With the Pinstripe Bowl against Wisconsin on tap for tomorrow, Mark Richt and his Miami Hurricanes held a walkthrough practice today in Yankee Stadium to prepare for the Badgers.
“We actually had a walkthrough here in the stadium. We wouldn’t normally do that,” Richt said. “But it was a time for us to show the players the locker room, the stadium itself, just seeing a football field inside of a baseball stadium was a unique thing for them to see. You can tell the turf is in tremendous shape. I think Notre Dame played a game here against Syracuse awhile back.
“It actually works out pretty good, as far as the formatting of the field in this baseball stadium – I think players needed to see that. After the walkthrough this morning, we’ll give them a little downtime and then we’ll crank back up around dinnertime and getting into our team meeting and transitioning into offense and defense segment meetings tonight. Tomorrow will be a normal game day as it relates to the 5:15 kickoff. We’ll be ready to go.”
The starting QB? With N’Kosi Perry finding himself in Richt’s doghouse yet again, it will be Malik Rosier who gets the nod tomorrow; Rosier’s last start came back on Nov. 3rd versus Duke.
“Malik Rosier is going to start for us. He has had really good practices,” Richt said. “He has been working in that spot for the majority of the bowl practices. We’re ready for him to do a good job… I’ve got a lot of respect for Malik and how he has handled everything – the ups and the downs of his career and the decisions we’ve made as coaches that have affected his status.
“He has always come to show up for work with a good attitude. He has always been a great friend to his teammates, especially in the quarterback room. Now here he is, starting the last game of his career for his team. I’m happy for him and I’m thankful that he has handled everything the way he has. Regardless of what happens in the game, he’s a first-class human being and handled everything in a first-class manner.”
While Rosier will get the first snap in Yankee Stadium, Richt made sure to point out that Perry will be available to play as well.
“He is not suspended,” Richt said of Perry. “He is available to play, as of right now. But we feel like Malik is the guy that’s going to give us the best shot… [Perry’s] been educated, I’ll say that. For all of our young men, (they must) understand that anything you put out there is very, very public.
“I don’t think they understand how powerful those things are. I mean, I’m not ready to shut it down, okay? I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do. But when we go on social media will that help the team or hurt the team? You’re part of the organization, have to do things that are positive for yourself, the program. There’s a responsibility to do things right when it comes to social media.”
Freshman QB Jarren Williams was the subject of transfer rumors last week, with the buzz that he has been unhappy with his lack of playing time in 2018. However, Williams plans to return to Miami next season, and Richt says there’s a possibility of him seeing action against Wisconsin.
“I’m not going to predict whether he’ll get in the game or not,” Richt said of Williams. “There’s a possibility of that happening, but as of right now, we’re not sitting here and saying there’s a certain series of the game he’s going to get in or anything like that. He’ll certainly be there and be available to play.”
UM defensive coordinator Manny Diaz took the head coaching job at Temple, but Richt has allowed him to finish out the season and coach his final game against UW tomorrow. Diaz has already admitted it will be bittersweet being on the sidelines and Richt says coaching the defense and the linebackers one last time will undoubtedly have special meaning for Diaz.
“I think it means a lot that Manny wanted to be here, to finish and be with the guys that he has been coaching all along, collectively, on the defensive side of the ball, and the linebacker position – his segment group,” Richt said. “It’s kind of an interesting thing for him, where now that he’s a head coach, his role is going to change as far as the coaching part – specifically coaching a position. He has always coached a position - I don’t think he’s going to be the linebackers coach at Temple.
“I think he’s kind of realizing maybe this is one of the last times, for a while, he’s going to be that position coach and that coordinator. I think he has enjoyed it. He has appreciated every bit of it and when he let me know he wanted to do it, I was all for it. It has turned out to be really good.”
Topping the Badgers proved to be difficult for the Canes in 2017, as UM fell to Wisconsin, 34-24, in the Orange Bowl last season. Flipping the script on Paul Chryst’s squad this time around is important for Richt to give the seniors something to remember, as well as giving the Hurricanes’ some positive buzz heading into 2019.
“The game is very important,” Richt said. “We do want to allow our seniors to leave on a high note, create as much positive momentum as we can. The significance of this game is very important regardless of the record because it is the next game we have and a game that a lot of people are going to be excited about watching and our guys will be excited about playing.”
With multiple UM underclassmen considering leaving the program early to enter the NFL Draft, Richt was asked if any of them have come to a decision as of yet.
“I don’t think this is the time and place for that question and answer,” Richt said. “At this point about 24 hours before the kick, I’m not going to make any kind of statement about that. Obviously, we’d love them all to stay for sure.”
“We actually had a walkthrough here in the stadium. We wouldn’t normally do that,” Richt said. “But it was a time for us to show the players the locker room, the stadium itself, just seeing a football field inside of a baseball stadium was a unique thing for them to see. You can tell the turf is in tremendous shape. I think Notre Dame played a game here against Syracuse awhile back.
“It actually works out pretty good, as far as the formatting of the field in this baseball stadium – I think players needed to see that. After the walkthrough this morning, we’ll give them a little downtime and then we’ll crank back up around dinnertime and getting into our team meeting and transitioning into offense and defense segment meetings tonight. Tomorrow will be a normal game day as it relates to the 5:15 kickoff. We’ll be ready to go.”
The starting QB? With N’Kosi Perry finding himself in Richt’s doghouse yet again, it will be Malik Rosier who gets the nod tomorrow; Rosier’s last start came back on Nov. 3rd versus Duke.
“Malik Rosier is going to start for us. He has had really good practices,” Richt said. “He has been working in that spot for the majority of the bowl practices. We’re ready for him to do a good job… I’ve got a lot of respect for Malik and how he has handled everything – the ups and the downs of his career and the decisions we’ve made as coaches that have affected his status.
“He has always come to show up for work with a good attitude. He has always been a great friend to his teammates, especially in the quarterback room. Now here he is, starting the last game of his career for his team. I’m happy for him and I’m thankful that he has handled everything the way he has. Regardless of what happens in the game, he’s a first-class human being and handled everything in a first-class manner.”
While Rosier will get the first snap in Yankee Stadium, Richt made sure to point out that Perry will be available to play as well.
“He is not suspended,” Richt said of Perry. “He is available to play, as of right now. But we feel like Malik is the guy that’s going to give us the best shot… [Perry’s] been educated, I’ll say that. For all of our young men, (they must) understand that anything you put out there is very, very public.
“I don’t think they understand how powerful those things are. I mean, I’m not ready to shut it down, okay? I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do. But when we go on social media will that help the team or hurt the team? You’re part of the organization, have to do things that are positive for yourself, the program. There’s a responsibility to do things right when it comes to social media.”
Freshman QB Jarren Williams was the subject of transfer rumors last week, with the buzz that he has been unhappy with his lack of playing time in 2018. However, Williams plans to return to Miami next season, and Richt says there’s a possibility of him seeing action against Wisconsin.
“I’m not going to predict whether he’ll get in the game or not,” Richt said of Williams. “There’s a possibility of that happening, but as of right now, we’re not sitting here and saying there’s a certain series of the game he’s going to get in or anything like that. He’ll certainly be there and be available to play.”
UM defensive coordinator Manny Diaz took the head coaching job at Temple, but Richt has allowed him to finish out the season and coach his final game against UW tomorrow. Diaz has already admitted it will be bittersweet being on the sidelines and Richt says coaching the defense and the linebackers one last time will undoubtedly have special meaning for Diaz.
“I think it means a lot that Manny wanted to be here, to finish and be with the guys that he has been coaching all along, collectively, on the defensive side of the ball, and the linebacker position – his segment group,” Richt said. “It’s kind of an interesting thing for him, where now that he’s a head coach, his role is going to change as far as the coaching part – specifically coaching a position. He has always coached a position - I don’t think he’s going to be the linebackers coach at Temple.
“I think he’s kind of realizing maybe this is one of the last times, for a while, he’s going to be that position coach and that coordinator. I think he has enjoyed it. He has appreciated every bit of it and when he let me know he wanted to do it, I was all for it. It has turned out to be really good.”
Topping the Badgers proved to be difficult for the Canes in 2017, as UM fell to Wisconsin, 34-24, in the Orange Bowl last season. Flipping the script on Paul Chryst’s squad this time around is important for Richt to give the seniors something to remember, as well as giving the Hurricanes’ some positive buzz heading into 2019.
“The game is very important,” Richt said. “We do want to allow our seniors to leave on a high note, create as much positive momentum as we can. The significance of this game is very important regardless of the record because it is the next game we have and a game that a lot of people are going to be excited about watching and our guys will be excited about playing.”
With multiple UM underclassmen considering leaving the program early to enter the NFL Draft, Richt was asked if any of them have come to a decision as of yet.
“I don’t think this is the time and place for that question and answer,” Richt said. “At this point about 24 hours before the kick, I’m not going to make any kind of statement about that. Obviously, we’d love them all to stay for sure.”
