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The safety position

TheOriginalCane said:
This is just ridiculous. I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just pointing out that most of the people who keep repeating myths are among the least-informed and least-well-connected fans.

There's a difference between making a joke based on a perception, and turning a perception into some sort of false reality.

For instance, you could say "Hey, why does Manny Diaz support Florida's current Covid immunization strategy?" and then say "Because Manny loves the seniors!".

But that's completely different from concluding that Manny is deliberately keeping players on the bench simply because they are young.

Manny has been the head coach for 2 years. One of those years was Covid-impacted, when we had almost no spring/summer practice time for young guys to learn the playbook or practice the plays. Furthermore, we had a ton of younger players actually contract Covid during this past season, making them unavailable to practice/play.

It's like we even forget specifics, like putting Zion in as a freshman starter against the Gaytors.

I just wish people would be HONEST. We have not had the depth to even pull players out when they commit penalties, out of a fear that the replacement player would be a significant drop-off. We came close to having to cancel some games last year due to Covid outbreaks.

Now, if we had some loaded Alabama-caliber team and freshmen (who later go on to win Heismans and Outlands and Butkuses and such) were stuck on the bench behind seniors who go undrafted, then we can have a discussion.

Until then, most of this issue is just one of perception. I am quite certain that Manny is not doing all of his off-season-winning and taking every other action to improve the team (and his head coaching tenure), only to undermine it by keeping more-talented younger players on the bench in favor of less-talented upperclassmen.
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I'm sure your long detailed response has many valid points in it. However, I may point out to you that numerous insiders around here have pointed out that there has been a history of favoritism shown towards starting older players. There have also been tidbits shared about how older players aren't held accountable when they underperform. But I do agree that Manny likely isn't purposely sabotaging his own team.
 
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Doesn't matter to me, once the best players are on the field. Gurvan really needs to turn the corner. I need to see that Gurvan Hall from HS. If that doesn't show up, get another dog on the field. Not sure why Carter came back and why he isn't playing LB. Can't wait till they sort this **** out in the spring.
 
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DMoney said:
I get the feeling this is going to be the most debated position all season.

You have two starting seniors (Bolden and Hall) with NFL aspirations who want to play every snap. You have a super-senior (Carter) who has played since he got here. Then you have two freak shows (Avantae and JW) who are going to demand playing time and likely won't react well if they are sitting behind underperforming players. Finally, you've got two guys (Kam and Balom) who should be coach's favorites and will be practicing in spring.

Very interested to see how this plays out.
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Exactly why I wish Carter would have moved on...you just know the coaches are gna feel the need to play them. Would love a rotation of Bolden Hall JW AW. Whoever the best is starts with heavy rotation...just hope the young guys don't get discouraged and transfer...specifically JW and AW
 
[]_[] swag said:
Greg Rousseau and Scott Patchan. That was the one example, and it was so absurd that Greg wasn't starting that the narrative took off
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It has been discussed earlier, that Rousseau was COMING OFF of an injury. Maybe he was ready on Day 1, maybe not, but that's the reason he was not a pre-season starter, and NOT because he was young and Patchan was older.

A lot of our fans just tend to look at the end result, and work backwards (and incorrectly so).

Coaches are NOT trying to commit professional suicide by playing less-talented seniors over more-talented freshmen.
 
The video of drills that the official Twitter page posted today had Avantae in it. Someone commented saying he was cleared last week...I never saw that. Can anyone confirm? I assume competing in these offseason non contact drills isn't the same as being cleared for live action but its nice to see him out there.
 
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Damiencane86 said:
I understand your POV, I never assumed it was an injury as I thought to myself maybe he has an illness that the school doesn't wanna disclose for his personal privacy purposes. But I had read somewhere about speculation for a neck injury albeit that's low hanging fruit due to our recent rash of retirements from players with neck issues.
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Yeah, it's all good man, I don't have a quarrel with anyone. I was just trying to be discreet, and the way I typed the words may not have communicated that concept as well as it sounded in my head.
 
CHRIS2183L said:
The video of drills that the official Twitter page posted today had Avantae in it. Someone commented saying he was cleared last week...I never saw that. Can anyone confirm? I assume competing in these offseason non contact drills isn't the same as being cleared for live action but its nice to see him out there.
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Yes.

Again, I'll believe that Avantae will play in games once he starts hitting in live, full-speed action.

Until then...
 
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Jassid82 said:
I was Bandas biggest defender but in situations like this I am glad he is not here and we have a guy who is walking into that room with no favorites. T-Rob has said the best players will play. Hall and Carter are the two guys who I think either show up or will be on the bench quickly and those were Bandas favorites IMO. Esp Carter.
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Like most any coach would do, if there is no clear-cut standout then the Sr. with the college game day experience will play.
 
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cway313 said:
I'm sure your long detailed response has many valid points in it. However, I may point out to you that numerous insiders around here have pointed out that there has been a history of favoritism shown towards starting older players. There have also been tidbits shared about how older players aren't held accountable when they underperform. But I do agree that Manny likely isn't purposely sabotaging his own team.
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That is bullsh!te. There are NOT "numerous insiders" who have "pointed out" a "history of favoritism shown towards starting older players".

We've had three different head coaches over the past six seasons. We've also had so many HS recruiting misses that we've had to hit the portal hard over MULTIPLE seasons. And our depth has been atrocious (as detailed already) that has forced us to keep guys on the field even when the commit penalties or miss assignments.

Sure, dipsh!te fans may get upset when the latest hotshot recruit doesn't start on Day 1, while some upperclassmen who has never fulfilled his potential continues to start. But there are a lot of factors at play, ones that the Playstation All-Americans can't see when they are sitting at home watching the game on Saturdays. ****, even the "numerous insiders" have their own personal favorite recruits that they think should be starting as true freshmen.

So, yeah, you can be dismissive of my "long detailed response" with "many valid points", and just fall back on "tidbits" to support the "Miami doesn't play freshmen" myth. Do your thing.
 
Cookie917 said:
I agree with the overall premise. I put out numerous examples of Manny not favoring seniors for younger guys (Zion, Clark, Bandy, Carter, Garvin, Rooster/Don, J williams all got significant snaps over older guys)

I do think Manny needs a shorter leash on guys however. Carter takes a god awful angle and misses a tackle, pull his *** out, Pope/Wiggins drop consecutive passes, pull em out, Cam fumbles, pull him out. I am not saying you take away them being a starter, or they are benched the rest of the game, but they at least know there is a consequence for poor play. I agree we have not had the depth you would want but some guys just have bad games, no reason to keep trotting them out. Give a young buck a shot and if he screws up same treatment.
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Solid take. I can get behind this.
 
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Cookie917 said:
I agree with the overall premise. I put out numerous examples of Manny not favoring seniors for younger guys (Zion, Clark, Bandy, Carter, Garvin, Rooster/Don, J williams all got significant snaps over older guys)

I do think Manny needs a shorter leash on guys however. Carter takes a god awful angle and misses a tackle, pull his *** out, Pope/Wiggins drop consecutive passes, pull em out, Cam fumbles, pull him out. I am not saying you take away them being a starter, or they are benched the rest of the game, but they at least know there is a consequence for poor play. I agree we have not had the depth you would want but some guys just have bad games, no reason to keep trotting them out. Give a young buck a shot and if he screws up same treatment.
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You don’t want guys playing scared to make a mistake but multiple errors should be a benching.
 
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Artist Formerly Known As said:
It all stems from the thought that the unknown is better than the known.

For example, we know Mccloud is a bad LBer. We don’t know if Huff is because he hasn’t played much, so there’s a chance he’s better.

There’s probably a reason that McCloud still plays, but that’s still an indictment on coaching whether it’s because of seniority or the young guys don’t know the playbook or aren’t good enough to pass him.
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Yup. It's the same reason that the backup QB is the most popular guy on almost every team. Fans always think they know someone else who isn't playing can do it better than they guys who are.
 
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