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- Nov 3, 2011
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The part that makes me hopeful is is the OL looked better last year despite the terrible G play, so it seems Justice can at least coach them up. We just need more talent at G.
One poster posted a perfect metaphor.Tbh we didn’t need to see the breakdown , just watch out the corner of your eye every play , you’d see scaife or Clark flying out of the screen one second after the snap.
I was watching some old 2001 games, and one thing that stood out was our size. Miami was the bigger team in every game. Butch recruited big body types and built them up. There are several reasons why teams like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Oklahoma are always contenders, but the most obvious reason is their team size.
When TRob had his initial press conference, he said flat-out that Miami needs to keep its big guys home if they want to compete with the top teams. It's no coincidence he's the lead recruiter for Kenyatta Jackson despite being a DB coach. I sense that getting bigger and more physical is our top priority in the offseason.
We've already seen this in several ways. We took DeAndre Johnson, who is physically mature and good against the run. We brought in a giant and aggressive CB in Tyrique Stevenson. Finally, we signed Cody Brown to give us another big back along with Thad Franklin. That 4th and 1 stuff against UNC was unacceptable. There's a reason you don't see scatbacks on the field in the Playoffs.
Of course, it's a balance. Golden tried to make us a Big 10 team and flopped miserably. But the best modern teams combine explosive playmaking and defensive speed with sheer physicality. Here are a few moves that could improve our team size before Bama:
- Bring in a transfer OL. The fact that Justice offered his old OL from UNLV (320 pounds, 685 lb. squat) tells me thinks he's better than what we have inside.
- Give Navaughn Donaldson and Jalen Rivers every chance to win jobs. You can't hand them the jobs, but they instantly make us a bigger and more physical team if they are on the field.
- Give Scaife reps at center. Gaynor will be the favorite (Lashlee and Justice both talked him up) but you at least have more flexibility and get some bigger bodies reps at G.
- Bring in a transfer LB > 230 pounds. They need to run, too, but Bama and Ohio State had LBs in the 235-240 range on the field in the title game. We didn't have anybody crack 230 and struggled to replace 240-pound Shaq. I'm still mad we passed on Diego ***ot (6'3, 240), who is a star for Navy.
- Utilize more unbalanced lines. Now that we have better numbers and more prep time, I'd love to see us get as many of our people-movers on the field as much as possible. We did that a bunch in the Stoutland era.
The Alabama game will tell us a lot about how we stack up physically and how far we still have to go.
Size in the trenches is obvious but I really need to see more size & length at receiver. Fewer Dee Wiggins & Mark Pope's and more kids put together like Mike Redding & Brashard Smith. Its also nice to see us getting kids like Thad & Brown at rb too.
If the Miami coaching staff thinks they're gonna take a subpackage rusher from the SEC who didn't play on early downs and expect him to be an every-down player who helps against the run...well this is why we give up 554 rushing to UNC.Let me rephrase: better than what we have.
This is a big reason why they hired Simpson. They felt there was room for improvement on the coaching side, separate from scheme and personnel. Diaz's teams statistically played good run defense until last season.If the Miami coaching staff thinks they're gonna take a subpackage rusher from the SEC who didn't play on early downs and expect him to be an every-down player who helps against the run...well this is why we give up 554 rushing to UNC.
There are no shortcuts to defending the run. You need guys who can own their gap, guys who create knockback, and a sound scheme with disciplined players who align correctly. If you think you're just gonna shoot upfield and create chaos you're gonna have teams like UNC running Counter over and over again with no one at the point of attack to stop it, or even teams like UAB running wide zone and finding creases despite no passing game.
Compare that to Clemson who has big base ends who don't rush well and slow JAG LBs but they dominate the ACC cause they're physical and sound and their corners can mostly hang on an island.
You held the phone too close to your face when your boyfriend was ******* you in the kitchen.
You writing BoxingRobes fan fiction, TheOriginalCvnt. Cute.
Good point and why they want to add another portal DE.If the Miami coaching staff thinks they're gonna take a subpackage rusher from the SEC who didn't play on early downs and expect him to be an every-down player who helps against the run...well this is why we give up 554 rushing to UNC.
There are no shortcuts to defending the run. You need guys who can own their gap, guys who create knockback, and a sound scheme with disciplined players who align correctly. If you think you're just gonna shoot upfield and create chaos you're gonna have teams like UNC running Counter over and over again with no one at the point of attack to stop it, or even teams like UAB running wide zone and finding creases despite no passing game.
Compare that to Clemson who has big base ends who don't rush well and slow JAG LBs but they dominate the ACC cause they're physical and sound and their corners can mostly hang on an island.
RIGHT.. Getting bigger is definitely a must but it has to be in the right areas.. And I always say that when I watch old Miami games "Miami had bigger and faster teams compared to now"We need a team that's THICC in the right places.
You just cited two current NFL safeties as examples of recruiting deficiencies?IMO - Alabama and other top teams get players that come in with size, talent, athleticism.
Miami gets players where something is sacrificed. Talent, sub-par size & athleticism (Jaquan Johnson). Size & Athleticism, sub-par talent (Sheldrick Redwine).
We need more guys that are the combo of all 3. I'm not saying we need to get them all, but we gotta start winning 1-2 more of these battles each year (consistently and every year) so these guys cumulatively start stacking up.