Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal gave a lengthy interview after spring practice on Thursday. From new additions to the depth of the group, here's all Mirabal had to say Thursday afternoon.
On new center James Brockermeyer:
“Well, he's a new center, but he's also a kid who started 12 games last year at TCU. So he's new in Miami, but he's not new to the game of football. It comes from a football family. His father was the first round pick for the Carolina Panthers out of Texas, Blake Brockermeyer. His other brother played at Texas as a linebacker. The other brother played with him at Alabama before he went to TCU.
So you're talking about a guy who comes from football bloodlines, right? When I was out at Oregon, I recruited him out of Episcopal. Obviously, we didn't get him at Oregon. He ended up going to Alabama out of high school. So I've known James and his family for a period of time … Because at the end of the day, the center needs to be the leader of the room, both in the classroom and on the field. So he's been doing a great job with that.”
On the depth of the O-Line:
“I'm never comfortable. Comfort and the game of football don't go together. So I try to stay uncomfortable. I never feel like we have enough, so it's something that we're now working on in spring ball to try to get more guys.
“I probably feel we have 7-8 guys right now that we can roll out there against Notre Dame on game one and play with, and my job as the offensive line coach, coach Cristobal's job as the head coach is for us to increase that number in the room. So that's what we're working on now with those other guys. You got Tommy Kinsler who's now becoming one of those guys that's emerging in that aspect, Samson Okunola, Nino Francavilla, Juan Minaya. So those guys now, it's their turn to start stepping up and, and if the opportunity arises, they take advantage of it.”
On the experience of the starting group:
“Well everyone talks about Markel Bell like ‘Hey, we gotta replace Jalen Rivers.’ Well, to me, you don't replace Jalen Rivers. But Jalen Rivers had 583 snaps last year, Markell Bell had 544. And that's an actual number. I looked it up before I came out here because I know everybody wants to talk about all that, right?”
“So, you lost a guy who had 583 snaps and a guy right now who's going in that spot at left tackle who's got 544 snaps last year. So to me [Bell] he's a starter coming back. And then you've got, you know, everyone goes ‘oh, McCoy's out.’ While McCoy started a great portion of the year, people forget that Rodriguez was a starter when we went into the game against Florida.”
“Then Brockermeyer, yeah, he didn't start here, but he started 12 games at TCU. Anez Cooper has now started going into his three and a half years here, right. And Mauigoa has now gone into his third year. So those guys are, you know, guys that are experienced, that have old eyes. You can't teach experience.”
“And you see them out here on the field, You see them on game day next to each other, but they also sit next to each other in the film room. In our film room, we sit according to how we are on the field. So right now, Markel's sits on the left side of the room. Rodriguez is next to him, Brockermeyer is in the middle. Cooper is here, Mauigoa is here, right? And then the second group sits right behind them so that they can, because while we're watching film, they're constantly communicating. So that's something that we work on every day that we're in that room.”
On Markel Bell specifically:
“He's night and day. He's a different football player than he was when he first came here and he came here with a great foundation from his offensive line coach at junior college, Les George.
"He just keeps getting better and better and with repetition. At first it was always, well, wow, he's big. Yeah, no doubt he's 6’9. But now he's starting to play where now people are talking about his level of play. He's a darn good football player who happens to be six-foot-nine, right? So just his fundamentals and his technique and you know, six-foot-nine is a blessing and a curse as an offensive lineman. So he's got to work his tail off when he's 6'9 to play like he’s 6’4. "
On Anez Cooper’s spring so far:
“[He does the] invisible things that are going to close that margin [to eleven wins] that are going to help us get over that hump. And by him doing it, he's setting the example for all the other guys on ‘this is how we break the huddle, this is how we run up to a line of scrimmage, this is how we get set, this is how we finish when it's a run, this is how we chase when it's a pass’.
"So he's doing those things now, and that's what's separating him now."
On Carson Beck fitting in with the O-Line:
“You can't get used to it until he's back there. Like with Cam we got used to how Cam did stuff in the pocket when we played Florida, right?”
“Because in practice stuff gets blown dead. So I had no idea when Cam got back there against Florida. ‘Is he going to tuck the ball and run? Or is he going to tuck the ball, stop, and chuck it down the field over people's heads?’ I had no idea what was going to happen there, right?”
“So when Carson does get out there with us, you know, I'll have some kind of a feel for what he's going to do in the pocket. But we have gone and I personally, have watched all his film at Georgia where he was 24 and 3. And I myself have watched, ‘okay, how does Carson react when the pocket breaks down? What is he doing? Is his eyes downfield and trying to throw the ball or is he trying to tuck it and run?’ So I've got that analyzed I know how I'm going to coach up the offensive line on that.”
“But yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing him. He's competitive and he's gonna be awesome for us.”
On the freshman offensive lineman:
“So I asked them when we've had recruits in town, I grab the recruits sometimes and I say ‘ask him, ask him what the biggest difference is’ you know, and they [freshman OL] just say the intensity.
The intensity that there's thousands of coaches out here, right? And we're on their tail about everything, right? ‘Get down, break the huddle, get down, put your hand down.’ You know, you don't have all day. right? So it's all of that stuff. So right now they're like someone dropped them off in the middle of US1 at rush hour. And it'll start slowing down for them. I love it because you know, you got all these young guys that come in that are nine stars, 30 stars and all the recruiting guys love it. Wait till they get here, there's a lot.”
On new center James Brockermeyer:
“Well, he's a new center, but he's also a kid who started 12 games last year at TCU. So he's new in Miami, but he's not new to the game of football. It comes from a football family. His father was the first round pick for the Carolina Panthers out of Texas, Blake Brockermeyer. His other brother played at Texas as a linebacker. The other brother played with him at Alabama before he went to TCU.
So you're talking about a guy who comes from football bloodlines, right? When I was out at Oregon, I recruited him out of Episcopal. Obviously, we didn't get him at Oregon. He ended up going to Alabama out of high school. So I've known James and his family for a period of time … Because at the end of the day, the center needs to be the leader of the room, both in the classroom and on the field. So he's been doing a great job with that.”
On the depth of the O-Line:
“I'm never comfortable. Comfort and the game of football don't go together. So I try to stay uncomfortable. I never feel like we have enough, so it's something that we're now working on in spring ball to try to get more guys.
“I probably feel we have 7-8 guys right now that we can roll out there against Notre Dame on game one and play with, and my job as the offensive line coach, coach Cristobal's job as the head coach is for us to increase that number in the room. So that's what we're working on now with those other guys. You got Tommy Kinsler who's now becoming one of those guys that's emerging in that aspect, Samson Okunola, Nino Francavilla, Juan Minaya. So those guys now, it's their turn to start stepping up and, and if the opportunity arises, they take advantage of it.”
On the experience of the starting group:
“Well everyone talks about Markel Bell like ‘Hey, we gotta replace Jalen Rivers.’ Well, to me, you don't replace Jalen Rivers. But Jalen Rivers had 583 snaps last year, Markell Bell had 544. And that's an actual number. I looked it up before I came out here because I know everybody wants to talk about all that, right?”
“So, you lost a guy who had 583 snaps and a guy right now who's going in that spot at left tackle who's got 544 snaps last year. So to me [Bell] he's a starter coming back. And then you've got, you know, everyone goes ‘oh, McCoy's out.’ While McCoy started a great portion of the year, people forget that Rodriguez was a starter when we went into the game against Florida.”
“Then Brockermeyer, yeah, he didn't start here, but he started 12 games at TCU. Anez Cooper has now started going into his three and a half years here, right. And Mauigoa has now gone into his third year. So those guys are, you know, guys that are experienced, that have old eyes. You can't teach experience.”
“And you see them out here on the field, You see them on game day next to each other, but they also sit next to each other in the film room. In our film room, we sit according to how we are on the field. So right now, Markel's sits on the left side of the room. Rodriguez is next to him, Brockermeyer is in the middle. Cooper is here, Mauigoa is here, right? And then the second group sits right behind them so that they can, because while we're watching film, they're constantly communicating. So that's something that we work on every day that we're in that room.”
On Markel Bell specifically:
“He's night and day. He's a different football player than he was when he first came here and he came here with a great foundation from his offensive line coach at junior college, Les George.
"He just keeps getting better and better and with repetition. At first it was always, well, wow, he's big. Yeah, no doubt he's 6’9. But now he's starting to play where now people are talking about his level of play. He's a darn good football player who happens to be six-foot-nine, right? So just his fundamentals and his technique and you know, six-foot-nine is a blessing and a curse as an offensive lineman. So he's got to work his tail off when he's 6'9 to play like he’s 6’4. "
On Anez Cooper’s spring so far:
“[He does the] invisible things that are going to close that margin [to eleven wins] that are going to help us get over that hump. And by him doing it, he's setting the example for all the other guys on ‘this is how we break the huddle, this is how we run up to a line of scrimmage, this is how we get set, this is how we finish when it's a run, this is how we chase when it's a pass’.
"So he's doing those things now, and that's what's separating him now."
On Carson Beck fitting in with the O-Line:
“You can't get used to it until he's back there. Like with Cam we got used to how Cam did stuff in the pocket when we played Florida, right?”
“Because in practice stuff gets blown dead. So I had no idea when Cam got back there against Florida. ‘Is he going to tuck the ball and run? Or is he going to tuck the ball, stop, and chuck it down the field over people's heads?’ I had no idea what was going to happen there, right?”
“So when Carson does get out there with us, you know, I'll have some kind of a feel for what he's going to do in the pocket. But we have gone and I personally, have watched all his film at Georgia where he was 24 and 3. And I myself have watched, ‘okay, how does Carson react when the pocket breaks down? What is he doing? Is his eyes downfield and trying to throw the ball or is he trying to tuck it and run?’ So I've got that analyzed I know how I'm going to coach up the offensive line on that.”
“But yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing him. He's competitive and he's gonna be awesome for us.”
On the freshman offensive lineman:
“So I asked them when we've had recruits in town, I grab the recruits sometimes and I say ‘ask him, ask him what the biggest difference is’ you know, and they [freshman OL] just say the intensity.
The intensity that there's thousands of coaches out here, right? And we're on their tail about everything, right? ‘Get down, break the huddle, get down, put your hand down.’ You know, you don't have all day. right? So it's all of that stuff. So right now they're like someone dropped them off in the middle of US1 at rush hour. And it'll start slowing down for them. I love it because you know, you got all these young guys that come in that are nine stars, 30 stars and all the recruiting guys love it. Wait till they get here, there's a lot.”
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