Teaching from a Different Perspective

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Favian Upshaw  isn’t from South Florida. He didn’t play at Miami.

And yet, for so many reasons, coming to Coral Gables and taking over as the Hurricanes’ new running backs coach has felt very much like a full-circle, homecoming of sorts.

Upshaw was, by his own admission, was a “six-foot, 135-pound on a good day” quarterback from Titusville, Florida when the head coach at Florida International University offered him the opportunity to play college football.

It was one Upshaw didn’t take for granted, even if he was at FIU for only one season.

Now, that same head coach – Mario Cristobal – has given Upshaw a different kind of opportunity and once again, Upshaw is determined to make the most of that chance.

“[Cristobal] said it’s the best running backs room in the country and I truly believe that,” Upshaw said. “The fact that he trusted me to come do this, it means a lot and I really appreciate it. I know there’s a little bit of pressure, and I like pressure. I wouldn’t have played quarterback if I didn’t like pressure. So, I’m good with it and it makes me wake up every day hungry.”

While Upshaw was a quarterback during his days at FIU and later at Georgia Southern, he’s spent the last three seasons working with ball carriers at the game’s highest level.

As an assistant running backs coach with the Denver Broncos, he’s worked with the likes of RJ Harvey, J.K. Dobbins, Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin.

He was on staff last season as the Broncos went 14-3, tying a franchise record for wins in a single season, and advanced to the AFC Championship game.

Before working with the Broncos, he spent time as an offensive analyst at Tulane and coached running backs at Georgia Southern.

And he’s confident the experience he gained at each of those stops – along with time at Benedict College and Savannah State – will help him connect with a talented group of backs that, no doubt, aspire to reach the NFL themselves one day.

“The funny thing is, I was like, ‘I don’t want to be the NFL guy when I walk in here,’ or be like ‘When we were in the NFL, we did this,’ but they want to know,” Upshaw said. “And I was like, ‘All right, well, it’s fine. I would love to share my experiences with you.’ … I can’t wait to give Mark Fletcher Jr. all the tools for when this is over and it’s time for him to go to the next level. ‘This is what they’re going to ask, this is going to try and get you to do,’ and give him, give them all, all the tools to be successful and blow it even more out of the water. …

“I tell everybody [working in the NFL] is like getting a PhD in football. That’s all we do, football. And I was fortunate to be under one of the greatest offensive minds in Sean Payton … This past year, we had good running backs, and I learned a lot from those dudes. They were very helpful, especially because we were all doing it together, the running backs room. We understand that a lot of people don’t respect us the way that they should and we all take it personally. We were very, very intentional in Denver.”

Along with teaching the Hurricanes about what the expectations are for an NFL running back, Upshaw says he is counting on his experience as a quarterback to provide another layer to the teaching he’ll be doing.

“I’m going to teach these guys from a quarterback perspective. We’re going to know what’s going on with the defense. We’re not just going to line up, take the ball and run,” Upshaw said. “We’re going to know what’s going on. We’re going to know how to manipulate defenders. We’re going to know how to cancel out defenders on blitzes. We’re going to up the IQ because I feel like running back coaches and running backs, they kind of shoot us short, as if we don’t do everything. … Everybody just thinks they just run the ball.

“I want to help those guys build that aspect of their game. They’re already smart, which I appreciate. But they’re going to be high football IQ players when it’s all said and done. I’m going to make sure I preach that, and I’m big on being a good human. I tell them every day, ‘Impact somebody in a positive way.’ When you have this ‘U’ on your chest and you’re walking around campus, what they say about one football player, they’re going to say about all of them. So, hold a door. Make somebody smile. … We come in contact with a lot of people and I’ve gotten as far as I have based off relationships.”

And the coach who gave Upshaw his initial opportunity as a college quarterback is excited to see what he does now with the chance to coach – and make a difference – at Miami.

“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 Broncos said that he was and is … again, another really high-level teacher with high aptitude and high capacity,” Cristobal said. “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, there’s no recruiting. You just spend hours and hours studying stuff. So, he and [tight ends coach Mike] Viti have brought some really good ideas to the table that’s really important for our staff. We always talk about player development, but 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.”

Since arriving at Miami just before the start of spring practice, Upshaw has done his best to get to know the backs he’ll be mentoring this season.

It’s a group that includes Fletcher, one of Miami’s on and off-field leaders who totaled 1,192 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns last season, Marty Brown (474 yards, 7 TDs), Girard Pringle Jr., (375 yards, 4 TDs) Jordan Lyle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, Terrell Walden II, Jack Whitehouse and freshman Javian Mallory.

Already, Upshaw has seen how the backs push each other to get better and how they use their different skill sets to power the Miami offense.

His goal as the Hurricanes continue moving closer to their Sept. 4 opener at Stanford is to keep finding ways to challenge the running backs and make sure they can help Miami not only return to the College Football Playoff, but take the next step forward.

“The biggest thing is winning games at a place that has won games before. I appreciate the history of this place,” Upshaw said. “Growing up in the state of Florida, The U meant something. … And it means something again. So, having the chance to win games and have this city behind us is something I’m really looking forward to. I can’t wait to see what that looks like.”