Coach Speak: Hartley talks Irvin II injury, Baxa; Dugans will continue deep WR rotation
And then there were three.
The big news coming out of fall camp today was that junior Michael Irvin II, the Canes projected starter at TE, will likely miss the regular season with a knee injury that will require a three-to-four month recovery. Now, Miami has only three TE’s left, two of which are true freshmen, and none have ever played a meaningful down at UM. It’s tight ends coach Todd Hartley’s job to get them all ready to play.
“It’s tough to see a kid go down, no matter who it is – especially one at your position,” Hartley said. “Michael was having a great camp. He had a great spring camp and he really, really had a great summer. I was really looking forward to seeing what he was going to do this fall. It’s still a possibility he could come back at the end.
“But it hurts us from a standpoint that he was the only tight end in the unit who has had meaningful game reps. Now you’re going out there with kids that you think are capable, but there’s no substitute for game experience. Then it kind of hurts you in practice, a little bit, from a rotation standpoint. But those young guys have to grow up. Now it’s sink or swim.”
When an important player in a position group goes down, the staff always gets together to discuss shuffling the roster and moving guys around to help the affected position. However, as of now, Hartley says the Canes will be sticking with the status quo at TE.
“We’re always discussing personnel changes, but right now I think we’re good with what we’ve got,” Hartley said. “The guys have gone through two full practices without Michael now and haven’t missed a beat, to be honest with you. The young guys just need to grow up and really be put into the fire probably a little bit sooner than we thought, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Along with sophomore Brian Polendey, it will be up to true freshman tight ends Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory to pick up the slack with Irvin II out. While Hartley knows it’s only been five practices, he’s been encouraged by how ready to play both rookies have been.
“Through five practices, they’ve kind of exceeded expectations, to be honest,” Hartley said on Jordan and Mallory. “Both of them need to just keep doing what they’re doing. They are a long ways away, but they are on track to be where they need to be.”
On Jordan: “A kid that has unbelievable athleticism. You saw that in high school. You come out here and he just has stuff that you can’t coach. He runs routes well. He has a good understanding of how to beat press [coverage], how to understand coverages, reading leverage and getting in and out of breaks. He’s an extremely gifted route-runner, but he’s also, for a young kid, he’s pretty good at the point of attack. A long way to go. It really is a benefit to him that he goes against our defensive line every day. He is right where I thought he’d be, if not further along."
On Mallory: “We didn’t really know what to expect from Mallory getting out here. You know his body type, and we knew what kind of role we had for him, but that kid is doing unbelievable. He’s really having a good camp, making a lot of plays and running and catching. The blocking stuff that we’ve put him in there with, he has really done a nice job.”
Taking care of the tights ends is only part of Hartley’s role on the staff. Hartley is also the special teams coordinator at UM and is preparing another true freshman for a key job on the team: projected starting kicker Bubba Baxa. And it’s so far, so good in that department: Hartley says Baxa has lived up to the hype in the first week of camp.
“He’s everything we thought he’d be,” Hartley said on Baxa. “Strong leg. The kid is composed, doesn’t falter in the moment. Put him in front of the defense, head coach, he’s answered. He’s doing a nice job.”
The Canes are also sorting through some talented weapons for the right to start on kickoff and punt returns. It seems two in particular are ahead of the pack, but UM is still working in others.
“Right now, Jeff Thomas and Deejay Dallas are so far ahead of everybody else it’s really a two man race,” Hartley said. “Mark Pope has showed up and done some nice things. Mike Harley is still back there. (Nigel) Bethel is back there a little bit.”
**After practice number 5 on Wednesday, Ron Dugans said he is planning on playing up to 8 receivers in his rotation this year, not much different from last season when Dugans was not afraid to mix and match his group at will.
However, UM’s receivers coach says nobody is locked into a starting role just yet.
“It’s a dogfight right now, it’s kind of up in the air,” Dugans said on who will start. “I tell these guys, ‘I don’t have a depth chart, I have an organizational chart.’ That’s how we’re doing the whole camp until someone breaks away…it’s open. I feel like right now, no one has just separated themselves, as far as the consistency part of it. That’s what I’m looking for – just being consistent.”
Running first team at the Z spot is receiver Lawrence Cager and Dugans talked about why the 6’5” junior is leading the way.
“Lawrence has done really [well]. He has done good for us,” Dugans said. “He has been physical. He has made some plays. He has missed a few [catches] that I wish he would have made. Overall he has done a good job for us.”
Pushing Cager at the Z is two freshmen in Mark Pope and Brian Hightower.
“[Pope] has done some really good things,” Dugans said. “His thing coming in was just confidence. He’s got to learn the plays and trust the coaching. He has done a really good job. He has shown some flashes. We’ve got [to get] him to be consistent. [Brian] Hightower has shown some flashes also.”
In the slot, Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley have been leading the way so far in camp, with Marquez Ezzard also seeing reps there. Dugans also intimated that Harley and Thomas could play on the outside if needed as well.
Dugans got a huge part of his crew back during fall camp as Ahmmon Richards returned to the field off knee surgery. Richards has already made his impact felt and one play in particular stuck out to Dugans.
“The first day of camp, we had one-on-ones against the [defensive backs] and it was in the red zone,” Dugans said. “[Richards] went up, I think it was Michael Jackson – I forgot who the DB was – and he went up, high-pointed the ball and almost one-handed. He came back down and it’s like ‘wow.’ I’m just glad to have him back.”
On freshman WR Dee Wiggins, Dugans is still hoping to see more: “You see him one time he looks like Jerry Rice. The next time you see him it’s like `What are we doing?’ It goes back to just being consistent.”
The big news coming out of fall camp today was that junior Michael Irvin II, the Canes projected starter at TE, will likely miss the regular season with a knee injury that will require a three-to-four month recovery. Now, Miami has only three TE’s left, two of which are true freshmen, and none have ever played a meaningful down at UM. It’s tight ends coach Todd Hartley’s job to get them all ready to play.
“It’s tough to see a kid go down, no matter who it is – especially one at your position,” Hartley said. “Michael was having a great camp. He had a great spring camp and he really, really had a great summer. I was really looking forward to seeing what he was going to do this fall. It’s still a possibility he could come back at the end.
“But it hurts us from a standpoint that he was the only tight end in the unit who has had meaningful game reps. Now you’re going out there with kids that you think are capable, but there’s no substitute for game experience. Then it kind of hurts you in practice, a little bit, from a rotation standpoint. But those young guys have to grow up. Now it’s sink or swim.”
When an important player in a position group goes down, the staff always gets together to discuss shuffling the roster and moving guys around to help the affected position. However, as of now, Hartley says the Canes will be sticking with the status quo at TE.
“We’re always discussing personnel changes, but right now I think we’re good with what we’ve got,” Hartley said. “The guys have gone through two full practices without Michael now and haven’t missed a beat, to be honest with you. The young guys just need to grow up and really be put into the fire probably a little bit sooner than we thought, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Along with sophomore Brian Polendey, it will be up to true freshman tight ends Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory to pick up the slack with Irvin II out. While Hartley knows it’s only been five practices, he’s been encouraged by how ready to play both rookies have been.
“Through five practices, they’ve kind of exceeded expectations, to be honest,” Hartley said on Jordan and Mallory. “Both of them need to just keep doing what they’re doing. They are a long ways away, but they are on track to be where they need to be.”
On Jordan: “A kid that has unbelievable athleticism. You saw that in high school. You come out here and he just has stuff that you can’t coach. He runs routes well. He has a good understanding of how to beat press [coverage], how to understand coverages, reading leverage and getting in and out of breaks. He’s an extremely gifted route-runner, but he’s also, for a young kid, he’s pretty good at the point of attack. A long way to go. It really is a benefit to him that he goes against our defensive line every day. He is right where I thought he’d be, if not further along."
On Mallory: “We didn’t really know what to expect from Mallory getting out here. You know his body type, and we knew what kind of role we had for him, but that kid is doing unbelievable. He’s really having a good camp, making a lot of plays and running and catching. The blocking stuff that we’ve put him in there with, he has really done a nice job.”
Taking care of the tights ends is only part of Hartley’s role on the staff. Hartley is also the special teams coordinator at UM and is preparing another true freshman for a key job on the team: projected starting kicker Bubba Baxa. And it’s so far, so good in that department: Hartley says Baxa has lived up to the hype in the first week of camp.
“He’s everything we thought he’d be,” Hartley said on Baxa. “Strong leg. The kid is composed, doesn’t falter in the moment. Put him in front of the defense, head coach, he’s answered. He’s doing a nice job.”
The Canes are also sorting through some talented weapons for the right to start on kickoff and punt returns. It seems two in particular are ahead of the pack, but UM is still working in others.
“Right now, Jeff Thomas and Deejay Dallas are so far ahead of everybody else it’s really a two man race,” Hartley said. “Mark Pope has showed up and done some nice things. Mike Harley is still back there. (Nigel) Bethel is back there a little bit.”
**After practice number 5 on Wednesday, Ron Dugans said he is planning on playing up to 8 receivers in his rotation this year, not much different from last season when Dugans was not afraid to mix and match his group at will.
However, UM’s receivers coach says nobody is locked into a starting role just yet.
“It’s a dogfight right now, it’s kind of up in the air,” Dugans said on who will start. “I tell these guys, ‘I don’t have a depth chart, I have an organizational chart.’ That’s how we’re doing the whole camp until someone breaks away…it’s open. I feel like right now, no one has just separated themselves, as far as the consistency part of it. That’s what I’m looking for – just being consistent.”
Running first team at the Z spot is receiver Lawrence Cager and Dugans talked about why the 6’5” junior is leading the way.
“Lawrence has done really [well]. He has done good for us,” Dugans said. “He has been physical. He has made some plays. He has missed a few [catches] that I wish he would have made. Overall he has done a good job for us.”
Pushing Cager at the Z is two freshmen in Mark Pope and Brian Hightower.
“[Pope] has done some really good things,” Dugans said. “His thing coming in was just confidence. He’s got to learn the plays and trust the coaching. He has done a really good job. He has shown some flashes. We’ve got [to get] him to be consistent. [Brian] Hightower has shown some flashes also.”
In the slot, Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley have been leading the way so far in camp, with Marquez Ezzard also seeing reps there. Dugans also intimated that Harley and Thomas could play on the outside if needed as well.
Dugans got a huge part of his crew back during fall camp as Ahmmon Richards returned to the field off knee surgery. Richards has already made his impact felt and one play in particular stuck out to Dugans.
“The first day of camp, we had one-on-ones against the [defensive backs] and it was in the red zone,” Dugans said. “[Richards] went up, I think it was Michael Jackson – I forgot who the DB was – and he went up, high-pointed the ball and almost one-handed. He came back down and it’s like ‘wow.’ I’m just glad to have him back.”
On freshman WR Dee Wiggins, Dugans is still hoping to see more: “You see him one time he looks like Jerry Rice. The next time you see him it’s like `What are we doing?’ It goes back to just being consistent.”
