Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz addressed how has unit looked in the second scrimmage of fall camp. He seemed pleased with the progress of the first stringers, but is preaching the importance of depth.
“Like most scrimmages, it’s a mixed bag,” Diaz said. “Our ones are playing more like ones and our twos are playing more like twos. What we’d like to have is to have our twos play more like ones, but the disparity between the two groups is growing larger and larger.”
Diaz did point out that the second-team defense has to face the first-team offense and Brad Kaaya.
“It’s going to be hard for us to be above average if we can only rely on our first level starters. That was the message today – to really get those guys to step up and understand games are coming.”
Diaz was asked to name a few players who really stood out to him. Numerous names came to mind.
“Shaq Quarterman played very well.”
“Jaquan Johnson had a nice scrimmage on the back end again along with all three safeties – Jamal (Carter) played very well.”
“Corn Elder played very well – he had an interception for touchdown and that was a big play.”
“I still think Kendrick Norton is solid. Gerald Willis had five solo tackles. R.J. McIntosh might have had four or five solo tackles as we graded it.”
Miami’s first-year DC had a concern from last night’s scrimmage.
“The physicality and the tackling of the five scrimmages since we’ve had since this staff has been here was probably at the lowest level since we’ve been here,” he said.
“That’s not an indictment on all of the guys – that’s an indictment on some of the guys we need to step up and kind of swung and missed yesterday.”
He wants to continue to keep the defense’s energy as high as possible, which is tough at this juncture of fall camp.
“I loved it (the energy) through the first week and a half. This week is undeniably the hardest week of camp. We went for ten days and we are still two weeks out from game week so this would be the dog days of camp,” said Diaz.
“They’re battling, but what you see sometimes is a lack of our leadership and a lack of our experience because you see sometimes we don’t have the guys who have the wherewithal to grab the guys and say ‘hey let’s not just survive this drill, let’s attack this drill’.”
Diaz interestingly added, “It might be a freshman who has to lead us.”
With the backup quarterbacks “live” last night, meaning they were allowed to be hit, Diaz said he thinks that was a good learning experience for his defense when it comes to “rush lane integrity”.
Jamie Gordinier is a candidate for major playing time at the linebacker spot and has been working as the starting weak side backer in Michael Pinckney’s absence with a hamstring issue.
“The biggest thing with Jamie (Gordinier) is his confidence in himself. When you’re trying to learn everything and be perfect – that’s really hard,” Diaz said. “I think he’s got a really bright future – he’s physically gifted. It’s just at-bats and persistence will turn him into a better player.”
Freshman cornerback Malek Young has stepped up and gotten more reps as Ryan Mayes deals with a shoulder injury.
“Malek had an interception last night, again. What stands out about Malek is that he’s a fast player and when fast players know they’re fast, that affects their confidence in terms of they cover and he’s tough – he’s a willing tackler. The arrow is pointing up on Malek Young,” Diaz said
“Like most scrimmages, it’s a mixed bag,” Diaz said. “Our ones are playing more like ones and our twos are playing more like twos. What we’d like to have is to have our twos play more like ones, but the disparity between the two groups is growing larger and larger.”
Diaz did point out that the second-team defense has to face the first-team offense and Brad Kaaya.
“It’s going to be hard for us to be above average if we can only rely on our first level starters. That was the message today – to really get those guys to step up and understand games are coming.”
Diaz was asked to name a few players who really stood out to him. Numerous names came to mind.
“Shaq Quarterman played very well.”
“Jaquan Johnson had a nice scrimmage on the back end again along with all three safeties – Jamal (Carter) played very well.”
“Corn Elder played very well – he had an interception for touchdown and that was a big play.”
“I still think Kendrick Norton is solid. Gerald Willis had five solo tackles. R.J. McIntosh might have had four or five solo tackles as we graded it.”
Miami’s first-year DC had a concern from last night’s scrimmage.
“The physicality and the tackling of the five scrimmages since we’ve had since this staff has been here was probably at the lowest level since we’ve been here,” he said.
“That’s not an indictment on all of the guys – that’s an indictment on some of the guys we need to step up and kind of swung and missed yesterday.”
He wants to continue to keep the defense’s energy as high as possible, which is tough at this juncture of fall camp.
“I loved it (the energy) through the first week and a half. This week is undeniably the hardest week of camp. We went for ten days and we are still two weeks out from game week so this would be the dog days of camp,” said Diaz.
“They’re battling, but what you see sometimes is a lack of our leadership and a lack of our experience because you see sometimes we don’t have the guys who have the wherewithal to grab the guys and say ‘hey let’s not just survive this drill, let’s attack this drill’.”
Diaz interestingly added, “It might be a freshman who has to lead us.”
With the backup quarterbacks “live” last night, meaning they were allowed to be hit, Diaz said he thinks that was a good learning experience for his defense when it comes to “rush lane integrity”.
Jamie Gordinier is a candidate for major playing time at the linebacker spot and has been working as the starting weak side backer in Michael Pinckney’s absence with a hamstring issue.
“The biggest thing with Jamie (Gordinier) is his confidence in himself. When you’re trying to learn everything and be perfect – that’s really hard,” Diaz said. “I think he’s got a really bright future – he’s physically gifted. It’s just at-bats and persistence will turn him into a better player.”
Freshman cornerback Malek Young has stepped up and gotten more reps as Ryan Mayes deals with a shoulder injury.
“Malek had an interception last night, again. What stands out about Malek is that he’s a fast player and when fast players know they’re fast, that affects their confidence in terms of they cover and he’s tough – he’s a willing tackler. The arrow is pointing up on Malek Young,” Diaz said
