Following Tuesday’s drills, Miami Hurricanes safeties coach Ephraim Banda spoke about the depth he’s building with his group, highlighting the progress he’s seen from returning upperclassmen Gurvan Hall, Bubba Bolden, and Amari Carter.
“This group right now, those three guys especially, really gel well together,” Banda said. “They all know they are ones in our eyes. It doesn’t matter (who starts), they understand how important it is that they do it together.
“This year is different, it’s not about who plays free safety or rover, it’s about depth, getting guys to learn as many positions as possible. Everyone is learning how to play another position, period. Gurvan has been there, done a great job. I’ve had Bubba learn both, Amari already knows both positions. All the young guys are rotating in and out. Feel good about Bubba, Gurvan, and Amari.”
Bolden is returning from an ankle injury suffered last season, and Banda has liked what he’s seen from the redshirt junior thus far in fall.
“Bubba has had a great camp,” Banda said. “Really proud of him. He’s done a phenomenal job of building a relationship within the defense, his fellow DB’s.”
Last season, the Canes regularly used four safeties in their rotation; with the three upperclassmen already established, Banda is looking for a 4th guy to step up in 2020 among freshmen Brian Balom, Jalen Harrell, and Keshawn Washington.
“We want to roll guys, are looking for depth,” Banda said. “(Last year), we were playing four different safeties in a rotation. We like to have depth, roll a lot of guys. I feel really good about those first three, they’ve done a great job through the summer, but depth is something we’re still working at. I would say I’m encouraged, but we still have a lot of work to do to build depth from the front to the middle to the back.
“That’s the big challenge this week. Coach (Manny) Diaz said in a meeting `Depth, depth, depth’ - we cannot stop thinking about that word and developing the guys behind them just due to the weird year it’s been. I’m encouraged, but we still have a long way to go. This is a year where if you can’t play multiple positions, your value to the team drastically drops.”
Of Washington, Banda said he was encouraged by what he’s seen from him during the first few months the South Dade product has been on campus, but that Banda is still looking for the consistency every practice.
"Keshawn, I feel bad for him because he got his spring cut from him, did everything he needed to do to get out (high) school early,” Banda said. “He did a good job taking advantage of the early spring meetings, the few practices we had. He's like the rest of the freshmen, still trying to come along, learn the importance of practicing hard, being physical. It's all of them - Brian and Jalen as well."
What qualities does Banda look for that would make him comfortable throwing a younger player out there in game action?
"We want them to operate with the tempo and speed of things - you can’t bust," Banda said. "You have to run like **** to the ball, be physical and tackle.”
Banda also mentioned that injured freshman safety Avantae Williams is still participating in meetings while he sits out the 2020 season.
“This group right now, those three guys especially, really gel well together,” Banda said. “They all know they are ones in our eyes. It doesn’t matter (who starts), they understand how important it is that they do it together.
“This year is different, it’s not about who plays free safety or rover, it’s about depth, getting guys to learn as many positions as possible. Everyone is learning how to play another position, period. Gurvan has been there, done a great job. I’ve had Bubba learn both, Amari already knows both positions. All the young guys are rotating in and out. Feel good about Bubba, Gurvan, and Amari.”
Bolden is returning from an ankle injury suffered last season, and Banda has liked what he’s seen from the redshirt junior thus far in fall.
“Bubba has had a great camp,” Banda said. “Really proud of him. He’s done a phenomenal job of building a relationship within the defense, his fellow DB’s.”
Last season, the Canes regularly used four safeties in their rotation; with the three upperclassmen already established, Banda is looking for a 4th guy to step up in 2020 among freshmen Brian Balom, Jalen Harrell, and Keshawn Washington.
“We want to roll guys, are looking for depth,” Banda said. “(Last year), we were playing four different safeties in a rotation. We like to have depth, roll a lot of guys. I feel really good about those first three, they’ve done a great job through the summer, but depth is something we’re still working at. I would say I’m encouraged, but we still have a lot of work to do to build depth from the front to the middle to the back.
“That’s the big challenge this week. Coach (Manny) Diaz said in a meeting `Depth, depth, depth’ - we cannot stop thinking about that word and developing the guys behind them just due to the weird year it’s been. I’m encouraged, but we still have a long way to go. This is a year where if you can’t play multiple positions, your value to the team drastically drops.”
Of Washington, Banda said he was encouraged by what he’s seen from him during the first few months the South Dade product has been on campus, but that Banda is still looking for the consistency every practice.
"Keshawn, I feel bad for him because he got his spring cut from him, did everything he needed to do to get out (high) school early,” Banda said. “He did a good job taking advantage of the early spring meetings, the few practices we had. He's like the rest of the freshmen, still trying to come along, learn the importance of practicing hard, being physical. It's all of them - Brian and Jalen as well."
What qualities does Banda look for that would make him comfortable throwing a younger player out there in game action?
"We want them to operate with the tempo and speed of things - you can’t bust," Banda said. "You have to run like **** to the ball, be physical and tackle.”
Banda also mentioned that injured freshman safety Avantae Williams is still participating in meetings while he sits out the 2020 season.
