After opening spring practice on Monday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz took to the podium to address some team issues.
“It went well,” Diaz said. “It’s just a new year - no matter what our record was, you have to rebuild a college team from scratch every year. You can never assume we’re going to run the ball and tackle, never take those for granted. We mentioned to the team today, a team is a collection of people and the behavioral choices they make.
“Regardless of last year, everyone in the country is starting off 0-0.”
The Canes are of course trying to settle into a new scheme on offense, and Diaz said he saw the energy he was looking for on that side of the ball today.
“They have no choice because just the energy of coach (Rhett) Lashlee, his entire staff,” Diaz said. “It’s already a high energy thing. The nature of the beast is you have no choice - the players, they knew it was on from our very first fast drill. The difference in what a practice is - I’m an older guy, what I just went through is not something I’ve been through since I’ve been here. It’s a new experience.”
Ending last season 6-7 left a bitter taste in the team’s mouth, and Diaz says he’s taken a lot of lessons away from 2019.
“You always have a learning curve from Year 1 to Year 2,” Diaz said. “There are so many things, a lot that I kind of keep internally that you’re doing differently. But I go back to what I said, all this is about the people, make sure you have the right people on board.”
With DeeJay Dallas off to the NFL Draft, Diaz feels the running back group is ready to step up as a whole without him.
“I think when we reconvene in the fall, that’s part of why we were able to get Don Chaney and Jaylan Knighton to come together,” Diaz said. “Robert Burns showed he can have a role. He’s a different guy to tackle than all the other guys. Cam Harris probably, since we’ve come back in the offseason program, I don’t think anyone has done more extra work in the weight room. All of his intentions through his work ethic are priming himself for a big year.”
At QB, returning redshirt junior N’Kosi Perry and Houston grad transfer D’Eriq King opened spring switching off on first team reps. Perry led the day with the ones in warmups, but King started with the ones in competitive 7-on-7 play. They were followed by Tate Martell, Peyton Matocha, and Tyler Van Dyke in that order, and Diaz said there’s no rush to officially announce a starter at the spot.
“It’s not that all different than what I talked about a year ago - when we, know we’ll announce it,” Diaz said. “Last year, that was after our second scrimmage in the fall. This year, I can’t predict when that will be.”
On the new addition King, who arrived on campus in mid-January: “He’s been phenomenal when he’s been in this building as a worker.”
On the OL, a familiar face returned to the field today when redshirt sophomore Cleveland Reed stepped back onto Greentree – he had previously left the team last September with the intent to transfer, but later decided against that course of action.
“There’s no manual for this because it’s a new era with the portal. Cleveland expressed that he felt pretty soon after he made the decision that he made a mistake,” Diaz said. “You don’t want one day or a bad choice to impact the rest of their lives.”
Miami’s prized OL recruit from the 2020 class in Jalen Rivers enrolled early for spring ball, and Diaz hopes for the true freshman to have an impact this season.
“He has shown since he’s been on campus, the most exciting thing we see, a big guy like Jalen - watching him compete very early on it’s encouraging,” Diaz said of Rivers.
UCLA DE transfer Jaelan Phillips sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but Diaz has already been impressed by the athletic ability the former 5-star recruit has shown at 6’5” 258 pounds.
“It gets back to that word `competition,’” Diaz said. “Highly competitive guy, Jaelan can run. Even when we ran the stadium at Hard Rock last week, Jaelan was one of the top seven finishers. Very, very athletic for his size, transformed his body since he’s been back here.”
When asked who he’s seen improvement from compared to last year, Diaz listed off Al Blades, DJ Ivey, Christian Williams, Amari Carter, Zach McCloud, Jon Ford, Gregory Rousseau, Zion Nelson, Dee Wiggins, and Mike Harley as some that have impressed him.
Ultimately, Diaz has been pleased with the development in the culture in Coral Gables compared to last season.
“There is a guy in every room that has that leadership quality,” Diaz said. “This has been a very productive off-season for us.”
