Coach Alex Mirabal famously said he’d cut off his arms and legs before offensive line was a weakness at Miami. His limbs are intact, as the Canes front five took a massive step forward last season. Coach Mirabal met with his reporters after practice to discuss the group’s continued progress:
On spring practice so far: They're all working. We're trying to see who can play, not necessarily who the best five are. Our job is to find out who can do what we ask them to do in the run game and in pass protection. At a later date, we'll worry about gelling those guys in into five, eight, nine, 10 guys. What Coach Cristobal and I are looking at now is, “Who can we trust to play in a game against another opponent?” Our job is to get as many of those guys as we can to trust.
Right now, we feel we've got maybe eight, nine of them that we could trust to go in. When I say trust, I'm talking about they're gonna know what to do, why to do it, and how to do it on every single play. It's not, “Hey, can I trust them with my wallet or my keys?” That's not the type of trust we're talking about. Because we trust them all of them in those aspects. We're just trying to get as many guys that we can trust that'll be able to play in a game.
On how last year’s unit developed chemistry: Because they were tough. When the guys show up and play every game, it's not because they're lucky. It's because they're tough. Trust me, all five of those guys at some point in the season were injured, were hurt, and were beat up. But they chose to play for each other. To me, that's what toughness is. Toughness is that you show up every single day for practice and for games, regardless of how your body feels.
On Anez Cooper: [He has transformed] since he came on campus three years ago with his hair down over his eyes. He wasn't confident speaking to people. He's transformed his body, transformed his look, his hair. He's transformed his physique from almost a 400-pound man to a 338-pound man. His confidence, his leadership, with J-Bo [Cohen] and Matt [Lee] going to the next level, other guys get to grow. Sometimes it's hard to grow in the shade. When you cut the shrubbery out, now here comes the sun and other guys can grow. He's one of those guys that has grown in that manner.
On Jalen Rivers: He’s just a steady guy. He's the quiet guy, the one no one ever talks about, the one everybody wants to move to different positions, but he's always there. Coop is a little more of the vocal leader. Jalen is more of, “hey, this is the example” guy. So they’re both leaders, but in their own style and in their own personality. For me, I take as much pride in how they grow as young men, how they grow as leaders, as how they grow as a right guard or as a left tackle.
On the line configurations: When you can stay in one spot, you get to work out the kinks. Now, today, [Rivers] slid into left guard. We'll keep sliding him around because at the end of the day, I owe it to him and his future. Wherever he ends up going, [an NFL team can say] you're going to be a left guard or you're going to be a right guard. Shame on me if I haven't prepared him for that. Everybody thinks it's easy. It's not easy to be in a left-handed stance, and all of a sudden, you're on the right side. It's completely different.
Is it nice for him to be able to be in one spot and grow there? Yeah. The other reason we're keeping him at left tackle for the most part right now and Coop at right guard for the most part is just because it helps the other guys grow. It helps whoever we have at left guard when Jalen's next to him.
Today, we slid Jalen into left guard and we put Markel Bell at left tackle. Why? Because it's going to help Markel Bell grow as a left tackle when you're next to a vet like that. So when Anez Cooper's playing right guard and Zach [Carpenter] is at center or Ryan [Rodriguez] at center, like they both were today with the ones, them being next to Coop helps them grow. You've got Samson [Okunlola] at right tackle. You've got Matt McCoy at right tackle. You've got Bruno [Kinsler] at right tackle. All taking reps with the ones and they grow because they're next to a vet like Coop.
I know all the fans and the media, they wanna know who's starting. I don't care about that. I care about finding guys that we as a program can trust.
On Samson Okunlola: He's a guy that in rehab wanted to play more than he wanted to be hurt. That drove him to rehab. Best guy I've ever been around in my 18 years coaching in college of rehabilitation and just wanting to come back, because it means that much to him. He's like a kid at Christmas, because he's able to play football again.
Today, he took reps at left tackle, left guard, and right tackle. And it helps him. Any rep he takes at left guard is going to help him as a left tackle. Any reps he takes that left tackle is going to help him as a right tackle. We have no depth chart, organizational chart, none of that. You don't got to give that until the Tuesday of the Florida week. He’s just growing and he's just happy that he's back to playing football and he's having a great time doing it. He's close to being one of the guys that we trust.
On recruiting players to be versatile: I don't recruit anybody as nothing. If you ever sat in my room, I'll ask the recruits: are you an offensive lineman or are you a right guard? You're an offensive lineman. Why do I tell them that? If you're an offensive lineman, you've got five opportunities to play. If you say "I'm only a right tackle,” guess what? You got one opportunity. That's foolish on your part.
At the end of the day, these kids want to play on the field. Jalen Rivers was a left tackle in high school. Samson Okunlola was a left tackle in high school. Francis Mauigoa, left tackle in high school. Anez Cooper, tackle in high school. Matt McCoy, tackle in high school. They're all tackles. Well, they all can't be left tackles. So you got to play a specific spot.
The best offensive tackle in the NFL right now is Penei Sewell. He was a right tackle in high school. When he came to us at [Oregon], we had a right tackle who started 54 games. “Hey, Penei, you gotta go play left side.” Get drafted in the first round. He's back to right tackle.
At the end of the day, they're offensive linemen. They're not tackles. They're not guards. They're not centers. We don't pigeonhole them and they don't pigeonhole themselves.
On Cam Ward: Phenomenal. He is our program today. We’re more physical and we’re tougher and we have a chip on our shoulders because that's who our quarterback is. Our quarterback is tough. He’s physical and he's got a chip on his shoulder and the rest of the program feeds off of it.
You know what he did taking [the OL] out to dinner? He won them Jokers over. They love Cam. The defense loves Cam. I love him because I love what he's about. He's an honorary O-lineman. He's got that edge to him. Because of that, those guys are going to battle and fight for him. He's like that.
Reese [Poffenbarger] has got an edge to him. Emory [Williams] is tough as ****. Judd [Anderson] is tough. [Jacurri Brown]. So we got a tough quarterback room.
Cam is a vet. He doesn’t get flustered. He's been under the fire. We're trying to help him understand our protection scheme. He's been fantastic and I know the offensive line loves him.
On JUCO transfer Markel Bell: Big Bell. He’s really, really big. He's really, really good. He's almost 6'9" and 325, 330 pounds. He can bend his knees. He can move his feet. The best thing is he’s tough and he's a great listener. He’s gotten tremendously better.
He was coached at Holmes Community College. He didn’t go to Holmes [because he was a non-qualifier]. He was [a qualifier]. He went to Holmes because he wanted to get “better offers.” He went to Holmes and he was coached by their offensive line coach named Les George, who I've known for a while, who's a good football coach. So he comes with a background to him.
The question that people usually ask, “Hey, have you ever played basketball?” Yes, he has. He’s got good feet. He's got great length. It's not that he's tall, it's that he's long. He's developing tremendously.
He's another one of those kids, like a Samson, who's on the verge of earning our program's trust to be able to play. We don't believe in developmental years here because there's never a guarantee. We're going to win. It's important for us to win now. There's no, “Hey, save him for a year, save him for two years.” Football has its own plan. God has his own plan. He might have to play tomorrow.
That's my job. My job's not, “Hey, he's got two years before he's a player.” My job is to make sure that if Markel Bell has to play that first game that he's ready to go. If your attitude as a coach is, “Oh, he's got a year.” Then you're going to say, “We'll get to that [later.]” No, we're not going to get to that. We're going to push the envelope with him.
Every year is not going to be like last year where those five can ride for 12 games. We've got to make sure those guys are ready. That’s not my mentality at all. That's not Kel's mentality at all. That's not Coach Cristobal's mentality at all.
On Indiana transfer Zach Carpenter: Toughness, leadership, veteran eyes, a steadying presence inside. Every day he gets better and better. He started out at Michigan, then went over to Indiana, started there for two years. A very, very bright young man.
He snaps left-handed. He's really right-handed. He tore his thumb two years ago at Indiana. They moved him to guard and the backup center was struggling. So after practice, he taught himself how to snap left-handed. Two games later, he was back in snapping left-handed. So he's ambidextrous. You got to be smart to be able to do that. You got to be flexible, mentally and physically.
I'm fired up to see him grow in his own way. He's done a good job of leadership, too. Because of Coop and Jalen, he's been able to come in and just fit in and worry about our [line] communication, instead of having to round the group up to go watch film. Once he gets a spring under his belt, he'll be the one doing that. But he's been tremendous for us and I'm fired up to see him continue to get better.
On spring practice so far: They're all working. We're trying to see who can play, not necessarily who the best five are. Our job is to find out who can do what we ask them to do in the run game and in pass protection. At a later date, we'll worry about gelling those guys in into five, eight, nine, 10 guys. What Coach Cristobal and I are looking at now is, “Who can we trust to play in a game against another opponent?” Our job is to get as many of those guys as we can to trust.
Right now, we feel we've got maybe eight, nine of them that we could trust to go in. When I say trust, I'm talking about they're gonna know what to do, why to do it, and how to do it on every single play. It's not, “Hey, can I trust them with my wallet or my keys?” That's not the type of trust we're talking about. Because we trust them all of them in those aspects. We're just trying to get as many guys that we can trust that'll be able to play in a game.
On how last year’s unit developed chemistry: Because they were tough. When the guys show up and play every game, it's not because they're lucky. It's because they're tough. Trust me, all five of those guys at some point in the season were injured, were hurt, and were beat up. But they chose to play for each other. To me, that's what toughness is. Toughness is that you show up every single day for practice and for games, regardless of how your body feels.
On Anez Cooper: [He has transformed] since he came on campus three years ago with his hair down over his eyes. He wasn't confident speaking to people. He's transformed his body, transformed his look, his hair. He's transformed his physique from almost a 400-pound man to a 338-pound man. His confidence, his leadership, with J-Bo [Cohen] and Matt [Lee] going to the next level, other guys get to grow. Sometimes it's hard to grow in the shade. When you cut the shrubbery out, now here comes the sun and other guys can grow. He's one of those guys that has grown in that manner.
On Jalen Rivers: He’s just a steady guy. He's the quiet guy, the one no one ever talks about, the one everybody wants to move to different positions, but he's always there. Coop is a little more of the vocal leader. Jalen is more of, “hey, this is the example” guy. So they’re both leaders, but in their own style and in their own personality. For me, I take as much pride in how they grow as young men, how they grow as leaders, as how they grow as a right guard or as a left tackle.
On the line configurations: When you can stay in one spot, you get to work out the kinks. Now, today, [Rivers] slid into left guard. We'll keep sliding him around because at the end of the day, I owe it to him and his future. Wherever he ends up going, [an NFL team can say] you're going to be a left guard or you're going to be a right guard. Shame on me if I haven't prepared him for that. Everybody thinks it's easy. It's not easy to be in a left-handed stance, and all of a sudden, you're on the right side. It's completely different.
Is it nice for him to be able to be in one spot and grow there? Yeah. The other reason we're keeping him at left tackle for the most part right now and Coop at right guard for the most part is just because it helps the other guys grow. It helps whoever we have at left guard when Jalen's next to him.
Today, we slid Jalen into left guard and we put Markel Bell at left tackle. Why? Because it's going to help Markel Bell grow as a left tackle when you're next to a vet like that. So when Anez Cooper's playing right guard and Zach [Carpenter] is at center or Ryan [Rodriguez] at center, like they both were today with the ones, them being next to Coop helps them grow. You've got Samson [Okunlola] at right tackle. You've got Matt McCoy at right tackle. You've got Bruno [Kinsler] at right tackle. All taking reps with the ones and they grow because they're next to a vet like Coop.
I know all the fans and the media, they wanna know who's starting. I don't care about that. I care about finding guys that we as a program can trust.
On Samson Okunlola: He's a guy that in rehab wanted to play more than he wanted to be hurt. That drove him to rehab. Best guy I've ever been around in my 18 years coaching in college of rehabilitation and just wanting to come back, because it means that much to him. He's like a kid at Christmas, because he's able to play football again.
Today, he took reps at left tackle, left guard, and right tackle. And it helps him. Any rep he takes at left guard is going to help him as a left tackle. Any reps he takes that left tackle is going to help him as a right tackle. We have no depth chart, organizational chart, none of that. You don't got to give that until the Tuesday of the Florida week. He’s just growing and he's just happy that he's back to playing football and he's having a great time doing it. He's close to being one of the guys that we trust.
On recruiting players to be versatile: I don't recruit anybody as nothing. If you ever sat in my room, I'll ask the recruits: are you an offensive lineman or are you a right guard? You're an offensive lineman. Why do I tell them that? If you're an offensive lineman, you've got five opportunities to play. If you say "I'm only a right tackle,” guess what? You got one opportunity. That's foolish on your part.
At the end of the day, these kids want to play on the field. Jalen Rivers was a left tackle in high school. Samson Okunlola was a left tackle in high school. Francis Mauigoa, left tackle in high school. Anez Cooper, tackle in high school. Matt McCoy, tackle in high school. They're all tackles. Well, they all can't be left tackles. So you got to play a specific spot.
The best offensive tackle in the NFL right now is Penei Sewell. He was a right tackle in high school. When he came to us at [Oregon], we had a right tackle who started 54 games. “Hey, Penei, you gotta go play left side.” Get drafted in the first round. He's back to right tackle.
At the end of the day, they're offensive linemen. They're not tackles. They're not guards. They're not centers. We don't pigeonhole them and they don't pigeonhole themselves.
On Cam Ward: Phenomenal. He is our program today. We’re more physical and we’re tougher and we have a chip on our shoulders because that's who our quarterback is. Our quarterback is tough. He’s physical and he's got a chip on his shoulder and the rest of the program feeds off of it.
You know what he did taking [the OL] out to dinner? He won them Jokers over. They love Cam. The defense loves Cam. I love him because I love what he's about. He's an honorary O-lineman. He's got that edge to him. Because of that, those guys are going to battle and fight for him. He's like that.
Reese [Poffenbarger] has got an edge to him. Emory [Williams] is tough as ****. Judd [Anderson] is tough. [Jacurri Brown]. So we got a tough quarterback room.
Cam is a vet. He doesn’t get flustered. He's been under the fire. We're trying to help him understand our protection scheme. He's been fantastic and I know the offensive line loves him.
On JUCO transfer Markel Bell: Big Bell. He’s really, really big. He's really, really good. He's almost 6'9" and 325, 330 pounds. He can bend his knees. He can move his feet. The best thing is he’s tough and he's a great listener. He’s gotten tremendously better.
He was coached at Holmes Community College. He didn’t go to Holmes [because he was a non-qualifier]. He was [a qualifier]. He went to Holmes because he wanted to get “better offers.” He went to Holmes and he was coached by their offensive line coach named Les George, who I've known for a while, who's a good football coach. So he comes with a background to him.
The question that people usually ask, “Hey, have you ever played basketball?” Yes, he has. He’s got good feet. He's got great length. It's not that he's tall, it's that he's long. He's developing tremendously.
He's another one of those kids, like a Samson, who's on the verge of earning our program's trust to be able to play. We don't believe in developmental years here because there's never a guarantee. We're going to win. It's important for us to win now. There's no, “Hey, save him for a year, save him for two years.” Football has its own plan. God has his own plan. He might have to play tomorrow.
That's my job. My job's not, “Hey, he's got two years before he's a player.” My job is to make sure that if Markel Bell has to play that first game that he's ready to go. If your attitude as a coach is, “Oh, he's got a year.” Then you're going to say, “We'll get to that [later.]” No, we're not going to get to that. We're going to push the envelope with him.
Every year is not going to be like last year where those five can ride for 12 games. We've got to make sure those guys are ready. That’s not my mentality at all. That's not Kel's mentality at all. That's not Coach Cristobal's mentality at all.
On Indiana transfer Zach Carpenter: Toughness, leadership, veteran eyes, a steadying presence inside. Every day he gets better and better. He started out at Michigan, then went over to Indiana, started there for two years. A very, very bright young man.
He snaps left-handed. He's really right-handed. He tore his thumb two years ago at Indiana. They moved him to guard and the backup center was struggling. So after practice, he taught himself how to snap left-handed. Two games later, he was back in snapping left-handed. So he's ambidextrous. You got to be smart to be able to do that. You got to be flexible, mentally and physically.
I'm fired up to see him grow in his own way. He's done a good job of leadership, too. Because of Coop and Jalen, he's been able to come in and just fit in and worry about our [line] communication, instead of having to round the group up to go watch film. Once he gets a spring under his belt, he'll be the one doing that. But he's been tremendous for us and I'm fired up to see him continue to get better.
