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In response to transfer rumors regarding freshman players, OC/RB coach Thomas Brown said that it’s a process getting young players to mature and learn to earn their spot every day.
“I’ve said all year when it comes to young guys that come in and have high expectations, come in and expect to play early, there’s always a process of maturing and growing up,” Brown said. “When you have young guys - it’s a process of coaching those guys up, encouraging them. We have some tough dudes on this football team that come to work every single day, ignore the outside noise, just come to work.”
Yesterday, N’Kosi Perry pointed out that he didn’t play at all as a true freshman and he tells the current freshmen to keep working hard and look at the bigger picture. Brown agrees that Perry has shown leaps of improvement mentally from where he was just one season ago and says he’s an example to follow in terms of kids that are unselfish and want to help the team however possible.
“We kind of talk about [Perry] all the time. I love the fact that he has endured some tough times and been able to overcome. Also, with him playing at the quarterback spot, I’ve said it before, even going back to Malik [Rosier] – it’s tough, in a high-profile environment, to be the quarterback. Especially when things aren’t going great. He has done a really good job of tuning that stuff out.
“Him and Malik, and all of our quarterbacks, really, are staying close-knit together, not turning against each other, competing their butts off. But also talk about Travis Homer – he has been our starter for the last two years, or really a year and a half. His first year he played only special teams and was an unselfish guy. We need more unselfish guys who are going to help the team in whatever way possible, and it’s working out for him now.”
Brown feels a lot of the negative energy from outside the program is having a poor effect on some of the young players, but says his charges must be mentally tough and tune out the noise.
“From the outside looking in, it’s hard to realize what these guys go through every single day,” Brown said. “It’s harder for our players to sometimes tune out the negative stuff from a media standpoint because they’re always in front of their phones. … It’s a social media generation, so they’re all on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever it is - it’s that type of world we live in.
“We have to do a good job as coaches of bringing in guys that are talented enough for this program but also love Miami and are tough individuals. It’s tough for you to be successful in the game of football and also in life if you’re mentally and physically soft.”
One freshman that has paid his dues from behind the scenes and earned his way on the field has been RB Cam Davis. After starting the season buried at #5 on the RB depth chart, Davis slowly worked his way up and ended up second on the team in carries last week in the win vs. VT, finishing with 7 totes for 77 yards and 2 total TD’s.
“It’s been awesome. Another young guy that kind of came in with high expectations, wanting to come in and play from Day 1,” Brown said of Davis. “And he did play for us, in spurts, played on special teams. But the fact that he has been able to develop into an all-around tailback, I can trust him in every scenario – first, second or third down, and know that he’s going to get the job done – it has been huge for us.”
Heading into the season finale at 6-5 and out of the Coastal Division race, Brown admits that this season has been a disappointment considering the lofty expectations that followed UM into 2018.
"I think we definitely unperformed a lot this year," Brown said. '"We played some young guys at different spots that will be great for us in the future. We're going to move forward with the guys that are committed to this program and continue to recruit guys that will help us win football games, coach these guys up and get better in every aspect and bring Miami to what Miami should be."
Brown says the team is still looking to develop more leaders from within and believes the coaches can only do so much.
“Like I’ve said from Day 1 when we got here, I think we set the tone as coaches, as far as [from] a leadership standpoint,” Brown said. “In order for us to be a great football team, a championship football team, we have to be led from within. The more veteran guys – even some younger guys who have a lot of experience, even maybe some sophomore guys who have played well for us – that can step up and be vocal leaders, the better off we’ll be.”
Does the Pitt game hold any extra significance to him considering the Panthers ruined UM’s perfect season last year?
“More importantly, in my opinion, it’s Senior Day. It’s a chance to honor our guys the last game in their home stadium,” Brown said. “I’ve been there before as a player. I know how special it was to be able to go out with a victory my senior season, so I’m committed to coaching my butt off for those guys and for the rest of our football team and get a win. Last year is last year. People still have some emotions about what happened last year, but it’s a brand new team for us and them. Brand new year.”
“I’ve said all year when it comes to young guys that come in and have high expectations, come in and expect to play early, there’s always a process of maturing and growing up,” Brown said. “When you have young guys - it’s a process of coaching those guys up, encouraging them. We have some tough dudes on this football team that come to work every single day, ignore the outside noise, just come to work.”
Yesterday, N’Kosi Perry pointed out that he didn’t play at all as a true freshman and he tells the current freshmen to keep working hard and look at the bigger picture. Brown agrees that Perry has shown leaps of improvement mentally from where he was just one season ago and says he’s an example to follow in terms of kids that are unselfish and want to help the team however possible.
“We kind of talk about [Perry] all the time. I love the fact that he has endured some tough times and been able to overcome. Also, with him playing at the quarterback spot, I’ve said it before, even going back to Malik [Rosier] – it’s tough, in a high-profile environment, to be the quarterback. Especially when things aren’t going great. He has done a really good job of tuning that stuff out.
“Him and Malik, and all of our quarterbacks, really, are staying close-knit together, not turning against each other, competing their butts off. But also talk about Travis Homer – he has been our starter for the last two years, or really a year and a half. His first year he played only special teams and was an unselfish guy. We need more unselfish guys who are going to help the team in whatever way possible, and it’s working out for him now.”
Brown feels a lot of the negative energy from outside the program is having a poor effect on some of the young players, but says his charges must be mentally tough and tune out the noise.
“From the outside looking in, it’s hard to realize what these guys go through every single day,” Brown said. “It’s harder for our players to sometimes tune out the negative stuff from a media standpoint because they’re always in front of their phones. … It’s a social media generation, so they’re all on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever it is - it’s that type of world we live in.
“We have to do a good job as coaches of bringing in guys that are talented enough for this program but also love Miami and are tough individuals. It’s tough for you to be successful in the game of football and also in life if you’re mentally and physically soft.”
One freshman that has paid his dues from behind the scenes and earned his way on the field has been RB Cam Davis. After starting the season buried at #5 on the RB depth chart, Davis slowly worked his way up and ended up second on the team in carries last week in the win vs. VT, finishing with 7 totes for 77 yards and 2 total TD’s.
“It’s been awesome. Another young guy that kind of came in with high expectations, wanting to come in and play from Day 1,” Brown said of Davis. “And he did play for us, in spurts, played on special teams. But the fact that he has been able to develop into an all-around tailback, I can trust him in every scenario – first, second or third down, and know that he’s going to get the job done – it has been huge for us.”
Heading into the season finale at 6-5 and out of the Coastal Division race, Brown admits that this season has been a disappointment considering the lofty expectations that followed UM into 2018.
"I think we definitely unperformed a lot this year," Brown said. '"We played some young guys at different spots that will be great for us in the future. We're going to move forward with the guys that are committed to this program and continue to recruit guys that will help us win football games, coach these guys up and get better in every aspect and bring Miami to what Miami should be."
Brown says the team is still looking to develop more leaders from within and believes the coaches can only do so much.
“Like I’ve said from Day 1 when we got here, I think we set the tone as coaches, as far as [from] a leadership standpoint,” Brown said. “In order for us to be a great football team, a championship football team, we have to be led from within. The more veteran guys – even some younger guys who have a lot of experience, even maybe some sophomore guys who have played well for us – that can step up and be vocal leaders, the better off we’ll be.”
Does the Pitt game hold any extra significance to him considering the Panthers ruined UM’s perfect season last year?
“More importantly, in my opinion, it’s Senior Day. It’s a chance to honor our guys the last game in their home stadium,” Brown said. “I’ve been there before as a player. I know how special it was to be able to go out with a victory my senior season, so I’m committed to coaching my butt off for those guys and for the rest of our football team and get a win. Last year is last year. People still have some emotions about what happened last year, but it’s a brand new team for us and them. Brand new year.”
