Richt's most recent comments on OL

Miami Hurricanes coach Mark Richt says team made ?amazing? fitness gains in offseason | Canes Watch


I know the argument re: how good/bad the OL was last year and will be this coming tilt has gone round and round. Seems Richt's assessment is closer to (not solidly in...settle down) the "they were/will be bad" camp than the "they were/will be good" supporters.


"..Richt said his offensive line, which struggled with injuries last year, “transformed their bodies."

We gave everybody a target weight and a target body fat. Sometimes, like, there might be a guy where we said, we want you to weight 315 and have 18 percent body fat, if you’re an offensive lineman. Guys might have got down to 320, but their body fat was right so we were like, you know what? That’s right, you’re in great condition, 320’s OK. 315, maybe we’ll – because we’re learning about these guys, to a certain degree.”

Commenting on the state of the line itself, he said this: “We probably got seven guys that we think can function and play well in our league. We’ve got to stay healthy. We’ve got to develop the younger guys.” Those who can “function” are likely Trevor Darling, Kc McDermott, Nick Linder, Danny Isidora, Alex Gall, Sunny Odogwu and Tyree St. Louis, all of whom saw significant action last year. St. Louis, a sophomore, is the only underclassman."


When an organization's leader, especially one as well spoken and deliberate as Richt, uses the phrase "can function" wrt ANY capability in said program (i.e. equipment, personnel, etc...), that is not exactly a ringing endorsement. In fact, it implies, "we will use what we have until we can get the asset(s) in place that we want..." The Wellness Center "can function" as an IPF, just not a good one.

I want to believe their D3 level performance for most of last year (probably cost the Canes x2 Ws, and made several other games too close for comfort) was the result of lack luster coaching and/or scheme (not dog piling Kehoe or Coley..who cares at this point).

I want to believe the new staff can coach and scheme better performance from the athletes in-place today (good luck Searles and Richt).

I remain concerned, like others on here, that the OL (the foundational unit for whole O) could be the weakest link headed into rhis year's campaign.

Go Canes.

I think the OL will be much better. I think Richt is sandbagging.

P.S. Alex Gall can't function worth a **** unless it's functioning as a giant pylon.
 
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Looking at that pic......How in the **** did Kaaya survive the season?

Good field vision, a quick release and an even quicker brain. He actually only got sacked like 16 times last season. Considering how horrible the O-line was, it says a lot about his ability to get the ball out quick and not take sacks.
 
rEALLY A headscratcher how Trevor Darling & Kc McDermott took such a massive step backwards last year . Even Linder was not as good as the year before. I'm thinking they turn it around this years, these guys were beasts coming out of HS and have the potenital to play on Sunday
Playing in spots they shouldn't have been playing. Shocker.

Should get better though.
 
Looking at that pic......How in the **** did Kaaya survive the season?

Good field vision, a quick release and an even quicker brain. He actually only got sacked like 16 times last season. Considering how horrible the O-line was, it says a lot about his ability to get the ball out quick and not take sacks.
Yep. I remember making similar comments about Kaaya throughout the season. He may not have the strongest arm in the world but he is very adept at protecting the ball and avoiding the sack.
 
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The OL couldnt get first downs when Duke was in the backfield and I think last year we had the 3rd lowest third down conversion --- we cant get any worse
 
The OL couldnt get first downs when Duke was in the backfield and I think last year we had the 3rd lowest third down conversion --- we cant get any worse

The debate has gone back and forth...back and forth...

Some place the predominate responsibility for failure on lack of athlete prep, coaching, and scheme, while others place the blame on just the athletes themselves...

Looks like we'll have it settled starting in the next few weeks...

I'm leaning that we'll see some.improvement just from the new top-to-bottom program.elements installed by Richt and co...

However, I suspect Richt is going to recruit a better overall OL athlete in the years ahead to.replace what is currently on the roster...
 
rEALLY A headscratcher how Trevor Darling & Kc McDermott took such a massive step backwards last year . Even Linder was not as good as the year before. I'm thinking they turn it around this years, these guys were beasts coming out of HS and have the potenital to play on Sunday

Are you new? That's been the problem here for over a decade now. Guys would come in, show so much promise their freshman year but couldn't take the next step or in many cases, they would regress. The coaching has been atrocious for the last decade.
 
The fact that the kids are truly in shape will significantly cut down on the mental errors and penalties. When you're in bad shape and fatigued nothing good happens. As Franchise stated, we had a bunch of kids who were going to be Type-2 diabetics by their mid to late 20's.

SS is working with a set rotation. None of the nonsense Art was doing. We bring back a line with a bunch of starts. Being in shape with good coaching is going to surprise a bunch of fans. We can win games with 7 to 8 kids. We just have to stay healthy.
 
rEALLY A headscratcher how Trevor Darling & Kc McDermott took such a massive step backwards last year . Even Linder was not as good as the year before. I'm thinking they turn it around this years, these guys were beasts coming out of HS and have the potenital to play on Sunday

Are you new? That's been the problem here for over a decade now. Guys would come in, show so much promise their freshman year but couldn't take the next step or in many cases, they would regress. The coaching has been atrocious for the last decade.

Well last time I checked our only recent Top 10 pick was an OL. I agree the coaching has been atrocious though. Richt should have brought back Jeff Stoutland, not sure how Coach Searles is an upgrade over Kehoe. Leatherwood would probably be committed by now if Stoutland was recruiting him.
 
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rEALLY A headscratcher how Trevor Darling & Kc McDermott took such a massive step backwards last year . Even Linder was not as good as the year before. I'm thinking they turn it around this years, these guys were beasts coming out of HS and have the potenital to play on Sunday

Are you new? That's been the problem here for over a decade now. Guys would come in, show so much promise their freshman year but couldn't take the next step or in many cases, they would regress. The coaching has been atrocious for the last decade.

Well last time I checked our only recent Top 10 pick was an OL. I agree the coaching has been atrocious though. Richt should have brought back Jeff Stoutland, not sure how Coach Searles is an upgrade over Kehoe. Leatherwood would probably be committed by now if Stoutland was recruiting him.
Google "Ereck Flowers poor technique". That will tell you everything you need to know about Kehoe's ability to "coach up" an OL. Searles is definitely an upgrade.
 
rEALLY A headscratcher how Trevor Darling & Kc McDermott took such a massive step backwards last year . Even Linder was not as good as the year before. I'm thinking they turn it around this years, these guys were beasts coming out of HS and have the potenital to play on Sunday

Are you new? That's been the problem here for over a decade now. Guys would come in, show so much promise their freshman year but couldn't take the next step or in many cases, they would regress. The coaching has been atrocious for the last decade.

Well last time I checked our only recent Top 10 pick was an OL. I agree the coaching has been atrocious though. Richt should have brought back Jeff Stoutland, not sure how Coach Searles is an upgrade over Kehoe. Leatherwood would probably be committed by now if Stoutland was recruiting him.
Google "Ereck Flowers poor technique". That will tell you everything you need to know about Kehoe's ability to "coach up" an OL. Searles is definitely an upgrade.

Still Coach Searles last stops were at VT and Texas, both coaches pretty much got canned. Not a great sign.
 
Looking at the roster and the weight-loss by many of the OL is staggering. Oddly, Darling and Odogwu are listed at 320+ but everyone else has slimmed down. Considering the premium the new staff is putting on speed, and how shaky Darling and Odogwu were at times last season, what are people's thoughts on this potential OL?

LT McDermott (308)
LG Gall (305)
C Linder (305)
RG Isidora (305)
RT St. Louis (305)
 
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