Coach Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes stress family, and family comes back to help when needed.
That’s exactly what former Cane OL great Bryant McKinnie has done.
A few weeks ago current UM linemen, anxious with the regular season fast approaching, reached out to McKinnie to ask if he would be willing to tutor them on their off days -- position coaches are only allowed a brief period to work with players each week during the summer.
McKinnie’s answer: A resounding yes.
He has gone above and beyond in recent days, breaking down film with the linemen, including an in-depth analysis of their performance in the spring game.
He gave each lineman instructions on what they need to improve … and even recruited Brett Romberg, another former lineman, to help out at the most recent session Monday.
CaneSport reached out to McKinnie to talk about how the sessions have gone and get his perception on where this Miami offensive line stands with fall practice set to begin on Friday.
Keep in mind, of course, that McKinnie's standard is off the charts. The last Hurricane line McKinnie worked with was the one on which he played left tackle and won a national title. That was 2001, when McKinnie was the Outland Trophy winner. He never allowed a sack in his Miami career. McKinnie went on to play 11 years in the NFL, including a Pro Bowl selection.
The entire Canes offensive line allowed just four sacks that 2001 championship season. By comparison, in each of the past three seasons the group has allowed 25 or more sacks.
In other words, when McKinnie talks, it is worth listening.
And boy did he have a lot to say. There were some things he liked and some major issues he tried to address.
“I got to see what the problems were,” McKinnie told CaneSport on Tuesday. “These guys, they have to use their hands. There’s just things they’re not using that they definitely have to learn. … And I feel they’re not flying off the ball, they’re absorbing. That’s what I was stressing. I’m like `You know the snap count, the defense doesn’t. And if the defense is getting a jump on the snap count, you tell the quarterback to switch it up a little bit.’ And I told them the very first day I was there `You all are getting hit, you have to hit back.’ Like `You all can’t know the snap count and be oozing off. I don’t know if you’re oozing off because you’re not sure of who you’re blocking or you’re taking bad steps coming out of your stance.’ Because there are a lot of bad steps. On steps you want to be gaining ground, and even when they’re pulling they’re not gaining ground. They’re just not. There’s a lot of false stepping. Not all the time they’re oozing off the ball, but when they’re not oozing of the ball it’s because they know what they’re doing. When they’re oozing it’s `I’m not really sure,’ that’s what it looks like to me. Because there were plays where they don’t fire off the ball.”
This is candid talk from a Hurricane great … and the only thing McKinnie knows is the way it was back in the old days. You see a problem, you call it out and you get it fixed. Anything less is unacceptable.
McKinnie adds more of his take on this line: “It’s about detail, you have to give them the detail and the reason why you do it like this. Some of the things they’re doing pass protection-wise, they’re working against each other. So it’s about showing them how to make the job easier on them. It’s communication, too. You explain to them - it’s just to show them how we were as an offensive line and why we were good (when McKinnie was at UM).
"There are things we did that they’re not doing. Like cliques. They have cliques. We were one offensive line, all hung with each other, found time to hang with each other. At least once a week, we’d pick a night, usually Thursday, have dinner together. You have to do those type of things. Things like that you have to do, because if you don’t bond with the guys you’re playing with, don’t really trust them or know if they know their job ......… that’s why you communicate, so you’re not playing slow or looking back to make sure he knows what to do. That’s across the line, to be on the same page.”
The goal for all the linemen, of course, is to help UM to victories and then individually move on to the next level. McKinnie says what he and former Cane/NFL center Brett Romberg, who joined the work yesterday at UM, are hoping to show the current players techniques that will help them both in college and the pros.
“Like hands on pass protection, those guys don’t practice swiping to get the defensive linemen’s hands off you,” McKinnie said. “That’s something you have to do at the next level.”
The leaders on the O line?
McKinnie points to one in particular: Corey Gaynor.
“Gaynor, he controls the meeting when we watch the film and asking everyone who do they have, their assignment,” McKinnie said. “So he took on the leadership role. He knew his stuff.
“That’s another thing, these guys have to get in the playbook.”
That playbook, of course, is all new under Dan Enos.
And the former players are looking to help.
“Romberg came up with some possible schemes to make it easier for some of them when it comes to blocking,” McKinnie said. “So it’ll make sense, make it easier.”
No word yet on if UM coaches will heed the suggestion, but certainly the new staff will do all it can to get the biggest question mark area on offense functioning at a high level.
A major issue that may not have a fix in the near term?
McKinnie says he doesn’t see a true solid left tackle ready to play.
“I don’t, but they’re still learning,” McKinnie said. “You can maybe get one developed into one.”
Another issue that can only be fixed through recruiting: Getting more NFL-level talent on the line.
Some of the things they’re doing pass protection-wise, they’re working against each other. So it’s about showing them how to make the job easier on them.
— Bryant McKinnie
What kind of NFL talent does McKinnie see among these linemen?
“55 (Navaughn Donaldson), I can see him being a guard,” McKinnie said.
McKinnie ends the sentence there.
So can Miami overcome not having more than one true NFL level offensive line player as of now on the roster?
“I don’t know, I have to see them more - right now I’m just taking the mistakes I see on film and I’m trying to fix it on the field,” McKinnie said.
While there’s a lot to fix, McKinnie strikes an upbeat tone when it comes to the line being ready to play well once the season starts in about a month.
“They have the potential to be very good,” McKinnie said. “This is a good time for them to go into training camp with some of the things we’re giving them to work on. I just feel like they have a great defense to go against that should make them better. So don’t be intimidated by your own defense. That’s another thing we explained to them - they have to challenge them, because the defense walks around real ****y.”
This is the first time McKinnie has helped regularly - last year he worked with the unit once before he essentially wasn’t welcomed back.
The new staff appears more open-minded about help from the former players.
“Players reached out, wanted me to come down,” McKinnie said. “The players hit me up, were like `Hey, we want to take time out on an off day and you can show us some things, show us what needs to be fixed, would you mind coming down and helping us?’ The players were saying that last year, and Romberg and I felt the same way - when we went to help Romberg may have said something and then I may have said something and it kind of felt like `Uh, mind your business, let us do this.’ We felt like with the former coach, us being there we were there for support and trying to tell them what to do to fix it, it got funny a little bit.
“Now we can come down twice a week and help them with technique. The new coach hasn’t had them that long, one spring session, and they say he’s a good coach, like him. Me hearing that lets me know they’re buying into what they’re teaching, which is good. I just want to make sure they’re using their hands. And someone keeps making all these mental errors, call them out. Like (one lineman) was joking all the time, when we got in there and watch film he’s the one pulling and standing up the highest, making the most mistakes. So it’s like `What’s so funny? Because you’re getting your *** kicked.’”
The next session?
Well McKinnie is headed out of town so he won’t be able to make it to campus on Thursday, as he previously planned. But Romberg will be there, possibly joined by another former Cane lineman, Vernon Carey.
It’s a big extended family trying to help as needed.
“You want as many voices helping as you can,” McKinnie said. “We’ll keep doing it through the season if we can. Because when they’re off and they want to do it on their own time, then we don’t mind doing it.”
THIS JUST IN
Oh, and there’s this: McKinnie says he knows “who the favorite is right now” to win the QB race.
But he’s not giving out any hints.
What he will say, when asked if he’s comfortable with whomever that player is: “Listen, those guys sound like they’re comfortable with him, they’re with him so I guess (I’m comfortable too). Because they would know better than me because they spend a lot more time with (the QBs). It’s about them feeling comfortable.”
