Miami took the stage yesterday morning at Charlotte for the ACC Media Days, where Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal and players Carson Beck, Akheem Mesidor, Francis Mauigoa, and Wesley Bissainthe took the podium at the event.
Here is everything Miami defensive lineman Ahkeem Mesidor had to say at the Media Days:
Full Transcript provided by ASAP Sports.
Akheem, you guys struggled defensively down the stretch last year. What do you think you can improve on this year to not have that happen again?
Well, the biggest thing we've been emphasizing this off-season is communication. If you don't communicate, your defense is going to get just torched, right? We have a bunch of new additions, but communication is the biggest thing for us.
You guys have a new defensive coordinator this year. What have you seen from Coach Hetherman so far, and how do you like his new defense?
I love Coach Hetherman. He's a great teacher. He's just an aggressive guy, as you guys can see in his interviews. But he just gets it down to the point. He's a technician; anything you have, he'll probably answer your question before you ask it. But he's an amazing person, a great coach, and he just lets us play free, play fast, and I can't wait to play football.
Coach Cristobal, what is it about his leadership, his leadership style, that speaks to not only you personally but to the Hurricanes, and why it works in Miami?
Well, Coach Cristobal is a powerful leader, and he doesn't stop working. He works day and night. The biggest thing for him that he tells us is that elite teams are in elite shape, so what we do this off-season is we run, we run like crazy. We're trying to get in -- just having amazing conditioning. After that, you have to play hard. Play fast, play hard, and just dominate every snap of the game.
Just Coach Cristobal is an amazing coach, the best I've been around, and I love being a part of this team.
How do you lead a stacked D-line room while staying the top pass rusher?
A big step I've been trying to take this off-season is the leadership role. I think I'm the oldest guy in the room, but I just want to lead by example, and also, I want to be more vocal. This off-season, I've been bringing guys along with extra work. I just want to get to know everybody, and I want everybody else to get to know me, know my story, know my why. We have a deep room, and we have a bunch of guys who can play. We need to work together as we have. We need to get together and just establish our identity in that room and just dominate.
You speak about your why, your story. Given your background, culturally growing up in Canada, how has that affected how you've matured as an individual and as a football player?
Growing up in Canada, it's difficult to get recruited out here in the States. Nothing is given to you. You have to go out and grab everybody. I grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, in a five-child household, and then my mom took care of all of us on her own. My dad comes from a Haitian background, so I speak English and French, and I grew up in a diverse community, a diverse place.
But football-wise, nothing was given. I had to work for everything. I had to travel back and forth to Ohio, back and forth to Indiana, Michigan, a bunch of different spots in order to gain recognition because just traditionally, people looked down on Canadian competition, Canadian talent. I really had to prove myself more than I feel like many or most, and I always carry that mentality even now. Nothing is going to be given to me. I need to go out and take everything. That's why I work as hard as I do, because I need the game of football to bless me and my family.
You left the door open. You said you speak French, so please answer this question in French. What's your favorite thing to do in your downtime?
I like fishing. I don't know how to say it in French. I forgot. (Speaking French.)
Here is everything Miami defensive lineman Ahkeem Mesidor had to say at the Media Days:
Full Transcript provided by ASAP Sports.
Akheem, you guys struggled defensively down the stretch last year. What do you think you can improve on this year to not have that happen again?
Well, the biggest thing we've been emphasizing this off-season is communication. If you don't communicate, your defense is going to get just torched, right? We have a bunch of new additions, but communication is the biggest thing for us.
You guys have a new defensive coordinator this year. What have you seen from Coach Hetherman so far, and how do you like his new defense?
I love Coach Hetherman. He's a great teacher. He's just an aggressive guy, as you guys can see in his interviews. But he just gets it down to the point. He's a technician; anything you have, he'll probably answer your question before you ask it. But he's an amazing person, a great coach, and he just lets us play free, play fast, and I can't wait to play football.
Coach Cristobal, what is it about his leadership, his leadership style, that speaks to not only you personally but to the Hurricanes, and why it works in Miami?
Well, Coach Cristobal is a powerful leader, and he doesn't stop working. He works day and night. The biggest thing for him that he tells us is that elite teams are in elite shape, so what we do this off-season is we run, we run like crazy. We're trying to get in -- just having amazing conditioning. After that, you have to play hard. Play fast, play hard, and just dominate every snap of the game.
Just Coach Cristobal is an amazing coach, the best I've been around, and I love being a part of this team.
How do you lead a stacked D-line room while staying the top pass rusher?
A big step I've been trying to take this off-season is the leadership role. I think I'm the oldest guy in the room, but I just want to lead by example, and also, I want to be more vocal. This off-season, I've been bringing guys along with extra work. I just want to get to know everybody, and I want everybody else to get to know me, know my story, know my why. We have a deep room, and we have a bunch of guys who can play. We need to work together as we have. We need to get together and just establish our identity in that room and just dominate.
You speak about your why, your story. Given your background, culturally growing up in Canada, how has that affected how you've matured as an individual and as a football player?
Growing up in Canada, it's difficult to get recruited out here in the States. Nothing is given to you. You have to go out and grab everybody. I grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, in a five-child household, and then my mom took care of all of us on her own. My dad comes from a Haitian background, so I speak English and French, and I grew up in a diverse community, a diverse place.
But football-wise, nothing was given. I had to work for everything. I had to travel back and forth to Ohio, back and forth to Indiana, Michigan, a bunch of different spots in order to gain recognition because just traditionally, people looked down on Canadian competition, Canadian talent. I really had to prove myself more than I feel like many or most, and I always carry that mentality even now. Nothing is going to be given to me. I need to go out and take everything. That's why I work as hard as I do, because I need the game of football to bless me and my family.
You left the door open. You said you speak French, so please answer this question in French. What's your favorite thing to do in your downtime?
I like fishing. I don't know how to say it in French. I forgot. (Speaking French.)
