy. He’s exactly what you look for in a competitor, in a tough guy, in a football player, in a teammate, in your very own son. He’s one of those guys. Early indications are that guy’s going to be a great football player, and you know how we go here. We go hard and we go hard for a purpose, to get guys ready. It’s been baptism by fire for him. We’ve thrown him in there with the ones and with the twos at times and he’s responded really well. Obviously, a long way to go, but early indications are he’s going to be a factor this year.”

On the number of former players that were at Pro Day and have been around the program since his return as head coach:

“You know what it says? It says it validates one of the most important things for me as not only a member of this organization, but a former player. One of the huge reasons why I’m back is because I loved my experience here and for them, on their free time, to be hanging around as much as they do is a very strong indication that they truly valued and enjoyed their time here and that they value being a Miami Hurricane. And so, they want to still impart some of their knowledge on the younger guys and be around and I promise you that some of those guys will end up coaching here one day and that would make us really proud.”

Running backs coach Favian Upshaw

On Miami’s depth at running back:

“I mean, it’s a good problem to have. That means they’ve done a great job of recruiting up to the point that I got here. But those guys aren’t done. They’re not finished products and my thing is trying to make these guys better, figuring out what they’re not as good in and bringing a different perspective. I played quarterback, so trying to help these guys learn schematically, defensively, different things that maybe they might not have been super detailed on in the past but just trying to make sure these guys continue to get better.”

On what it was like to play for Mario Cristobal and now coach with him:

“I knew he was a really good football coach from the first time I met him. I knew he was going to be special. I knew that he was going to go big places and I just wanted to be part of it. He’s the same exact coach that I knew. Now, I’m just on the other side of the wall with him. Now, I’m in meetings, versus being out here on the field. But I appreciate that he’s the same person. That’s one of the big things I look for when I work for somebody, [whether] they’re the same person each day and he shows up as the same person each time and he’s easy to work for.”

On how he thinks his experience in the NFL helped him grow as a coach:

“Honestly, I would say if I were to have interviewed for this job a year ago, I wouldn’t have been ready. I think the run [the Broncos] had this past year, kind of being resilient, understanding that we went 1-2 to start and then we rattled off 11 [wins], which doesn’t happen very often in the NFL, and knowing that each week you’re going to get everybody’s best, that you’re no longer the Denver Broncos who nobody respects … that kind of made me a better coach [because] you have to take it up a notch each week. You can’t be resilient and think that last week was like the next week. So, I think now, bringing that here, these guys just played what, 16 games, just like we did in the regular season, kind of bringing that to these guys like, ‘Hey, it’s not over. Week Two is different than Week 10 and now we’ve got to keep getting better.”

On running back Mark Fletcher Jr.:

“He’s amazing. He’s one of the best humans I’ve ever met and I truly mean that. In our short time, he’s had an amazing impact on me, and I keep telling everybody I feel like we were brought in each other’s lives at this point in time for a reason. We’re very similar in a lot of ways, but he is amazing to work with. He was very receptive to me, and I think that helped with the guys as well. And he’s a true leader. He does everything the right way. He doesn’t just talk it. He also walks it. So, he’s easy to follow as far as the guys go and I’m looking forward to this year for him.”

On running back Jordan Lyle:

“A really good player. Balanced. There’s nothing that he can’t do. My biggest thing with him is trying to get his confidence back. I want to see him smiling, walking around and loving football. And I want him to be – I think everyone in the state of Florida knows what he can be. So, I want to keep helping him grow through this process and continue to get better. But I really like the kid as a person and then I know he’s going to be a good football player.”

Tight ends coach Mike Viti

On making the decision to leave Army – where he played and coached – to come to Miami:

“I think as professionals, you’re used to finding yourself in different places at different times. And yes, all of my time was spent at Army. But when you look at the breadth of experiences at West Point – through service and certainly [then coming back to] West Point, it just became time. You enter a place as a player, you move on to a GA role, you serve, you come back, you’re in personnel, not really in football yet. And then you graduate into position work, right? Running backs, fullbacks, into offensive line and then was afforded the opportunity to take a pretty serious leadership role there. And then you try to look at the landscapes and the horizons and what could be next. And you look at Miami, and I would argue nobody’s doing it at a higher level right now. You look at a leader like Coach Cristobal, who’s coaching at his alma mater, and to me, that was intriguing. And you come down here and you can feel it. You can feel that the frontier of college football lives here. And that’s hard not to say yes to. It’s hard not to be attracted to. So, I would make the argument that just the leaving part wasn’t hard, but it’s [about] the excitement of what’s next and what you can accomplish.”

On his military service and the similarities to coaching:

“I think service is leading. It’s servant-minded business. But it’s [also] technical skill acquisition and implementation. And really, the parallels to football and just being an officer and coaching and being an elite teacher are all pretty similar. And I’ve found that just to be true through my time at Army and certainly here. It’s learning a new system. It’s cultural. It’s the silver accord amongst all of us, and how to connect people and emotionally drive them and move them. So, I think there’s a lot of really good things to pull from there, but I would argue that every really, really good coach would make a good officer and vice versa. I’ve found that just to be true through my time as a coach and certainly as an officer.”

On his experience serving in Afghanistan:

“My time in Afghanistan was the summer of 2010 to the summer of 2011, and I served as a rifle platoon leader in the Fourth Infantry Division in the Arghandab River Valley in Kandahar Province. If you know the history of Afghanistan, that’s really the birthplace of where the Taliban was. And during that time in our nation, during the Global War on Terror, the surge was going on. We were sending a lot of soldiers over there and I was in the Taliban stronghold.

“For me, it was the most honorable year of my life. To serve with America’s best, to take care of people who can’t necessarily protect themselves, was a great responsibility. And that’s really where I felt everything in my life, whether it was through academics, classical academic settings, military vignettes, and certainly sport – which I think is the ultimate proving ground for leadership, regardless of industry – it all came to fruition. As a 23, 24-year-old, life gets real really fast and you realize the importance of preparation. You realize the importance of decision-making, emotional control, leadership, all those things come to life every single moment of every day. It was the most honorable year of my life, and I still have very serious connections with the men and women, my brothers and sisters in arms, who I served with. And that’s something that I try to carry into a room, and I try to carry with me, because those experiences aren’t mine. Those experiences are lessons for another day, on other fields on other days. To me, that’s always going to be a part of me and it’s important to carry through and reflect back because it means something different in different areas of your life. … I appreciate sharing a little bit about that.”

On his early impressions of Miami’s tight ends:

“I love the ceiling of the room. I love the development side of it. To me, that’s where I feel I’m talented. But I look at the guys and they’re just as hungry for that. And I look at the room, we have maybe the most room to grow on the entire team and I’m excited about that. I look at some of the young guys and the youth there and like, hey, some of those young guys, we’re starting the journey together. And then the other guys, I can bring a new skillset into their toolbox, maybe a different way to attack plays, maybe different things from a blocking-scheme standpoint, perimeter standpoint and mesh all that really well with the coaching staff. The obvious names that you’ve known from the past, you look at [Elijah] Lofton and Luka [Gilbert], those guys are standing out and [we’re] really charging them with leadership, and I think that’s forcing competition for them to set the standard. And I’m seeing that change in getting them on the right page.

“And then I look at our two young guys, you look at [Israel Briggs], you look at Gavin [Mueller] … You come in and everybody’s new to you. I’m shocked to hear you’re a freshman, you’re not a junior? So, it speaks to the maturity, and it speaks to the guys that we want to recruit here at Miami. Great people make great players. They’re professionals. Just look, two of the guys are still just working here, getting extra balls. You can’t catch them doing something wrong. They’re always looking to do the next right thing and that’s one thing I’ve been impressed with, their professionalism and their drive.”