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With uncertainty regarding when campuses across the country will open continuing into May, Miami Hurrricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee addressed how the staff plans to deal with the situation in terms of preparing for the 2020 season.
“The wheels are turning and what we’ll have to do is definitely going to be different than normal,” Lashlee said. “That’s okay. We’re fortunate we got four practices (this spring), two in helmets, two in pads so we learned a little about our kids, have something to go off of… Kids can see our demeanor, expectations from how we want to practice, how we want the offense to go, they at least understand that.
“But there’s no question, it’ll be determined by `Hey, you’ve got four weeks or six or eight’. We have a quarterback competition, competition at offensive line, wide receiver, really everywhere and we have to make decisions quicker probably than normal in terms of the amount of practices or data we have to go into that decision. We’re football coaches, it’s our job to get done whatever they put in front of us. If they want us to play September 3rd in the Walmart parking lot then we have to get that done.”
What has his message been to his players during this time?
“These are 18-22 year old kids scattered all across (the country) - we try to not wear them down but stay connected the best way we can,” Lashlee said. “We keep it positive and real. The odds are at some point - we have no idea when - we’re going to go play a college football season. What we can control is, when that happens, what did we do during this weird quarantine time to be prepared for when that does happen?
“We’ve tried to stay positive, let them know the odds are really high… Right now they’re starting finals, so that’s all they need to worry about is finals, not when we’re throwing footballs. It’s challenging to keep it fresh, not stale and do the same things over and over. We try to make the 15 to 30 minute meetings with them different. They’re getting antsy, a lot of them this is their dream, what they love to do and they’re anxious to know when (they will play again).”
Earlier in the spring, Lashlee mentioned that the skill talent at Miami was better than he expected, and today he was asked to follow up on that quote.
“When you come into a job, you may have a preconceived idea, just what you’ve heard,” Lashlee said. “Just in general the guys at all skill positions - their ability to lock in and buy into what we’re doing, want to be good. And knowing a lot of those guys haven’t really done anything from a production standpoint – some have - but from a consistency standpoint… We saw potential. So just the potential of our skill players was promising and we feel like we have guys that care, want to be good and can fit into what we want to do. Missing 11 spring practices and whatever else we’re missing doesn’t help that, but we have guys that can develop into good football players and give us a chance.”
Lashlee also commented on how Houston transfer QB D’Eriq King has been dealing with the quarantine.
“He’s got a good, positive attitude, you just do what you can do,” Lashlee said of King. “It definitely helps him because of the experience. There’s no secret that guys that have played some are probably going to have a little more advantage than guys who needed 11 more spring practices to develop. Experience is never something you can discount. If they say you have a month to get ready, as long as we know our guys are in condition, the football piece will take care of itself.”
The Canes were in a unique situation this spring in welcoming 14 early enrollees to campus, including all 10 of their offensive signees, and Lashlee has been impressed by the work ethic the freshmen have shown thus far.
“I’ll be very honest, I’m always very cautious on saying a lot of great things when guys are young because that can set really unfair expectations for kids in terms of singling them out,” Lashlee said. “But this was the coolest thing in really every offensive signee was here early. Usually you get 1 or 2.
“Having all those guys was going to be huge, still is. They got that icebreaker out of the way, when we get back to practice, they’ll still be ahead of where they would have been. The staff did a really good job on who they brought in. There isn’t anyone we said `He isn’t a good fit for Miami.’ We have talent we’re excited about and they come in from Day 1 and know what we want to get accomplished, the culture, all the habits we want to create. It’s a clean slate with us. We’re really excited about that class.”
The current plan for Lashlee’s offense at Miami is to include a heavy dose of the tight end, something he showed at SMU last season in 2019 when his TE’s recorded 47 catches for 751 yards and 10 TD’s.
“Those guys fit what we want to do offensively,” Lashlee said of UM’s tight ends. “Last year, our tight end was an explosive player for us. Those guys are real versatile pieces of what we want to do offensively.
“You can argue our system fits athletic tight ends as good as anyone around the country. So we’re real excited about Brevin (Jordan), Will (Mallory) and all those guys.”
Lashlee was also asked about junior QB Tate Martell’s progress and where he could fit into the offense if he does not win the number 1 or 2 job.
“He’s fully involved in trying to be the starting quarterback here at the University of Miami,” Lashlee said. “That’s his first love and passion. Four practices, it’s hard. At some point, they’re going to tell us `Here’s how much time we have,’ and we may make decisions without as many sample sizes as we thought we might have. Whether it’s Tate or anybody, it’s our job to get the best players on the field. If Tate can help us, I’m all for that. Whether it’s Tate or other people, we have to probably make decisions quicker. If Tate can help us elsewhere, we’re not going to limit ourselves.”
Since he arrived in January, Lashlee is still looking for his first commitment at QB, and the Miami OC touched on some factors he prioritizes when evaluating a passer.
“When it comes to quarterback, you have a guy that’s productive or you don’t, and if you don’t, it’s hard to win,” Lashlee said. “Some of the things I look for - this is the University of Miami, we shouldn’t recruit a guy who can’t throw and make him a passer. Either they can do it or they can’t to some degree. So we have to recruit a guy with enough arm talent for what we want to do. After that I want guy that are winners. There are situations where he might be at a high school where they’re overmatched, but that’s rare.
“I want guys that love to compete, I love multiple sport kids. I think the worst thing that’s happened at quarterback development is people specializing (in football) in high school. To tell a kid you have to stop playing baseball and basketball to play football I think is wrong. You develop so many things when you play point guard, shortstop and quarterback. And you get guys that get to college that are great athletes, competitors and winners but have so much more to develop because that’s when you specialize when you get to college. So I love multiple-sport athletes - they don’t have to be but I love it. I love guys that are confident in who they are and love to lead. You don’t want guys that are arrogant but want guys that feel they can beat anybody.
“After that, how strong is his arm? If he can make all the throws, is accurate enough, I think accuracy is more important than arm strength. But both are great to have. And being athletic. By athletic, Shane Buechele is a great athlete, I wouldn’t say a great runner - he’s a great golfer, baseball, and basketball player in high school. He can run 4.9 and be a really good athlete. That helps guys be good quarterbacks, extending plays, moving in the pocket. Every situation is different.”
Coming from his most recent stop at SMU, Lashlee hasn’t been shy in using his state of Texas connections and offering Texas QB’s, but says that he’s simply looking for the best player he can find.
“I can’t speak on specific names, but quarterback no matter who you are - national or local - you find the best guy, it doesn’t matter,” Lashlee said. “There are years South Florida may have great quarterbacks. It probably doesn’t hurt I was in Texas the last few years, had some familiarity. We’ll always try to find the best fit at the University of Miami. I know a lot of national championships have been won here with guys out of state. It really doesn’t matter to me where they’re from if they’re the right fit.”
With King set to graduate and redshirt juniors Martell and N’Kosi Perry eligible to grad transfer following 2020, Lashlee didn’t rule out taking two QB’s in the 2021 class.
“I never say never, I think your goal every year is to take one in a perfect world,” Lashlee said. “That freshman gets to come in and develop continuity with that class. But to say we’re only going to take one, you can limit yourself because things happen (transfers/injuries). … We’ll always leave our options open. But in a perfect world you try to get one, which is where we are now. But sometimes things look different in October than they do in May.”
What are Lashlee’s thoughts on the NCAA beginning to allow players to profit off their likeness?
“From the NCAA down to athletic directors, head coaches, (they) will find a good landing spot for that topic,” Lashlee said. “College athletes, there’s a lot asked of those guys - a lot of times you see the glitz and glamour but they put the work in. … those guys will do a good job and whatever they come up with those are the parameters we’ll work with, make the most of it.”
“The wheels are turning and what we’ll have to do is definitely going to be different than normal,” Lashlee said. “That’s okay. We’re fortunate we got four practices (this spring), two in helmets, two in pads so we learned a little about our kids, have something to go off of… Kids can see our demeanor, expectations from how we want to practice, how we want the offense to go, they at least understand that.
“But there’s no question, it’ll be determined by `Hey, you’ve got four weeks or six or eight’. We have a quarterback competition, competition at offensive line, wide receiver, really everywhere and we have to make decisions quicker probably than normal in terms of the amount of practices or data we have to go into that decision. We’re football coaches, it’s our job to get done whatever they put in front of us. If they want us to play September 3rd in the Walmart parking lot then we have to get that done.”
What has his message been to his players during this time?
“These are 18-22 year old kids scattered all across (the country) - we try to not wear them down but stay connected the best way we can,” Lashlee said. “We keep it positive and real. The odds are at some point - we have no idea when - we’re going to go play a college football season. What we can control is, when that happens, what did we do during this weird quarantine time to be prepared for when that does happen?
“We’ve tried to stay positive, let them know the odds are really high… Right now they’re starting finals, so that’s all they need to worry about is finals, not when we’re throwing footballs. It’s challenging to keep it fresh, not stale and do the same things over and over. We try to make the 15 to 30 minute meetings with them different. They’re getting antsy, a lot of them this is their dream, what they love to do and they’re anxious to know when (they will play again).”
Earlier in the spring, Lashlee mentioned that the skill talent at Miami was better than he expected, and today he was asked to follow up on that quote.
“When you come into a job, you may have a preconceived idea, just what you’ve heard,” Lashlee said. “Just in general the guys at all skill positions - their ability to lock in and buy into what we’re doing, want to be good. And knowing a lot of those guys haven’t really done anything from a production standpoint – some have - but from a consistency standpoint… We saw potential. So just the potential of our skill players was promising and we feel like we have guys that care, want to be good and can fit into what we want to do. Missing 11 spring practices and whatever else we’re missing doesn’t help that, but we have guys that can develop into good football players and give us a chance.”
Lashlee also commented on how Houston transfer QB D’Eriq King has been dealing with the quarantine.
“He’s got a good, positive attitude, you just do what you can do,” Lashlee said of King. “It definitely helps him because of the experience. There’s no secret that guys that have played some are probably going to have a little more advantage than guys who needed 11 more spring practices to develop. Experience is never something you can discount. If they say you have a month to get ready, as long as we know our guys are in condition, the football piece will take care of itself.”
The Canes were in a unique situation this spring in welcoming 14 early enrollees to campus, including all 10 of their offensive signees, and Lashlee has been impressed by the work ethic the freshmen have shown thus far.
“I’ll be very honest, I’m always very cautious on saying a lot of great things when guys are young because that can set really unfair expectations for kids in terms of singling them out,” Lashlee said. “But this was the coolest thing in really every offensive signee was here early. Usually you get 1 or 2.
“Having all those guys was going to be huge, still is. They got that icebreaker out of the way, when we get back to practice, they’ll still be ahead of where they would have been. The staff did a really good job on who they brought in. There isn’t anyone we said `He isn’t a good fit for Miami.’ We have talent we’re excited about and they come in from Day 1 and know what we want to get accomplished, the culture, all the habits we want to create. It’s a clean slate with us. We’re really excited about that class.”
The current plan for Lashlee’s offense at Miami is to include a heavy dose of the tight end, something he showed at SMU last season in 2019 when his TE’s recorded 47 catches for 751 yards and 10 TD’s.
“Those guys fit what we want to do offensively,” Lashlee said of UM’s tight ends. “Last year, our tight end was an explosive player for us. Those guys are real versatile pieces of what we want to do offensively.
“You can argue our system fits athletic tight ends as good as anyone around the country. So we’re real excited about Brevin (Jordan), Will (Mallory) and all those guys.”
Lashlee was also asked about junior QB Tate Martell’s progress and where he could fit into the offense if he does not win the number 1 or 2 job.
“He’s fully involved in trying to be the starting quarterback here at the University of Miami,” Lashlee said. “That’s his first love and passion. Four practices, it’s hard. At some point, they’re going to tell us `Here’s how much time we have,’ and we may make decisions without as many sample sizes as we thought we might have. Whether it’s Tate or anybody, it’s our job to get the best players on the field. If Tate can help us, I’m all for that. Whether it’s Tate or other people, we have to probably make decisions quicker. If Tate can help us elsewhere, we’re not going to limit ourselves.”
Since he arrived in January, Lashlee is still looking for his first commitment at QB, and the Miami OC touched on some factors he prioritizes when evaluating a passer.
“When it comes to quarterback, you have a guy that’s productive or you don’t, and if you don’t, it’s hard to win,” Lashlee said. “Some of the things I look for - this is the University of Miami, we shouldn’t recruit a guy who can’t throw and make him a passer. Either they can do it or they can’t to some degree. So we have to recruit a guy with enough arm talent for what we want to do. After that I want guy that are winners. There are situations where he might be at a high school where they’re overmatched, but that’s rare.
“I want guys that love to compete, I love multiple sport kids. I think the worst thing that’s happened at quarterback development is people specializing (in football) in high school. To tell a kid you have to stop playing baseball and basketball to play football I think is wrong. You develop so many things when you play point guard, shortstop and quarterback. And you get guys that get to college that are great athletes, competitors and winners but have so much more to develop because that’s when you specialize when you get to college. So I love multiple-sport athletes - they don’t have to be but I love it. I love guys that are confident in who they are and love to lead. You don’t want guys that are arrogant but want guys that feel they can beat anybody.
“After that, how strong is his arm? If he can make all the throws, is accurate enough, I think accuracy is more important than arm strength. But both are great to have. And being athletic. By athletic, Shane Buechele is a great athlete, I wouldn’t say a great runner - he’s a great golfer, baseball, and basketball player in high school. He can run 4.9 and be a really good athlete. That helps guys be good quarterbacks, extending plays, moving in the pocket. Every situation is different.”
Coming from his most recent stop at SMU, Lashlee hasn’t been shy in using his state of Texas connections and offering Texas QB’s, but says that he’s simply looking for the best player he can find.
“I can’t speak on specific names, but quarterback no matter who you are - national or local - you find the best guy, it doesn’t matter,” Lashlee said. “There are years South Florida may have great quarterbacks. It probably doesn’t hurt I was in Texas the last few years, had some familiarity. We’ll always try to find the best fit at the University of Miami. I know a lot of national championships have been won here with guys out of state. It really doesn’t matter to me where they’re from if they’re the right fit.”
With King set to graduate and redshirt juniors Martell and N’Kosi Perry eligible to grad transfer following 2020, Lashlee didn’t rule out taking two QB’s in the 2021 class.
“I never say never, I think your goal every year is to take one in a perfect world,” Lashlee said. “That freshman gets to come in and develop continuity with that class. But to say we’re only going to take one, you can limit yourself because things happen (transfers/injuries). … We’ll always leave our options open. But in a perfect world you try to get one, which is where we are now. But sometimes things look different in October than they do in May.”
What are Lashlee’s thoughts on the NCAA beginning to allow players to profit off their likeness?
“From the NCAA down to athletic directors, head coaches, (they) will find a good landing spot for that topic,” Lashlee said. “College athletes, there’s a lot asked of those guys - a lot of times you see the glitz and glamour but they put the work in. … those guys will do a good job and whatever they come up with those are the parameters we’ll work with, make the most of it.”
