With the Miami Hurricanes set to take on NC State on Friday night, head coach Manny Diaz updated the Canes’ injury situation coming out of the bye, including touching on the status of TE Brevin Jordan, who has missed Miami’s last two games with a shoulder ailment.
“Brevin is healthy, which is what we expected for this game,” Diaz said of Jordan.
While Jordan is expected to suit up against the Wolfpack, Diaz declined to comment on a group of Canes that didn’t play in Miami’s last game vs. UVA due to COVID-19 related issues; they were S Brian Balom, LB Corey Flagg, WR Michael Redding, WR Xavier Restrepo, DL Elijah Roberts, and QB Tyler Van Dyke.
“I can’t comment (on them). We’ll send out the list like we always do closer to game time,” Diaz said.
OL Navaughn Donaldson has missed the entire first half of the season thus far in rehabbing from a knee injury suffered last year, and Diaz said the process of getting Donaldson back on the field for gameday is still ongoing.
“There’s more things he can do at practice where he can help us out, but it’s still a slow step-by-step process," Diaz said of Donaldson.
Diaz was also asked if taking a high number of transfers would again be a priority in the 2021 recruiting cycle during a year where seniors will have the ability to return to school due to new NCAA rules because of COVID-19 related reasons.
“So everyone is in a holding pattern,” Diaz said. “You can’t let everyone have free transfers - if you don’t have initials (counters), there’ll be nowhere for all the student-athletes transferring to go. We still are on some high profile targets we hope to close on. But our plan has to be fluid because the rules are changing as we’re in mid-flight.”
Although transfers have been a key part of the recruiting philosophy thus far under Diaz, he made clear the priority is to take and develop high schoolers first and foremost before then looking to the portal to shore up deficiencies on the roster.
“We want to recruit and develop high school talent that is close to our campus,” Diaz said. “We want the program built with high school guys, very similar to a pro model where you want to build through the draft. We want these young guys to want to play for UM, be developed and reach all their goals for college and beyond.
“That said, we’ll always look at the transfer portal as a way to solve needs on our team. And you look at what we’ve done, we haven’t been haphazard in what we added. It’s not fantasy football to get whatever. There’s been a need whether it’s age, more experience, something we don’t have on our roster. And I do think the University of Miami, it looks different when you’ve been in college a couple of years.”
“Brevin is healthy, which is what we expected for this game,” Diaz said of Jordan.
While Jordan is expected to suit up against the Wolfpack, Diaz declined to comment on a group of Canes that didn’t play in Miami’s last game vs. UVA due to COVID-19 related issues; they were S Brian Balom, LB Corey Flagg, WR Michael Redding, WR Xavier Restrepo, DL Elijah Roberts, and QB Tyler Van Dyke.
“I can’t comment (on them). We’ll send out the list like we always do closer to game time,” Diaz said.
OL Navaughn Donaldson has missed the entire first half of the season thus far in rehabbing from a knee injury suffered last year, and Diaz said the process of getting Donaldson back on the field for gameday is still ongoing.
“There’s more things he can do at practice where he can help us out, but it’s still a slow step-by-step process," Diaz said of Donaldson.
Diaz was also asked if taking a high number of transfers would again be a priority in the 2021 recruiting cycle during a year where seniors will have the ability to return to school due to new NCAA rules because of COVID-19 related reasons.
“So everyone is in a holding pattern,” Diaz said. “You can’t let everyone have free transfers - if you don’t have initials (counters), there’ll be nowhere for all the student-athletes transferring to go. We still are on some high profile targets we hope to close on. But our plan has to be fluid because the rules are changing as we’re in mid-flight.”
Although transfers have been a key part of the recruiting philosophy thus far under Diaz, he made clear the priority is to take and develop high schoolers first and foremost before then looking to the portal to shore up deficiencies on the roster.
“We want to recruit and develop high school talent that is close to our campus,” Diaz said. “We want the program built with high school guys, very similar to a pro model where you want to build through the draft. We want these young guys to want to play for UM, be developed and reach all their goals for college and beyond.
“That said, we’ll always look at the transfer portal as a way to solve needs on our team. And you look at what we’ve done, we haven’t been haphazard in what we added. It’s not fantasy football to get whatever. There’s been a need whether it’s age, more experience, something we don’t have on our roster. And I do think the University of Miami, it looks different when you’ve been in college a couple of years.”
