During Tuesday’s spring practice, WR coach Kevin Beard was estatic running up and down the IPF chanting “siete is back, siete is back”, referencing the return of CJ Daniels to practice. The WR coach spoke to the media afterwards and here’s what he had to say:
On transfer WR CJ Daniels (7):
“He's the older guy and you need that, the big brother. They lean on him and from day one he said ‘Hey coach, can you make a group thread with just the players?’ And they're on it all the time. So, it's a constant mindset of how do we get better.”
“[CJ’s] a worker. You don't have to tell him to catch the Jug machine, he's the one initiating it. He's kind of been through it and he knows he has a lot of young guys behind him, so he is trying to show them the way and you know, the freshmen come in and the older guys show 'em the way, and then when the older guys leave, you take it over. And so that's really what I've respected from his approach.”
On sophomore Josiah Trader (0):
“He is so talented naturally that he has an advantage against anybody just because of his talent level. And what happens is because he's so talented, he could wake up in the morning and just put cleats on and just be really good. But what happens when you meet another really good player?”
“The DB is thinking in his mind, ‘I'm going to get drafted off of you’, how are you gonna respond? And [Jojo’s] learning how to respond every day and he's doing a really good job of it.”
On Malachi Toney (12):
“He has no fear, he puts the work in outside of the football field to allow himself to come out here fearless. That's something that you can't watch a highlight tape and get, you gotta get to know a kid. You gotta get to know his family and his upbringing. When you learn that about him, you'll understand it. But that's what he does, he prepares off the field beforehand so when he gets on the field he's locked in.”
On Freshmen Josh Moore (3) and Daylyn Upshaw (13):
“They're coming along. They have their moments where they're doing some really good things and that's a good thing, but at the end of the day, I have to keep telling them ‘Yesterday's over, nobody cares about yesterday. What are you doing today?’ I know when young people do good and people start praising they just relax. So understanding those hurdles, I try to attack 'em before they can have an opportunity to get comfortable. I try to get on them about that so they can understand it and push through it.”
On competition between Ray Ray Joseph (5) and Malachi Toney:
“It's going great, I hope that everyone watching from the side can see it. That's what the University of Miami has been built on, good players pushing each other to be the best player and taking advantage of the opportunities when they come.”
“So I encourage it. I try my best to egg it on and push it like ‘Hey Ray, [Malachi] coming,’ and ‘Mali you saw the plays [Ray-Ray] made today?, come on, let's go.’ It’s definitely a competitive vibe right now and there's no animosities, it's all positive, and we're trying to do everything we can to help the Hurricanes win games.”
On transfer WR CJ Daniels (7):
“He's the older guy and you need that, the big brother. They lean on him and from day one he said ‘Hey coach, can you make a group thread with just the players?’ And they're on it all the time. So, it's a constant mindset of how do we get better.”
“[CJ’s] a worker. You don't have to tell him to catch the Jug machine, he's the one initiating it. He's kind of been through it and he knows he has a lot of young guys behind him, so he is trying to show them the way and you know, the freshmen come in and the older guys show 'em the way, and then when the older guys leave, you take it over. And so that's really what I've respected from his approach.”
On sophomore Josiah Trader (0):
“He is so talented naturally that he has an advantage against anybody just because of his talent level. And what happens is because he's so talented, he could wake up in the morning and just put cleats on and just be really good. But what happens when you meet another really good player?”
“The DB is thinking in his mind, ‘I'm going to get drafted off of you’, how are you gonna respond? And [Jojo’s] learning how to respond every day and he's doing a really good job of it.”
On Malachi Toney (12):
“He has no fear, he puts the work in outside of the football field to allow himself to come out here fearless. That's something that you can't watch a highlight tape and get, you gotta get to know a kid. You gotta get to know his family and his upbringing. When you learn that about him, you'll understand it. But that's what he does, he prepares off the field beforehand so when he gets on the field he's locked in.”
On Freshmen Josh Moore (3) and Daylyn Upshaw (13):
“They're coming along. They have their moments where they're doing some really good things and that's a good thing, but at the end of the day, I have to keep telling them ‘Yesterday's over, nobody cares about yesterday. What are you doing today?’ I know when young people do good and people start praising they just relax. So understanding those hurdles, I try to attack 'em before they can have an opportunity to get comfortable. I try to get on them about that so they can understand it and push through it.”
On competition between Ray Ray Joseph (5) and Malachi Toney:
“It's going great, I hope that everyone watching from the side can see it. That's what the University of Miami has been built on, good players pushing each other to be the best player and taking advantage of the opportunities when they come.”
“So I encourage it. I try my best to egg it on and push it like ‘Hey Ray, [Malachi] coming,’ and ‘Mali you saw the plays [Ray-Ray] made today?, come on, let's go.’ It’s definitely a competitive vibe right now and there's no animosities, it's all positive, and we're trying to do everything we can to help the Hurricanes win games.”
