Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Armondo Blount spoke on the first full week of the Miami Hurricanes spring practices:
Blount spoke on replacing Miami stars Rueben Bain and Akheem mesidor, he also spoke highly on true freshman and overall just the spring completion.
Here is everything Blount said:
Q: You guys are replacing a couple of really good players, including Rueben and Akheem, what's it like for you guys, of accepting the challenge, and their work ethic and the success they had, how has that impacted you here as you move forward in your career?
Well, being on the guys like Reuben and Akheem, we kind of like got to set for the standard, what the work ethic is, and it's a new year, so all the guys in the D-line room, we just been competing, trying to get better, looking at it like one day at a time.
Q: What's that competition like? Obviously, there's some spots to fill and be able to try to compete for, just what's that competition like for you guys?
Well, in spring, it's really mainly just getting better, everybody focusing on learning the new playbook because we got some younger guys, new guys. Everybody just been competing, working on getting better as a team, as a whole.
Q: Have you seen Marquise [Lightfoot] kind of grow over the last couple years? Like, he's obviously playing a bigger and bigger role. How's he growing?
Honestly, we have been through this journey together because we came in around the same time. I watched both of us improve. We still got things to work on. We've just been focusing on getting better in the spring and just focusing on little things like running details, pattern details, just getting better in every day, learning football, becoming one with the game.
Q: This year, there's gonna be more pressure on you. You gotta step up and be that guy out here in front of the offensive players. How do you, process that and what do you feel about that?
Honestly, I've just been focused on the spring, like, just what I can do and control right now, get better right now. That's been my main focus, just get better in every way possible I can. So, our time and seasons come, it'll be like, okay, I've been only thinking about the spring, fall, and just when the season come in, it'll be here.
Q: Just what do you feel like you've learned over the course of the last season?
Well, obviously, I learned so much with football, just becoming a football guy, learning how to read offenses, knowing when it's a pass, knowing when it's a run, little details like the running back depth and things like that. I've been becoming a student of the game in my past three years.
Q: How do you feel about now that it's later, coming in early the way you did? It's a tough thing to do as a defensive lineman, just got to skip a year coming in early. How do you feel about all that now that it's later?
Well, I feel that my body kind of is getting adjusted now that I'm on my third year, and I never really looked at it like I was a younger guy because when you're in college, you're in college. Everybody just looked at me like I was another one of the guys. They never treated me like I was a younger guy. I always got held to the same standard, can't be late, have to do everything like everyone else. So I never considered myself a younger guy coming in.
Q: What have you noticed about Damon Wilson since he's arrived on campus?
Competing, everybody competing. That's what I like about the whole D-line group. Even our younger guys, we have some guys that everybody is competing. Since everybody got on campus, since he's been on campus, we've just been working, getting each other better, critiquing each other, and just competing.
Q: Everybody talks about Mesidor and Bain leaving, but you had to pick up something from those guys to play with Bain for a while. What did you pick up from Mesidor and Bain? What's the things you learned from them?
Practice habits. One thing I'll say, practice with them guys, every day is relentless, every day is like, you got to leave all your energy on the field. Coming from practice, no matter if you're getting better or not, we'll be dead tired at the end. And I'll say, that's how it is with all of the younger guys. We're showing them that, showing them the standard of Miami because now, it's not just certain guys that would do it, it's the standard at Miami.
Q: How much have you gone against Max Buchanan in practice?
Well, I don't count who the reps go against. Everyone get the same type of intensity. It's been like the same with everybody. Everybody been competing, honestly.
Q: How is the new offensive line looking in practice?
The same. I'll say that the guys, they work ethic, how practice is, everybody competing real hard, like real hard.
Blount spoke on replacing Miami stars Rueben Bain and Akheem mesidor, he also spoke highly on true freshman and overall just the spring completion.
Here is everything Blount said:
Q: You guys are replacing a couple of really good players, including Rueben and Akheem, what's it like for you guys, of accepting the challenge, and their work ethic and the success they had, how has that impacted you here as you move forward in your career?
Well, being on the guys like Reuben and Akheem, we kind of like got to set for the standard, what the work ethic is, and it's a new year, so all the guys in the D-line room, we just been competing, trying to get better, looking at it like one day at a time.
Q: What's that competition like? Obviously, there's some spots to fill and be able to try to compete for, just what's that competition like for you guys?
Well, in spring, it's really mainly just getting better, everybody focusing on learning the new playbook because we got some younger guys, new guys. Everybody just been competing, working on getting better as a team, as a whole.
Q: Have you seen Marquise [Lightfoot] kind of grow over the last couple years? Like, he's obviously playing a bigger and bigger role. How's he growing?
Honestly, we have been through this journey together because we came in around the same time. I watched both of us improve. We still got things to work on. We've just been focusing on getting better in the spring and just focusing on little things like running details, pattern details, just getting better in every day, learning football, becoming one with the game.
Q: This year, there's gonna be more pressure on you. You gotta step up and be that guy out here in front of the offensive players. How do you, process that and what do you feel about that?
Honestly, I've just been focused on the spring, like, just what I can do and control right now, get better right now. That's been my main focus, just get better in every way possible I can. So, our time and seasons come, it'll be like, okay, I've been only thinking about the spring, fall, and just when the season come in, it'll be here.
Q: Just what do you feel like you've learned over the course of the last season?
Well, obviously, I learned so much with football, just becoming a football guy, learning how to read offenses, knowing when it's a pass, knowing when it's a run, little details like the running back depth and things like that. I've been becoming a student of the game in my past three years.
Q: How do you feel about now that it's later, coming in early the way you did? It's a tough thing to do as a defensive lineman, just got to skip a year coming in early. How do you feel about all that now that it's later?
Well, I feel that my body kind of is getting adjusted now that I'm on my third year, and I never really looked at it like I was a younger guy because when you're in college, you're in college. Everybody just looked at me like I was another one of the guys. They never treated me like I was a younger guy. I always got held to the same standard, can't be late, have to do everything like everyone else. So I never considered myself a younger guy coming in.
Q: What have you noticed about Damon Wilson since he's arrived on campus?
Competing, everybody competing. That's what I like about the whole D-line group. Even our younger guys, we have some guys that everybody is competing. Since everybody got on campus, since he's been on campus, we've just been working, getting each other better, critiquing each other, and just competing.
Q: Everybody talks about Mesidor and Bain leaving, but you had to pick up something from those guys to play with Bain for a while. What did you pick up from Mesidor and Bain? What's the things you learned from them?
Practice habits. One thing I'll say, practice with them guys, every day is relentless, every day is like, you got to leave all your energy on the field. Coming from practice, no matter if you're getting better or not, we'll be dead tired at the end. And I'll say, that's how it is with all of the younger guys. We're showing them that, showing them the standard of Miami because now, it's not just certain guys that would do it, it's the standard at Miami.
Q: How much have you gone against Max Buchanan in practice?
Well, I don't count who the reps go against. Everyone get the same type of intensity. It's been like the same with everybody. Everybody been competing, honestly.
Q: How is the new offensive line looking in practice?
The same. I'll say that the guys, they work ethic, how practice is, everybody competing real hard, like real hard.
