Miami Hurricanes OC Thomas Brown says “more talent than we’ve ever had”

The Miami Hurricanes roster during the Mark Richt era has been a gradual upgrade of talent. Entering Richt’s third season Miami Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown said: “(this is) more talent than we’ve ever had.”

Brown’s statement about the Miami Hurricanes roster was in reference to the talent on the roster during the Richt era. This is clearly not the most talent the Miami Hurricanes have ever had.

In Richt’s first two seasons the Hurricanes have had good talent on the first team offense. When the Miami offense has had to utilize second and third team players the Hurricanes have suffered. That was clearly prevalent at the end of last season.

Miami was without starting tailback Mark Walton, starting wide receiver Ahmmon Richards and starting tight end Christopher Herndon IV for 17 games combined in 2017. Richards and Walton who were two of the best players at their positions nationally last season only played in two of the same Miami games in 2017.

In future seasons the Hurricanes will be able to rely on depth better when players are injured or ineffective. Travis Homer did an exceptional job replacing Walton last season. He accumulated over 1,000 yards of total offense. The Miami Hurricanes were never able to replace Richards or Herndon last season.

Brown described the Hurricanes depth this season as a “roller coaster.” Although the talent has improved Miami will be extremely young on offense at wide receiver and tight end in 2018. The injury to Michael Irvin II at tight end has forced Freshmen Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory into primary roles early in the season.

Brown discussed the inconsistency that the youth has created, their toughness and the need for some of the players to set the tone for the rest of the team.

"“We got more talent than we’ve ever had at every single position. We got really good depth now.We’re just too much of a roller coaster. We got some super, super tough dudes on offense, but not enough of them. A handful of guys who come out every single day and they’re physical, mentally tough and they finish everything.Those guys have to command that from the rest of the group so we can bring it every day as a whole, as a unit. We have some really bright moments and some really terrible moments, which we can’t have that. We have to be consistent every single day.”"

Brown was quoted extensively by the Miami Hurricanes beat writer for the Palm Beach Post Anthony Chiang. The profile of the talent on the Hurricanes roster came before Irvin sustained the injury to his MCL that is going to cause him to miss four months.

Brown singled out several of the Miami Hurricanes Freshmen on offense. That included Jordan and Mallory. Brown’s statement also occurred before Saturday’s night first of three scrimmages in August. One of the Freshmen that could be headed to a redshirt season is four-star running back Cam’ron Davis.

Brown was how Davis was performing in training camp. “has flashes, but he doesn’t get it yet.”  Homer, Sophomore DeeJay Dallas, five-star Freshman Lorenzo Lingard and Redshirt Freshman Robert Burns are all ahead of Davis on the depth chart. He is not likely to see many carries this season. Davis is a perfect candidate to Redshirt.

Tight end and running back are not the only positions that the Hurricanes Class of 2018 is stocked at. Miami signed three four-star wide receivers and one three-star. Brown is excited about getting to work with them. Four-stars Brian Hightower and Mark Pope are expected to have the greatest impact this fall.

"“Those guys are really fast and they got really good ball skills,…They got to learn what to do, learn to line up and function. Also, got to learn we — from a skillset standpoint — we run all day. And also be a part of special teams and affect the game in that way.But Mark Pope is obviously very talented. Really all those guys. I can’t just single any one of those guys out. Every single last one of them that we signed can do some good things for us, so I’m really excited for those guys. Just got to grow up and got to bring it in a hurry. Got to mature fast.”"

The Freshmen wide receivers won’t have to contribute nearly as much as Jordan and Mallory at tight end. Richards, Lawrence Cager, Darrell Langham and Sophomores Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley also figure prominently into the rotation. Harley and Thomas are expected to compete to be the starter at slot receiver.

Thomas led the Hurricanes receivers with 15 or more receptions in yards per catch at 22 last season. Thomas and Harley’s speed complement Richards, Langham and Cager’s size well. Brown spoke praised Thomas and Harley.

"“Speed kills and those guys can run and run all day.”"

The importance in the upgrade of talent has created a roster with far more depth than the Hurricanes have had over the last few seasons. Richt spoke out about it last season. He said the Hurricanes issue was one of depth, not talent.

The starters that Miami has had over the past two seasons can compete with the best. The backups inability to match what the Hurricanes starters brought led to losses.