UM Raphael Kirby entertains questions at ACC Media Day in PINEHURST, N.C. —
The seminal moment for the University of Miami football team this offseason happened on the Greentree practice field before sunrise on a March morning, at an hour when not a single Hurricane wanted to be there, at a time when fed-up players turned to each other and said, essentially, that they had run out of patience with irresponsible teammates.
As quarterback Brad Kaaya explained it to reporters at Atlantic Coast Conference Media Days on Monday, the players were there that morning — under the supervision of coaches — doing “pretty rough, physical” workouts as punishment because a teammate — whose identity Kaaya did not disclose — had committed four rules violations.
For the first violation, a player must run at 5 in the morning.
For his second violation, his whole position unit must run and partake in other grueling physical activities at 5 a.m. For a third misstep, that player’s whole unit (offense or defense) must endure that same discipline.
A fourth? The entire team must do it. Before that day, coach Al Golden’s punishment scale had never reached that fourth stage during Kaaya’s time at UM.
But Kaaya and other players had seen enough violations that they stood there on the field that morning, talking among themselves and making clear this would no longer be tolerated.
“The last straw is when the whole team got out there,” Kaaya said. “We said, ‘We’ve had enough. When is it going to stop? We can’t keep having this happen.’ That morning we came together, right before spring break.
“Ever since, it’s been different. It has been cut down tremendously. This summer, we had no major issues. Coach Golden is not having any nonsense anymore. It’s all about business. Team leaders holding guys accountable.
“We didn’t want to focus on all the distractions holding Miami back. This team is clean.”
Kaaya said the “same guys” kept getting in trouble and that the rules violations involved “guys skipping class” and tardiness, primarily to classes and academic meetings.
“We’ve cut all that out,” he said.
Linebacker Raphael Kirby, who accompanied Kaaya to the ACC event, cited something else that prompted several of the program’s rule violators to get their act together.
As part of military-style training that the team participated in last month, six players were charged with selecting teammates to join them on “boat” teams, which entailed a bunch of grueling activities, many of them in Biscayne Bay.
Kirby said players selected initially had strong reputations for trustworthiness and work ethic. Those that were “drafted” last? Not so much.
“They know who they are, and they know why they were picked last,” Kirby said. “I’ve seen drastic changes in those guys” since then.
Kirby also said Golden, for the first time, has authorized players to punish teammates who aren’t following the program.
“There were locker-room issues that had to be dealt with,” Kirby said. “Right now, it’s great. This is the most unified I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Kirby said a few players have been punished by teammates — the discipline usually is running at 5 a.m. — but the violators “haven’t fought back or argued,” Kaaya said. “At this point, there are not any guys who are against what we’re tying to accomplish.”
Kirby said it was the players who suggested to Golden that something had to change regarding accountability among teammates.
“Coach had a meeting with all the leaders and that was one thing we brought up,” Kirby said. “And he supported us.
“He’s done a great job of letting us lead.”
UM enters this season with expectations lower than at any time in recent history, with UM’s over/under for wins at 51/2 or 6 at some Las Vegas casinos.
“Our team is going to be a surprise,” Kirby said.
Kaaya said it’s “fine” if people are underestimating Miami “because once in a while, the target is on everyone else.”
Asked how UM can improve from 6-7 after losing more than a half dozen of its best players, Kaaya said: “It’s not the NFL. At one point, people didn’t know who Phillip Dorsett was and Duke Johnson was. …
“We have good young guys. Our coaches know how to recruit. It’s not like we’re recruiting duds. We are recruiting world-class athletes. [And] they have gotten better.”
Read more here: Miami Hurricanes? leaders tout football team?s attitude adjustment at ACC Media Days | Miami Herald
