Peter Ariz
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A year ago at this time, Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was faced with the task of rebuilding a broken unit. The first season was marked with a completely new-look scheme which featured pressure from every angle and youth spread all across the depth chart.
On day two of UM spring practice, it was evident that Diaz felt confident about the direction that his side of the ball is headed.
"The biggest thing that stands out is just how much further ahead we are compared to this time last year," Diaz said. "Even going back and looking at some of those clips is comical where we were starting from. I think the guys have picked up where we left off in December."
Three freshmen linebackers, multiple freshmen defensive linemen, and even Malek Young who is a projected corner starter, all saw significant snaps last season.
"We had a lot of inexperienced players. The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. They now understand what's it takes to be a big time college football player and really what the season requires of you," Diaz said. "You have to experience it to really understand it. For even the sophomores who were getting their first playing experience, that's the advantage of having guys who are coming back and know what it's about."
In what was speculated by a number of people, Mark Richt announced yesterday that Sheldrick Redwine was moving from cornerback to safety. Today, Diaz explained the move for Redwine.
"Coming out of our offseason program, we wanted to put our best four defensive backs out there from who we saw competing. We wanted to see what he could do at safety after we evaluated where we were from a year ago. We believe we have more options, not just on campus, but that are coming in at corner to cover those spots. We felt like he had the skill set to do some of the same things that Rayshawn Jenkins did at the field safety position," Diaz said.
"We told him if it doesn't work out, we can always move him back to corner or shuffle other guys around so we're just looking for our best guys to fit."
On day two of UM spring practice, it was evident that Diaz felt confident about the direction that his side of the ball is headed.
"The biggest thing that stands out is just how much further ahead we are compared to this time last year," Diaz said. "Even going back and looking at some of those clips is comical where we were starting from. I think the guys have picked up where we left off in December."
Three freshmen linebackers, multiple freshmen defensive linemen, and even Malek Young who is a projected corner starter, all saw significant snaps last season.
"We had a lot of inexperienced players. The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. They now understand what's it takes to be a big time college football player and really what the season requires of you," Diaz said. "You have to experience it to really understand it. For even the sophomores who were getting their first playing experience, that's the advantage of having guys who are coming back and know what it's about."
In what was speculated by a number of people, Mark Richt announced yesterday that Sheldrick Redwine was moving from cornerback to safety. Today, Diaz explained the move for Redwine.
"Coming out of our offseason program, we wanted to put our best four defensive backs out there from who we saw competing. We wanted to see what he could do at safety after we evaluated where we were from a year ago. We believe we have more options, not just on campus, but that are coming in at corner to cover those spots. We felt like he had the skill set to do some of the same things that Rayshawn Jenkins did at the field safety position," Diaz said.
"We told him if it doesn't work out, we can always move him back to corner or shuffle other guys around so we're just looking for our best guys to fit."
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