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Diaz talks team after first spring practice

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Stefan Adams said:
After opening spring practice on Monday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz took to the podium to address some team issues.

“It went well,” Diaz said. “It’s just a new year - no matter what our record was, you have to rebuild a college team from scratch every year. You can never assume we’re going to run the ball and tackle, never take those for granted. We mentioned to the team today, a team is a collection of people and the behavioral choices they make.

“Regardless of last year, everyone in the country is starting off 0-0.”

The Canes are of course trying to settle into a new scheme on offense, and Diaz said he saw the energy he was looking for on that side of the ball today.

“They have no choice because just the energy of coach (Rhett) Lashlee, his entire staff,” Diaz said. “It’s already a high energy thing. The nature of the beast is you have no choice - the players, they knew it was on from our very first fast drill. The difference in what a practice is - I’m an older guy, what I just went through is not something I’ve been through since I’ve been here. It’s a new experience.”

Ending last season 6-7 left a bitter taste in the team’s mouth, and Diaz says he’s taken a lot of lessons away from 2019.

“You always have a learning curve from Year 1 to Year 2,” Diaz said. “There are so many things, a lot that I kind of keep internally that you’re doing differently. But I go back to what I said, all this is about the people, make sure you have the right people on board.”

With DeeJay Dallas off to the NFL Draft, Diaz feels the running back group is ready to step up as a whole without him.

“I think when we reconvene in the fall, that’s part of why we were able to get Don Chaney and Jaylan Knighton to come together,” Diaz said. “Robert Burns showed he can have a role. He’s a different guy to tackle than all the other guys. Cam Harris probably, since we’ve come back in the offseason program, I don’t think anyone has done more extra work in the weight room. All of his intentions through his work ethic are priming himself for a big year.”

At QB, returning redshirt junior N’Kosi Perry and Houston grad transfer D’Eriq King opened spring switching off on first team reps. Perry led the day with the ones in warmups, but King started with the ones in competitive 7-on-7 play. They were followed by Tate Martell, Peyton Matocha, and Tyler Van Dyke in that order, and Diaz said there’s no rush to officially announce a starter at the spot.

“It’s not that all different than what I talked about a year ago - when we, know we’ll announce it,” Diaz said. “Last year, that was after our second scrimmage in the fall. This year, I can’t predict when that will be.”

On the new addition King, who arrived on campus in mid-January: “He’s been phenomenal when he’s been in this building as a worker.”

On the OL, a familiar face returned to the field today when redshirt sophomore Cleveland Reed stepped back onto Greentree – he had previously left the team last September with the intent to transfer, but later decided against that course of action.

“There’s no manual for this because it’s a new era with the portal. Cleveland expressed that he felt pretty soon after he made the decision that he made a mistake,” Diaz said. “You don’t want one day or a bad choice to impact the rest of their lives.”

Miami’s prized OL recruit from the 2020 class in Jalen Rivers enrolled early for spring ball, and Diaz hopes for the true freshman to have an impact this season.

“He has shown since he’s been on campus, the most exciting thing we see, a big guy like Jalen - watching him compete very early on it’s encouraging,” Diaz said of Rivers.

UCLA DE transfer Jaelan Phillips sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but Diaz has already been impressed by the athletic ability the former 5-star recruit has shown at 6’5” 258 pounds.

“It gets back to that word `competition,’” Diaz said. “Highly competitive guy, Jaelan can run. Even when we ran the stadium at Hard Rock last week, Jaelan was one of the top seven finishers. Very, very athletic for his size, transformed his body since he’s been back here.”

When asked who he’s seen improvement from compared to last year, Diaz listed off Al Blades, DJ Ivey, Christian Williams, Amari Carter, Zach McCloud, Jon Ford, Gregory Rousseau, Zion Nelson, Dee Wiggins, and Mike Harley as some that have impressed him.

Ultimately, Diaz has been pleased with the development in the culture in Coral Gables compared to last season.

“There is a guy in every room that has that leadership quality,” Diaz said. “This has been a very productive off-season for us.”
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Stefan, I appreciate your work.
 
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CaneDog66 said:
Right, I too think they both rise up as leaders in their respective rooms:

QB - Da King
RB - Harris
WR - Harley
TE - Jordan
OL - Scaife
DL - Roche
LB - McCloud
CB - Blades Jr.
S - Bolden
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Give me Gaynor for OLine but i like it and i could see Phillips or GR being the Dline leader over Roche. But everything else is 👌🏾
 
Stefan Adams said:
After opening spring practice on Monday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz took to the podium to address some team issues.

“It went well,” Diaz said. “It’s just a new year - no matter what our record was, you have to rebuild a college team from scratch every year. You can never assume we’re going to run the ball and tackle, never take those for granted. We mentioned to the team today, a team is a collection of people and the behavioral choices they make.

“Regardless of last year, everyone in the country is starting off 0-0.”

The Canes are of course trying to settle into a new scheme on offense, and Diaz said he saw the energy he was looking for on that side of the ball today.

“They have no choice because just the energy of coach (Rhett) Lashlee, his entire staff,” Diaz said. “It’s already a high energy thing. The nature of the beast is you have no choice - the players, they knew it was on from our very first fast drill. The difference in what a practice is - I’m an older guy, what I just went through is not something I’ve been through since I’ve been here. It’s a new experience.”

Ending last season 6-7 left a bitter taste in the team’s mouth, and Diaz says he’s taken a lot of lessons away from 2019.

“You always have a learning curve from Year 1 to Year 2,” Diaz said. “There are so many things, a lot that I kind of keep internally that you’re doing differently. But I go back to what I said, all this is about the people, make sure you have the right people on board.”

With DeeJay Dallas off to the NFL Draft, Diaz feels the running back group is ready to step up as a whole without him.

“I think when we reconvene in the fall, that’s part of why we were able to get Don Chaney and Jaylan Knighton to come together,” Diaz said. “Robert Burns showed he can have a role. He’s a different guy to tackle than all the other guys. Cam Harris probably, since we’ve come back in the offseason program, I don’t think anyone has done more extra work in the weight room. All of his intentions through his work ethic are priming himself for a big year.”

At QB, returning redshirt junior N’Kosi Perry and Houston grad transfer D’Eriq King opened spring switching off on first team reps. Perry led the day with the ones in warmups, but King started with the ones in competitive 7-on-7 play. They were followed by Tate Martell, Peyton Matocha, and Tyler Van Dyke in that order, and Diaz said there’s no rush to officially announce a starter at the spot.

“It’s not that all different than what I talked about a year ago - when we, know we’ll announce it,” Diaz said. “Last year, that was after our second scrimmage in the fall. This year, I can’t predict when that will be.”

On the new addition King, who arrived on campus in mid-January: “He’s been phenomenal when he’s been in this building as a worker.”

On the OL, a familiar face returned to the field today when redshirt sophomore Cleveland Reed stepped back onto Greentree – he had previously left the team last September with the intent to transfer, but later decided against that course of action.

“There’s no manual for this because it’s a new era with the portal. Cleveland expressed that he felt pretty soon after he made the decision that he made a mistake,” Diaz said. “You don’t want one day or a bad choice to impact the rest of their lives.”

Miami’s prized OL recruit from the 2020 class in Jalen Rivers enrolled early for spring ball, and Diaz hopes for the true freshman to have an impact this season.

“He has shown since he’s been on campus, the most exciting thing we see, a big guy like Jalen - watching him compete very early on it’s encouraging,” Diaz said of Rivers.

UCLA DE transfer Jaelan Phillips sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but Diaz has already been impressed by the athletic ability the former 5-star recruit has shown at 6’5” 258 pounds.

“It gets back to that word `competition,’” Diaz said. “Highly competitive guy, Jaelan can run. Even when we ran the stadium at Hard Rock last week, Jaelan was one of the top seven finishers. Very, very athletic for his size, transformed his body since he’s been back here.”

When asked who he’s seen improvement from compared to last year, Diaz listed off Al Blades, DJ Ivey, Christian Williams, Amari Carter, Zach McCloud, Jon Ford, Gregory Rousseau, Zion Nelson, Dee Wiggins, and Mike Harley as some that have impressed him.

Ultimately, Diaz has been pleased with the development in the culture in Coral Gables compared to last season.

“There is a guy in every room that has that leadership quality,” Diaz said. “This has been a very productive off-season for us.”
Click to expand...
It’s gonna take a believe it when I see it approach when it comes to Zion. Dude looks like a jag and played like a jag. Even if improved he’s so far nothing more then a depth player. Better use that last spot on a grad transfer olineman who can lock down the blind side or atleast be serviceable unlike Zion last year who was hot garbage. If not it’s gonna be another long year on offense.
 
NicKane said:
It’s gonna take a believe it when I see it approach when it comes to Zion. Dude looks like a jag and played like a jag. Even if improved he’s so far nothing more then a depth player. Better use that last spot on a grad transfer olineman who can lock down the blind side or atleast be serviceable unlike Zion last year who was hot garbage. If not it’s gonna be another long year on offense.
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Zion was a true freshmans last year. Calling him a jag, especially since O linemen very rarely are ready to play their freshmans year, is just not smart.

I have no idea how he’s going to end up, as a very good lineman or he could be a total bust. But calling him a jag now makes zero sense.

The real judgment for offensive lineman comes after their sophomore, and even sometimes their junior years. With rare exceptions, they take time to develop.
 
AUcane said:
im curious who those room by room leaders are (going to be).

I’m sure Da King is the leader in the QB room. But for the other positions, it got me thinking - who are the leaders here? Sad to say but it’s really hard to see who is based on on-field stuff. Most years it’s easy to see.

RB - ??
WR - ??
TE - BJ
OL - I’d like to see scaife take this role
DL - I have a sense it will be Roche but hoping the philosopher steps up into that role as well
LB - mcloud and I can see brooks stepping into this role
DB - blades and possibly one of hall/bolden
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Cam Harris -rb; Mike Harley -wr
 
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OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
Zion was a true freshmans last year. Calling him a jag, especially since O linemen very rarely are ready to play their freshmans year, is just not smart.

I have no idea how he’s going to end up, as a very good lineman or he could be a total bust. But calling him a jag now makes zero sense.

The real judgment for offensive lineman comes after their sophomore, and even sometimes their junior years. With rare exceptions, they take time to develop.
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Disagree, I played college ball and I know what I saw last year. I saw a kid that’s was a two/three start for a reason that lacks footwork, explosion out of his stance, is a leaner and has no anticipation/instincts for the position what’s so ever. The kid is a group of 5 player at best, Zion could definitely dominate but that would have to be at the D2 level where I played. Anyone who’s played the game with still working eyes can see that. Can he develop into a serviceable back up, maybe but if we’re depending on him to anchor the left side of our line again, we’re in trouble and better temper our expectations. as of right now all it shows is how putrid our oline recruiting was that this guy got a committable offer. I’ll say it again, better get a serviceable tackle out of the portal or get ready to go crazy again watching D ends run right around him before he’s even out of his three point stance again this year. Smh
 
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NicKane said:
Disagree, I played college ball and I know what I saw last year. I saw a kid that’s was a two/three start for a reason that lacks footwork, explosion out of his stance, is a leaner and has no anticipation/instincts for the position what’s so ever. The kid is a group of 5 player at best, Zion could definitely dominate but that would have to be at the D2 level where I played. Anyone who’s played the game with still working eyes can see that. Can he develop into a serviceable back up, maybe but if we’re depending on him to anchor the left side of our line again, we’re in trouble and better temper our expectations. as of right now all it shows is how putrid our oline recruiting was that this guy got a committable offer. I’ll say it again, better get a serviceable tackle out of the portal or get ready to go crazy again watching D ends run right around him before he’s even out of his three point stance again this year. Smh
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So after his freshmans year, where he was overwhelmed, he’s a jag and will never be good.

You’re such an expert on college offense of lineman at the P5 level, yet you’ve never heard that sometimes it takes them a couple years to develop.

He shouldn’t have been playing last year as much as he was, he should’ve probably been redshirting. Unfortunately, we had no other choice. Like I said, I don’t know if he’s going to end up being any good or not, but to use last year to project the rest of his career, especially when he should not have been a starter, is premature.
 
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NicKane said:
Disagree, I played college ball and I know what I saw last year. I saw a kid that’s was a two/three start for a reason that lacks footwork, explosion out of his stance, is a leaner and has no anticipation/instincts for the position what’s so ever. The kid is a group of 5 player at best, Zion could definitely dominate but that would have to be at the D2 level where I played. Anyone who’s played the game with still working eyes can see that. Can he develop into a serviceable back up, maybe but if we’re depending on him to anchor the left side of our line again, we’re in trouble and better temper our expectations. as of right now all it shows is how putrid our oline recruiting was that this guy got a committable offer. I’ll say it again, better get a serviceable tackle out of the portal or get ready to go crazy again watching D ends run right around him before he’s even out of his three point stance again this year. Smh
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So he's a JAG because he was thrown in the fire and wasn't ready. The real JAG's are the sorry *** upper classman who couldn't beat out a 240 freshman which force him to play early.
 
craval85 said:
You're a moron. You're so stupid you don't even understand the pt of my post
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nerves-struck-nerves.webp
 
Mansa Musa said:
So he's a JAG because he was thrown in the fire and wasn't ready. The real JAG's are the sorry *** upper classman who couldn't beat out a 240 freshman which force him to play early.
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Maybe but the other jags are the offensive coaches who’s putrid recruiting was responsible for Zion actually getting an offer. Kid had no business at the power five level and belonged at app state I’m the group of five. The only hope I have for him since we’re stuck with his scholarship is to be a serviceable back up. Because like I said before if that’s the kid your depending on to lock down the blind side, then we’re in trouble for a second year I’m a row.
 
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craval85 said:
You're a moron. You're so stupid you don't even understand the pt of my post
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What's wrong with you, you can make your point without name calling. We are adults. I cannot stand folks name calling. It gets under my skin. Like jock itch
 
WhatTheHell said:
Just name King the starter already you dumb midget.
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This.
its cute to play mental games but let the man take the leadership role and run with it

you pushed the start of spring ball back a practice for him (RIP to his late father) just let him have the respect of the title
 
Zion was a long term project right from the get go. The fact that he even played as a true freshman shows you how terrible the previous staff was at recruiting and developing offensive linemen. There’s no reason for Miami to have to rely on a true freshman project who rushed to gain 50 pounds to start as a left tackle. He probably should have been redshirted last year with the hope of him making an impact as a third year sophomore. Unfortunately there’s nothing they could do about it since Stacy Searles decides he wasn’t going to bother recruiting tackles. They can continue to try to attract a grad transfer tackle but the line’s biggest issue was youth/inexperience last year so you have to hope that some of these going guys are being developed. Can’t just hope to recruit a bunch of freshmen tackles to replace the freshmen tackles who failed last year
 
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