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Following the conclusion of signing day yesterday, new Miami offensive coordinator and QB coach Rhett Lashlee gave his first press conference to the media, and began with why he chose to leave the same position at SMU for the Hurricanes.
“It’s the University of Miami, first of all. Coach (Manny) Diaz is a big reason I was very interested, because we went against each other back in the day, were both coordinators,” Lashlee said. “He was always probably the toughest guy we’d face. His defensive background speaks for itself. Thirdly, just looking through the situation, you always get caught up in negatives or what things aren’t there, I’m not one of those guys. I see what can be, what’s there. Now you have to go solve issues, we’re focused on `Here’s what we do have, what we can be good with.’ A combination of it being the University of Miami and coach Diaz is what I kept coming back to.”
Lashlee’s arrival coincides with the spread offense finally being utilized at UM, and he spoke about why he runs that style of offense.
"For me it's just my background," Lashlee said. "I threw 71 times in a game twice. When I played, we never had a guy that ran faster than 4.6, but we led the country in total offense because we played fast, wore (the defense) down, had guys that executed at a high level.
“That's my background and I've seen it work over the years. Tempo is the great equalizer. Look at the Super Bowl, the last six minutes. The 49ers dominated till they went up tempo, then the defense wasn't as effective. I just believe in that, what I've always done. What fits here, if you talk about South Florida, we have access to a lot of good speed, athletes. Getting our guys in space allows their speed to be opened up and used to their advantage."
With spring practice set to begin on February 29th, Lashlee says he is spending a lot of time getting to know his new players and emphasizing everyone has a clean slate, especially his quarterbacks.
"This spring is important for us from an X’s and O’s standpoint, us getting to know them, them getting to know us,” Lashlee said. “I’ve never seen an offense be good that’s not close together… I told (the QB’s) `Hey, it's a fresh slate’. So far, they've been great, their attitudes have been great, they're working hard. I think they're excited to get their feet wet and see what they can do.
“I’ve been in situations before where, coming in, we have to get things turned around, and in those scenarios - the things I’ve always said is ‘The past is the past’. Like I told our players, I will not watch one single game from last year in terms of the game. I watch cutups of individual players. I can see kind of what their skillset is, what they can do until we get on the field. From doing that, we have some pieces in place we can work with.”
Lashlee will certainly have his work cut out for him in taking over UM’s 90th ranked scoring offense (25.7 ppg) in the FBS last season. In contrast, Lashlee's 2019 SMU offense averaged 41.8 points, 7th most in the nation.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. From O-Line to tight end to running back to receiver, we have some guys I know are excited about what we’re going to be doing,” Lashlee said. “We addressed our most immediate need on offense, to find an older, more seasoned QB to help that room. Just looking through it, we have guys up front that are young, but there’s some length and athleticism. We have some experience coming back at tight end, two older guys at running back, two electric younger guys coming in. At receiver, we have guys that haven’t really done anything yet. It’s a matter of putting guys in position to be successful.”
That older, more seasoned QB came to Miami last month in the form of Houston grad transfer D’Eriq King, who broke out as a junior for the Cougars when he accounted for 50 total TD’s in 2018 before sitting out the majority of last season to preserve his eligibility.
“He’s an electric playmaker. When he became available, it just worked out,” Lashlee said of King. “He and I had gone against each other - he’s from the state of Texas. When he was able to sit down and see cutups of the guys we have coming back, see them on tape, in the weight room, hang out with them, he felt really good about the guys.
"D'Eriq has a unique skill set - whoever wins that job you want to build what you do around what they do best. We want to be fast, make the defense defend the whole field… But if you have a QB like D'Eriq, you may have more zone read or run the ball more. At the end of the day, for D'Eriq, he played in similar systems at Houston, in high school. I witnessed when we played Houston what a pain in the rear end he was to defend. I'm just happy to have him on our side."
With 2020 QB signee Tyler Van Dyke already in the fold before Lashlee came on board, UM’s new OC has yet to really recruit a high school QB to Miami. What will Lashlee be looking for out of a quarterback in the upcoming 2021 class?
“A winner, a guy that wants to be a leader,” Lashlee said. “If you're a QB, you can't be scared of competition... This is college football, we shouldn't recruit guys who can't throw. The guy has to be accurate enough to make the throws we want. The quicker the guy gets it out, the better. We like to throw it deep, and the more athletic the better."
“It’s the University of Miami, first of all. Coach (Manny) Diaz is a big reason I was very interested, because we went against each other back in the day, were both coordinators,” Lashlee said. “He was always probably the toughest guy we’d face. His defensive background speaks for itself. Thirdly, just looking through the situation, you always get caught up in negatives or what things aren’t there, I’m not one of those guys. I see what can be, what’s there. Now you have to go solve issues, we’re focused on `Here’s what we do have, what we can be good with.’ A combination of it being the University of Miami and coach Diaz is what I kept coming back to.”
Lashlee’s arrival coincides with the spread offense finally being utilized at UM, and he spoke about why he runs that style of offense.
"For me it's just my background," Lashlee said. "I threw 71 times in a game twice. When I played, we never had a guy that ran faster than 4.6, but we led the country in total offense because we played fast, wore (the defense) down, had guys that executed at a high level.
“That's my background and I've seen it work over the years. Tempo is the great equalizer. Look at the Super Bowl, the last six minutes. The 49ers dominated till they went up tempo, then the defense wasn't as effective. I just believe in that, what I've always done. What fits here, if you talk about South Florida, we have access to a lot of good speed, athletes. Getting our guys in space allows their speed to be opened up and used to their advantage."
With spring practice set to begin on February 29th, Lashlee says he is spending a lot of time getting to know his new players and emphasizing everyone has a clean slate, especially his quarterbacks.
"This spring is important for us from an X’s and O’s standpoint, us getting to know them, them getting to know us,” Lashlee said. “I’ve never seen an offense be good that’s not close together… I told (the QB’s) `Hey, it's a fresh slate’. So far, they've been great, their attitudes have been great, they're working hard. I think they're excited to get their feet wet and see what they can do.
“I’ve been in situations before where, coming in, we have to get things turned around, and in those scenarios - the things I’ve always said is ‘The past is the past’. Like I told our players, I will not watch one single game from last year in terms of the game. I watch cutups of individual players. I can see kind of what their skillset is, what they can do until we get on the field. From doing that, we have some pieces in place we can work with.”
Lashlee will certainly have his work cut out for him in taking over UM’s 90th ranked scoring offense (25.7 ppg) in the FBS last season. In contrast, Lashlee's 2019 SMU offense averaged 41.8 points, 7th most in the nation.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. From O-Line to tight end to running back to receiver, we have some guys I know are excited about what we’re going to be doing,” Lashlee said. “We addressed our most immediate need on offense, to find an older, more seasoned QB to help that room. Just looking through it, we have guys up front that are young, but there’s some length and athleticism. We have some experience coming back at tight end, two older guys at running back, two electric younger guys coming in. At receiver, we have guys that haven’t really done anything yet. It’s a matter of putting guys in position to be successful.”
That older, more seasoned QB came to Miami last month in the form of Houston grad transfer D’Eriq King, who broke out as a junior for the Cougars when he accounted for 50 total TD’s in 2018 before sitting out the majority of last season to preserve his eligibility.
“He’s an electric playmaker. When he became available, it just worked out,” Lashlee said of King. “He and I had gone against each other - he’s from the state of Texas. When he was able to sit down and see cutups of the guys we have coming back, see them on tape, in the weight room, hang out with them, he felt really good about the guys.
"D'Eriq has a unique skill set - whoever wins that job you want to build what you do around what they do best. We want to be fast, make the defense defend the whole field… But if you have a QB like D'Eriq, you may have more zone read or run the ball more. At the end of the day, for D'Eriq, he played in similar systems at Houston, in high school. I witnessed when we played Houston what a pain in the rear end he was to defend. I'm just happy to have him on our side."
With 2020 QB signee Tyler Van Dyke already in the fold before Lashlee came on board, UM’s new OC has yet to really recruit a high school QB to Miami. What will Lashlee be looking for out of a quarterback in the upcoming 2021 class?
“A winner, a guy that wants to be a leader,” Lashlee said. “If you're a QB, you can't be scared of competition... This is college football, we shouldn't recruit guys who can't throw. The guy has to be accurate enough to make the throws we want. The quicker the guy gets it out, the better. We like to throw it deep, and the more athletic the better."
