CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes were back in action Tuesday on the Greentree Practice Fields as the third week of preseason camp continued at Miami.

After practice, offensive linemen Matt McCoy and Ryan Rodriguez, along with defensive back Zechariah Poyser and linebacker Chase Smith spoke with reporters to share their thoughts on the day’s session, how camp is progressing and more.

Here are some of their best quotes from Tuesday’s practice as Miami moves one step closer to its Sept. 4 opener at Stanford.

Offensive lineman Matt McCoy

On the progress of freshmen offensive linemen Jackson Cantwell and Ben Congdon:

“Ben and Jackson are doing a phenomenal job and they’re coming up to me [with questions]. It’s not even like I’m getting them going – they’re asking me. They’re always coming up to me, making sure they’re doing this right and that right, whatever it is. And they’re doing a phenomenal job. They’re growing men about their business. They’re not freshmen at all. They’re doing a phenomenal job in everything they’re doing, technique, everything.”

On fellow offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez:

“Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, seeing him from 2022, when I first got here, he’s been growing every year and it’s just crazy. So, it’s beautiful to see as a program, just how we build up and especially Ryan just taking that lead at center. He’s doing a phenomenal job with the whole entire group. He’s not just with the ones or twos, he’s helping everybody. He’s making sure everybody’s on point. He’s being that guy for us, a leader upfront. He’s doing a great job.”

On how the offensive line is building chemistry throughout camp:

“We always hang out with each other. We watch film together, so it’s always a bond, every day. It’s not like we get done with practice, we go home, and we wake up the next day. It’s just always like we’re always together. We’re watching film together. We’re communicating with each other. So, we’re really close as a whole line. And of course, before camp, we always hung out together. … Even though we have young guys that haven’t been here as long as me, Ryan and Samson [Okunlola], it’s like we’ve been together for years. It’s a great group of guys.”

Defensive back Zechariah Poyser

On freshman defensive back JJ Dunnigan and sophomore Bryce Fitzgerald:

“I think they’re both different players, but both [are] very players, for sure. [Dunnigan] is a mature, young dude. … He flies around. Fast, big, strong. I think he’ll have a big role this year and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do.”

On how much more comfortable communication feels now that the Hurricanes have two years in Corey Hetherman’s system:

“Yes, of course it’s easier. It’s like secondhand nature because, obviously, this is my second year in the defense. The communication has gotten way better from day one to whatever day we’re on now. So, I most definitely can tell the difference in the communication, and it’s gotten way better and we [still] have a lot of work to do, but it’s getting there to where we need it to be.”

On how he thinks he and his teammates can get through the tough days in camp as they wait to play their first game:

“Just fall in love with the process. I love being around my guys. That helps me a lot. Just being excited to come in and get to work. I feel like my guys help me a lot and just not paying attention to the rat poison or [anything] like that. So, I feel like just being around my guys and just being excited to be a Hurricane [helps], for real.”

On fellow defensive back Omar Thornton:

“What impressed me the most is his ability to be versatile. He’s a very versatile player. He can play man, play in zones, play deep. … I feed off him a lot. … So, just me being on the field with him is a blessing. And I’m so excited to be out there with him. He’s going to shake the world for sure.”

Linebacker Chase Smith

On how scrimmages help the team prepare for the season:

“[They] give us a really good judgment on exactly what we have to fix as far as on the field and really in between these meetings. It gives us a really good judgment. We’ve got a lot to fine tune and we’re really going in and attacking each day trying to focus on ourselves.”

On how sophomore linebackers Ezekiel Marcelin Jr. and Kellen Wiley Jr. have grown since last season:

“Really, honestly, the mental part of it has really progressed [for them]. They’ve always been extremely physical guys, been athletic, been able to really move very well. But now, they’re really fine-tuning their mental part of the game, understanding what’s coming before it happens, being able to anticipate things before we even see it sometimes. And that’s like we’re all growing off each other and it’s really good to see their progression as far as those two sophomores.”

On what it’s like to compete against Miami’s offensive line in practice:

“We’ve got a little competition going on right now, and [those] guys are very physical. We’ve definitely been forcing each other to get better each and every day. And iron sharpens iron, man. Our o-linemen, they’re playing physical; they’re playing fast and that’s exactly what we need on the defense to make us extremely better as well.”

Offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez

On freshman offensive lineman Ben Congdon:

“He’s continuing to grow. [He] and Jackson [Cantwell] are continuing to grow. They’re learning our system. They’re learning how we do things, our standard, and they’re just falling right into place. They’re always excited to learn. They’re eager to learn. They’re great students of the game and I’m excited to see them develop.”

On the value of cross training on the offensive line:

“One of the best ways to learn all the positions on the offensive line is just play them all. If you’re only a left tackle and you only know what the left tackle does, if for whatever reason Coach might need to throw you in at right tackle, well now you’re not going to know what to do because you only know the left side. It’s best to know what everybody at every position is doing and having that knowledge will give you a better understanding of the offense as a whole because then you’ll know what the guy next to you has and what his responsibility is and how he might play that play and use the technique on that play. It just builds chemistry together.”

On how he felt the offensive line performed in last week’s scrimmage:

“We definitely have a lot of work to continue to do. We’re holding ourselves to a high standard, all the great o-lines before us. We just want to continue that trajectory and we’re holding ourselves to that high standard and we’re going to work hard and whatever happened in the scrimmage was good, bad, indifferent. [We have to] continue working. It’s just another practice, another day to get better.”