Canes Camp Report: Aug. 19
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes were back in action Wednesday on the Greentree Practice Fields as the third week of preseason camp continued at Miami.
After practice, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman 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 Wednesday’s practice as Miami moves one step closer to its Sept. 4 opener at Stanford.
Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson
On how the offense has progressed during preseason camp:
“I mean, like probably everywhere in the nation right now, you’ve got good days and you’ve got bad. And we’ve had, obviously, some bad days. Our defense is really talented. But the good thing about it is if we have a day that we’re a little off, we typically bounce back and have a really good day. And, so, that’s kind of what you want to see right now is some back and forth with the two sides and that’s what you’re seeing. We’ll have a good day on offense, and then the defense comes out with some energy and some motivation. And we had a bad day the other day, and we came back and played well. So, good in spurts, [but] obviously, you’ve got to sustain it, right? We’ve got to sustain it, but I like what I see in spurts.”
On how much of the offense has to be reinvented with a new quarterback and a new offensive line:
“I wouldn’t say reinvention. I mean, it’s our job as coaches and we get paid to coach them to the system we run. Now, does the system morph around the players? Absolutely. That’s the same at every position. [At] quarterback specifically, [it’s] figuring out what he does well and how his mind works. And then obviously, the parts around him have to match that.
“So, I think right now, it’s a process of finding out what we do [well], and we have a pretty good idea with that. Now, are we polished yet? No, absolutely not. And I would venture to guess that nobody in America is right now. But ultimately, we do have a system here. We run a system which is probably different than other places. We’re not just sitting there calling plays. It’s a system that matches up and we have to get our guys good at that.
“Now, if there’s certain things that we like to do that we can’t do because of certain skill sets, then obviously, we’re going to shy away from doing that and do other things. And it’s going to look a little different every year. Obviously, this year’s going to look a little different based on the mentality of our group and what the quarterback likes and … how it fits around him. We have a lot of competition. I mean, we have a lot of good competition. We have a lot of good competition at a lot of positions, so that’s exciting to see.”
On the ability offense’s ability to create explosive plays:
“I’m excited about that. I mean, we’ve probably stretched the field as much as I have. I’m excited about our ability to play fast and to be explosive. And I think, ultimately, that starts with running the ball effectively. I don’t think you can be explosive if you don’t run the ball well. And our running back room is very loaded and we’re going to lean on those guys like we’ve done really every year. At times, we’re going to ride those guys.
“But, with that, if you run the ball well, obviously, people have to play people down to stop the run. I think that’s when you get explosive. So, it’s got to be compatible in that sense. And we are. Now, you also have to have the guys that do it and we do. We have some speed. We have some length and … [quarterback Darian] Mensah throws a really good deep ball. He throws an elite deep ball. So, I feel good about stretching the field, but ultimately, I don’t want to waste plays either. So, there’s a fine line there of taking what you’ve got versus taking shots.”
On quarterback Darian Mensah:
“Well, I mean, the guy understands football. I mean, when you come into a place and you pick up the offense as quickly as he’s done, it’s a testament to him and his mentality and his makeup. His football IQ is really high … He’s very confident and very secure about himself and what he likes and what he doesn’t like. I like that from a quarterback. … He’s very confident in his approach and his football IQ is high, which I don’t know if you can play in this system if it isn’t, to be quite honest with you because there’s so many moving parts. There’s a lot of protection stuff, a lot of run game stuff, and a lot of movement. So, if you don’t have a high football IQ, it makes it tougher. Thank God that he does, so his capacity is really high.”
On how close the coaching staff is to settling on a starting offensive line unit:
“I would say we’re close, but we have a couple spots where, man, the guys are pretty close, you know what I mean? So, you might see multiple guys playing, obviously, but we’re going to keep that competition going. I think one of the best things [offensive line coach Alex] Mirabal does since I’ve been here with him is he moves a lot of people around. He gets a lot of people looks in practice that play in different positions. You might be the starting whatever, but you’re going to take a snap at guard and you’re going to be in there. So, there’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to our o-line and really settling on the best group is going to play itself out here in about a week, probably. We’re close, but we’ve got to still keep competing.”
On the tight ends group:
“Man, we’re very athletic at that position. And those guys, I’ll say this, all of those guys are playing extremely physical because that position is a hard position. You’re an o-line[man] sometimes and you’re a receiver sometimes. You live in a lot of different worlds. So, what you want in that position, you want a guy to have great ball skills, to be able to be very athletic in route running so the ball finds him. But you’ve also got to be an elite blocker. Sometimes, that’s hard to find, right? Sometimes those guys aren’t shaped exactly for the size and everything that you want for one particular job for the other job.
“And, so, all those guys have the ability to make plays down the field, which I think is like the number one criteria. Now, blocking, to me … obviously, there’s technique involved, but it’s want-to. Do you want to block this guy? … If you want to block him, a lot of times, you’ll block him and [there’s] just a lot of want-to in that deal and I’ve been very impressed with those guys. I mean, I think we’re going to be very pleased with that position. [Tight ends coach Mike] Viti ‘s done a great job getting those guys where they are right now.”
Defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman
On how he feels the defense has progressed in camp:
“I think we’re getting better every single day. I think little steps, but I think we’re playing faster. I think our guys are communicating a lot better and I think we’re playing together as a unit. And every day, we’re just growing closer together and you can see guys really trusting it, trusting each other, and playing fast with one another every day.”
On Miami’s edge rushers stepping up to replicate last year’s production:
“I think our coaches have done a really good job at developing our players. And I think our guys, having the guys that we had last year just being leaders and being role models of showing by example, our guys [got] to see that every day. And we played a lot of players, so we have guys that have really good experience and then we have guys that are continuing to learn and get better. And it’s the fundamentals, the technique they’re buying into. … I’m excited about the group that we have. Our guys are trusting the technique. They’re playing with fundamentals. They’re learning where their fit is and where they can take shots and when they have to set edges and where they have to be really physical at the point of attack and those are the things that we address as a coaching staff every day and our guys are getting better at it every single day.”
On defensive back Omar Thornton:
“He loves football. That’s the number one thing. He reminds me of all the guys that we’ve had. He fits in perfect in what we do. … He loves coming out here. Every day is an opportunity to go win a one-on-one. Every day is an opportunity to get better and he just plays fast. … Every year, we’ve got to evolve for how to get the best 11 [players] on the field and he’s a guy that competes every single day. He continues to push us and get us better every single day.”
On leadership on the defense:
“Every team is different. Every set of leaders is different. We’ve got a different group of leaders right now and we’re still developing exactly who some of the leaders are on our side of the football. Everyone’s a little bit different. Some guys are just going to go out and play as hard as they possibly can and lead by example. And then there’s other guys that speak up a little bit more. But we’re developing that right now through camp.
“And that’s where, as a coaching staff, we’re pushing our guys to handle some adversity, getting on some guys in some certain situations so they learn A, to play one play at a time … and B, how do we respond to it? How do we grow together? How do we pick each other up? How do you support those 11 guys on the field when we’re on the road in a hostile environment? And our guys are getting better and better at picking each other up, leaning on each other and coming together and growing together as a team. We’re still in camp right now. We’re still in that process and guys are still filling those roles and filling in.”
On what he wanted to see the defense improve on from a year ago:
“You always want to get better. Our urgency, tempo, what we did in different situations last year, our urgency in everything that we do, how we compete, our communication. That was a major thing in the offseason. How well do we communicate? How well do we anticipate what’s going to happen with a shift? With a motion? With whatever the offense is doing to us? With the looks that they’re trying to show us? …
“In spring football, Coach Dawson did a great job of giving us some of those looks, different workouts. We had all that stuff and our guys have gotten better talking and learning how to work together and then overcommunicate, getting the whole defense, all 11 guys in the same check. Because I tell them all the time … as long as the 11 guys on the field are all playing the right call and the same call, we’re in a good spot. It’s just when we have different things and we’re not communicating.
“Our guys have done a really good job of communicating. Our guys have done a really good job of growing together and then just continuing to understand the fundamentals and the techniques that we teach every single day in block destruction, in tackling, in how we leverage the football and how we play man or how we play zone; in how detailed we are with our eyes … when you look at it, really from even a year ago, when you turn the tape on, I think those are areas that we’re playing better football right now and we’re only going to continue to get better there.”
On the play of the linebackers in camp:
“Yeah, I’m excited about the group. I think just in the offseason, what the strength and conditioning staff did, what the nutrition staff did, what sports science did with our guys, I think we’re a bigger, faster group. I think we can do a lot of different things, whether it’s in coverage or it’s blitzing or fitting the runs at a really high level. We have guys that have different skill sets and I’m excited to play different guys. We’re going to throw guys out in different groups and different waves as we go through the season. But I feel like right now, and we’re not at that point in camp yet where it’s settled, but I think guys are continuing to compete every single day. Guys are continuing to get better every single day. And I feel really comfortable throwing a good group of those guys out on the field right now against an opponent.”
