Enos, Barry break down QB's and O-Line

Stefan Adams
4 min read
This spring, the Miami Hurricanes continue to work on installing new offensive coordinator Dan Enos’ offense, which he estimated was 50-60% complete after Tuesday’s practice. However, Enos is holding his quarterbacks to a high standard when running his scheme and says the group still has a long way to go to get to a championship level.

“Not near where we need to be, not near a championship level,” Enos said of his QB’s. “But making some strides in some areas. Not even close to where we need to be at this time. We have a long way to go.”

Despite that, Enos recognizes it’s still spring practice, and is not concerned about his QB group right now.

“It’s just part of the process. We’re in the middle of the process right now,” Enos said. “We have to continue to get better.”

Each of Miami’s three scholarship QB’s have been pretty equally sharing first team reps, and Enos gave his thoughts on what he’s seen from Tate Martell, Jarren Williams, and N’Kosi Perry so far.

On Martell: “Tate is much more comfortable with the terminology than he was earlier. He’s throwing the ball pretty effectively the last couple of days. And we’re really, really working with his eyes in the pocket, his eyes and his feet, posture. He drifts around on his drops a lot, there’s not a real distinct sense of timing in his drops. It’s something that’s new for him. He has to learn to transition with his feet and do it in team situations where I’m not with him telling him to do it every day.”

On Williams: “Jarren has come out here, made some terrific throws. And he’s had some situations where he’s had some mental lapses as well.”

On Perry: “On Saturday, he had his best day. N’Kosi had a great day, graded very high. I saw poise, a passer, a guy getting through his progressions. And today we have to watch the tape, he had a little bit of a step back today. These things are expected.”


**Getting the Miami Hurricanes offensive line to play at a high-level has proven to be a daunting task for the past few years. Enter new OL coach Butch Barry, who has eyes on fixing this long-maligned unit. Barry’s goal this spring is to find his top 5 linemen, regardless of past experience, and run with them.

“Everything we’re doing is to get the five best guys figured out,” Barry said. “Nothing is set in stone, it’s always a competition. Guys are playing all different spots right now.”

The lineman that seems to be getting the most buzz from players and coaches is sophomore DJ Scaife, who is moving from right to left tackle this spring.

“He moves his feet really well, really good athlete,” Barry said of Scaife. “He’s got enough length, there’s guys that play in the NFL that are 6-foot-4 that are playing tackle too. He can also play guard, is taking reps at guard in practice too.”

At center, Miami is trying to replace two-year starter Tyler Gauthier, and sophomore Corey Gaynor has been in the lead on the first team since spring started. Barry says he’s starting to see Gaynor take on more of a leadership role within the team, which is what many centers do for their line.

“He’s done a really good job,” Barry said of Gaynor. “He’s starting to become a leader for us, take ownership of what we want done. He tries to put his best foot forward, and really that’s all you can ask for.”

On what it will take to get this line to start performing to a championship level, Barry feels the key is making small improvements every week to give the player confidence and to keep them on track.

“Offensive linemen, they want to be coached, want to get better,” Barry said. “If you can get them better, they’ll try to do what you’re asking. They’ll keep getting better. I’m putting them in some difficult situations. That’s how you test them. They’re all doing well, but we definitely have to get better too. But I like the progression we’re on. We have to battle every day to get better, but we’ve done some nice things up to this point also.”
 

Comments (20)

Any reason why you post a write up and not a video? Is it cause Canes All Access has the video rights? Always appreciate the work but was wondering why you post this when we can just watch the video.
 
It would be huge for us if Barry turns out to be a high quality coach (though that might lead to another Jess Simpson scenario)
 
This spring, the Miami Hurricanes continue to work on installing new offensive coordinator Dan Enos’ offense, which he estimated was 50-60% complete after Tuesday’s practice. However, Enos is holding his quarterbacks to a high standard when running his scheme and says the group still has a long way to go to get to a championship level.

“Not near where we need to be, not near a championship level,” Enos said of his QB’s. “But making some strides in some areas. Not even close to where we need to be at this time. We have a long way to go.”

Despite that, Enos recognizes it’s still spring practice, and is not concerned about his QB group right now.

“It’s just part of the process. We’re in the middle of the process right now,” Enos said. “We have to continue to get better.”

Each of Miami’s three scholarship QB’s have been pretty equally sharing first team reps, and Enos gave his thoughts on what he’s seen from Tate Martell, Jarren Williams, and N’Kosi Perry so far.

On Martell: “Tate is much more comfortable with the terminology than he was earlier. He’s throwing the ball pretty effectively the last couple of days. And we’re really, really working with his eyes in the pocket, his eyes and his feet, posture. He drifts around on his drops a lot, there’s not a real distinct sense of timing in his drops. It’s something that’s new for him. He has to learn to transition with his feet and do it in team situations where I’m not with him telling him to do it every day.”

On Williams: “Jarren has come out here, made some terrific throws. And he’s had some situations where he’s had some mental lapses as well.”

On Perry: “On Saturday, he had his best day. N’Kosi had a great day, graded very high. I saw poise, a passer, a guy getting through his progressions. And today we have to watch the tape, he had a little bit of a step back today. These things are expected.”


**Getting the Miami Hurricanes offensive line to play at a high-level has proven to be a daunting task for the past few years. Enter new OL coach Butch Barry, who has eyes on fixing this long-maligned unit. Barry’s goal this spring is to find his top 5 linemen, regardless of past experience, and run with them.

“Everything we’re doing is to get the five best guys figured out,” Barry said. “Nothing is set in stone, it’s always a competition. Guys are playing all different spots right now.”

The lineman that seems to be getting the most buzz from players and coaches is sophomore DJ Scaife, who is moving from right to left tackle this spring.

“He moves his feet really well, really good athlete,” Barry said of Scaife. “He’s got enough length, there’s guys that play in the NFL that are 6-foot-4 that are playing tackle too. He can also play guard, is taking reps at guard in practice too.”

At center, Miami is trying to replace two-year starter Tyler Gauthier, and sophomore Corey Gaynor has been in the lead on the first team since spring started. Barry says he’s starting to see Gaynor take on more of a leadership role within the team, which is what many centers do for their line.

“He’s done a really good job,” Barry said of Gaynor. “He’s starting to become a leader for us, take ownership of what we want done. He tries to put his best foot forward, and really that’s all you can ask for.”

On what it will take to get this line to start performing to a championship level, Barry feels the key is making small improvements every week to give the player confidence and to keep them on track.

“Offensive linemen, they want to be coached, want to get better,” Barry said. “If you can get them better, they’ll try to do what you’re asking. They’ll keep getting better. I’m putting them in some difficult situations. That’s how you test them. They’re all doing well, but we definitely have to get better too. But I like the progression we’re on. We have to battle every day to get better, but we’ve done some nice things up to this point also.”
Thanks again for the overview Stefan! Overall, how does the team look, especially the Offensive side? In your opinion, does it look like progress is being made?
 
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It would be huge for us if Barry turns out to be a high quality coach (though that might lead to another Jess Simpson scenario)

UM honestly should never spare any expense on OL coaching hires.
The skill players that UM will get each and every year justify it and it is a travesty to watch them struggle so badly against even subpar competition at times.

I hope Barry is everything we need...can't imagine it getting much worse.

UM
 
UM honestly should never spare any expense on OL coaching hires.
The skill players that UM will get each and every year justify it and it is a travesty to watch them struggle so badly against even subpar competition at times.

I hope Barry is everything we need...can't imagine it getting much worse.

UM

I always say that the OL coach is responsible for essentially half of the players on the field on offense. That is immense. Most important coach after coordinators.
 
Sorry, maybe it’s just me, but all I hear is blah, blah, blah coach speak, same BS you would hear from almost every other college staff at this time of the year. “Trying to find best five guys”, shocker, “Not where we need to be yet”, “Process, need to continue to get better...”
 
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Sorry, maybe it’s just me, but all I hear is blah, blah, blah coach speak, same BS you would hear from almost every other college staff at this time of the year. “Trying to find best five guys”, shocker, “Not where we need to be yet”, “Process, need to continue to get better...”
You got it! This is “goobeldy-****” at it’s best. My interpretation is that the OLine will be the “Achilles Heel” this year. Just like the past 12-15 years.
 
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VERY telling no mention of Kennedy.
I know right. They seem to be pretty sold on Scaife-Donaldson-Gaynor as starters. Only spot really up for grabs is RG and RT and Kennedy is clearly not physical enough to play the strong side.
 
Honestly I don't think the O-line is as bad as ppl are making it out to be. A change in offensive scheme and better QB play will help the O-line just as much if not more than the skill positions.


And some positive reinforcement when they do things right will go a long way in the confidence department. More confidence = better play
 
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Any reason why you post a write up and not a video? Is it cause Canes All Access has the video rights? Always appreciate the work but was wondering why you post this when we can just watch the video.

Some of us don’t really have the time in our day to watch a video, but can read the transcript. I appreciate @Stefan Adams taking the time to do this.
 
Might seem strange but I truly believe Coach Barry will have the OL playing much better than last season. For 1, he’s a better coach that Searles ever was, and I’m sure he’s looking to get back to the league so to do so he’s got to produce much better offensive lines than we’ve had in 12+ years. Secondly, I like the 5 main guys gelling better so far than what we rolled out with last year. I think the OL of Scaife, Donaldson, Gaynor, Hillary, and Hebert are going to do some damage pushing bodies and creating holes plus pass protect much better than their predecessors did last year. My concern is what happens if one of them goes down. Then what do we do?
 
I agree. You just don't get the emotion from reading the article.

True. But maybe the emotion actually distracts you from the facts/words.

I read this and wonder why we are asking three QB’s who’ve basically never played under center to play primarily under center rather than adapting the offense to the players. Time will tell, I’m sticking with faith, for now.
 
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