Miami Hurricanes Spring Practice Day Two

With the Miami Hurricanes beginning the second year of the Mark Richt era the coaches are beginning to see growth from what was by and large a young team in 2016.

The Miami all-freshman linebacking core had a great season under Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz, Mark Walton took over the starting running back position as sophomore, the front seven defensively should be one of the best in the country, the offensive line will have far greater depth than they had in 2016 and Ahmmon Richards was an Freshman All-American at wide receiver as he led the Hurricanes in receiving yards.

All of these players and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz spoke to the media after practice on Thursday.

Shaquile Quarterman was a Freshmen All-American and earned All-ACC honors in an incredible first season. Quarterman finished second on the team with 84 tackles, just one behind team leader Rayshawn Jenkins. He discussed how things were going.

"“It feels great to be back out here,” linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said. “We have been working since we got back from winter break. It is just exciting to be back out here bonding with the teammates and everything.”"

Michael Pinkney also earned freshmen all-american honors last season playing along side Quarterman. Zach McCloud could just as easily earned that status. He didn’t have numbers that his classmates had at linebacker, but had a great season and discussed the growth of the linebacking core and their increased knowledge of the defense.

"“We get to be more comfortable, because we are familiar with the calls and everything,” McCloud said. “We get a chance to pay attention to more of the details, the small things we couldn’t focus on as much last year.”"

Quarterman is the Quarterback and play caller of the defense at middle or mike linebacker. He talked about the difference between 2016 spring practice and this season.

"“It’s a really big difference,” Quarterman said. “First spring I didn’t know what to expect, I had just got here. I had to adjust to a lot. Now having the experience from last spring and the season I kind of feel like I know the guys. Especially with the freshman coming in, even though I may not be a senior, I still have to help them and give them insight on stuff and how we operate here.”"

Manny Diaz did an incredible job with a young defense, especially with the all true freshman linebacking core. Diaz talked about the difference he sees between this year’s spring practice and last.

"“The biggest thing that stands out is just how much further ahead we are than this time last year,” Diaz said. “Going back and looking at some of those clips, it’s almost comical where we were starting from. I think the guys have picked up from where we left off in December and have a good spirit about them. The guys are wanting to compete. But all that being said, when contact is not involved in the game, there is not a whole lot that you can evaluate other than the fact that we know how to get lined up.”"

Diaz counterpart as offensive coordinator is Thomas Brown. Brown was a running back at Georgia under Head Coach Mark Richt. Although Richt calls the plays, Brown still plays a large roll in what the offense’s strategy is going to be and who will play.

He was a good mentor to Mark Walton last season and also had to work with offensive line coach Stacy Searles on what was a fluctuating offensive line last season because of injuries.

Walton passed Gus Edwards and Joseph Yearby on the depth chart to earn a starting spot last fall. He ran for 1,117 yards and 14 touchdowns and had 240 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Brown spoke about Walton’s spring through two practices.

"“Mark Walton is a really good football player and I would say he has improved even more because he is even more detailed then he was in the past,” Brown said. “Which is pretty impressive since I think he was already a pretty detailed guy…"

The Hurricanes had a lot of shuffling on the offensive line last season due to injuries. Starting center Nick Lindner was lost early in November and then Senior Alex Gall took his place.

K.C. McDermott played guard and tackle last season. Trevor Darling did a good job at left tackle. For the most part the ‘Canes O-line did a good job protecting Brad Kaaya.

Brown discussed how the offensive line is shaping up so far this spring.

"I think [senior offensive lineman] Trevor Darling has done some really nice things so far, just from a fundamental standpoint. [Senior offensive lineman] KC McDermott is really good up front, from a technique standpoint. But again, it is two days in shorts, with guys with great effort. Everybody is excited for football right now. [There are] A lot of guys that would like to help us win, but we will find out more moving forward with the pads going on and when adversity hits.”"

Several positions on offense have starting positions open for 2017. The ‘Canes obviously have to replace Kaaya at Quarterback, but they also have to replace Danny Isidora at guard, David Njoku at one of the tight end slots and Stacy Coley at wide receiver. Most coaches will talk about competition being good for a team and Brown is no different.

"“Yeah, I’m really excited,” Brown said. “Obviously, people think it may be scary at times, but it is a great opportunity for a lot of guys to come in and compete. I think competition makes you better. I think it is harder sometimes to go all out and compete, when you may think you never have a chance to beat a guy out. But when it is an open competition, you will figure out who wants to play and who doesn’t want to play. I think guys will continue to go out and separate themselves. Every single position, not just the quarterback spot. It is going to be a long process to the rest of spring ball, throughout the summer and into fall camp, before we figure out who is going to be able to win football games.”"

Getting Ahmmon Richards to come to Miami over Alabama was a huge coup for Mark Richt and his staff. He was a great play maker for the Hurricanes in 2016, earning freshman all-american honors. With Coley and Njoku gone, Richards is going to have more attention on him this fall. He will get some help from a talented recruting class that is deep at wide receiver.

Richards discussed the players vying to be the new signal caller throwing him the ball this coming season.

"“They all have improved and know the system pretty well,” Richards said. “They all can throw and put the ball on the money.  They all have touch. It’s going to be a good competition.”"

Next: Mark Richt Talks to Reporters After First Day of Spring Practice

With a top 15 recruiting class and currently having the nation’s top class for 2018, Richt is quickly building depth to return Miami to being one of the nation’s top programs again.