LAUDERDALE LAKES – A young boy, probably nine or ten years old, worked up the nerve to talk to the quarterback of his favorite football team.
“Are you Morris?” he asked, shyly.
Brad Kaaya is not Stephen Morris. He is, however, very easygoing and friendly, especially to kids.
“No,” he replied. “He graduated.”
Kaaya may not be Morris’ successor as Hurricanes starting quarterback this fall, but that will not quiet the fervent fan interest in him.
The freshman from West Hills, Calif. arrived last month with more accolades and recruiting hype than any quarterback on the roster. That, coupled with a strong push by offensive coordinator James Coley to land him, makes one believe he could be The Guy.
Monday, he was just another guy in a UM jersey – No. 15, to be exact – as 20 Hurricanes participated in a community service event at a park in Lauderdale Lakes. Kaaya, the only quarterback scheduled to attend the outing, broke off into a group with running backs Walter Tucker and Gus Edwards and threw his first passes in a Hurricanes jersey.
(His receivers were ages 5 to 15, but who’s counting?)
Per UM policy, freshmen and other newcomers are not available for interviews until they see game action. One reporter, passing by Kaaya, said a brief hello and asked how he liked South Florida.
“I like it,” he said. “Humid, though.”
And plenty hot, especially with the spotlight of training camp shining. When August rolls around, the competition between Kaaya, fellow freshman Malik Rosier, redshirt freshman Kevin Olsen and redshirt sophomore Gray Crow will be dissected constantly. But it has already, quietly, begun.
Right now, all four are running offseason drills, trying to capture the torch one of them will carry into opening night at Louisville on Sept. 1.
Their teammates are learning what the newcomers are about. Asked to describe Kaaya, Edwards offered this:
“Kaaya has a rocket arm, and he’s really smart,” Edwards said. “He even knows what the running backs are doing now, and most quarterbacks just know the receivers. He knows about our guys, what the pass protections are, he’s getting a lot better with his reads and calling out the mike (linebacker). He’s doing a good job right now.”
Is he surprised with how well they’ve performed coming in?
“I wouldn’t say surprised, because it’s a spot that’s really open,” he said. “They’re all freshmen. Kevin knows the playbook a little bit more. But they all see the opportunity in front of them and they’re all going after it.
Senior wide receiver Phillip Dorsett was asked a bunch of questions about Kaaya and Rosier, but he wanted to make one thing clear.
“Kevin, too,” he said. “Don’t count Kevin out because Kevin’s looking real good right now, and he’s grown up a lot too. I’m not really worried about it.”
Olsen, who redshirted last year, drew criticism from coach Al Golden for his preparation and was suspended for last season’s Russell Athletic Bowl for a violation of team rules. In what ways has he grown up?
“He’s just got a lot better as a player and a person too,” Dorsett said of Olsen, who was praised by Golden and his teammates during recent spring practices. “He just doesn’t make the little mistakes that a freshman makes. He’s gotten a lot better. I’ve got a lot of trust in him too.”
Dorsett’s take on Kaaya and Rosier:
“Both of them do different things better,” he said. “I can’t really say who’s better right now because they’ve got a lot of stuff to learn.
“Brad’s more of a pocket passer. He’s got a real strong arm. He’s real accurate, too. He’s real smart — actually, both of them are real smart. They know a lot more than I thought they would coming in.”
Junior cornerback Tracy Howard said both “Kaaya and Malik” have strong arms and “Kaaya’s making great decisions with the ball,” but noted that it’s difficult to tell the difference between the two.
“You don’t know now,” Howard said. “You can’t really tell. They’re freshman coming in. The pads haven’t gotten on yet. So far, everybody looks good. Even when we do team periods and we send pressures at them they look very poised with it. When camp comes around that’s when you really see who your guys [are].”
Of course, there’s another guy in the mix. That’s Ryan Williams, whose April 4 ACL tear created all this competition, all this uncertainty. He’s expecting to return before October, which might also be before any of his would-be understudies truly grabs the reins.
One more reason it will be an interesting competition this fall.
“Most definitely,” Howard said. “Kevin already being here, he has a little bit of an advantage, but he can’t relax because the new guys are coming in with a chip on their shoulder. They want to play.”
Elder feeling good: Dorsett, UM’s fastest receiver, was asked which defensive backs are hardest to shake. Dorsett said Corn Elder, who is returning from a November meniscus tear which required surgery: “He surprised me a lot. He’s got a lot better.” Because of Elder’s injury, Dorsett said he “forgot how good he was. He’s just an athlete.”
The sophomore cornerback and return man, who is listed at 5-foot-10, reports he weighs 175-180 pounds. That’s some 20 pounds heavier than he was when he arrived in 2013. Elder also didn’t rule out a return to the hardwood. A two-sport star in his native Tennessee, he signed with UM in 2013 on a football scholarship and planned to play basketball before the knee surgery.
Edwards speeding up: The big sophomore (6-2, currently 233) said he dropped his 40-yard dash time from 4.62 to 4.54. On his development: “The playbook is more natural now,” Edwards said. “I wouldn’t say I was out there guessing my freshman year, but I’m more sure now.”
Quote of the day: Howard was asked how motivated the Canes are to start the season at Louisville, who blew them out 36-9 in Orlando last
December:
“It ain’t no secret. Everybody knows what time it is,” he said. “Everybody knows what that game means.”
Photos from the event, one of four UM is hosting this week:
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