K.J. Osborn has been a part of the Miami football program for less than three months. In his short tenure, he has become the leader of the Hurricanes wide receiver corps.
The Miami football team desperately needs experience at wide receiver. The only receivers that the Hurricanes had with experience that would be returning for 2019 without Osborn are juniors, Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley. Thomas did not play in the Hurricanes last two games of 2018 after leaving the team.
There were conflicting reports about Thomas leaving the team on his own volition or getting dismissed. Once Manny Diaz replaced Mark Richt as the head coach of the Miami football program Thomas was reinstated to the team.
Thomas’s presence and playmaking ability are important to the Hurricanes. He led Miami in receptions and receiving yards in 2018. Thomas had 35 receptions for 563 yards last season. He also was exceptional on special teams. Thomas returned nine punts for 221 yards and a touchdown and averaged 26 yards on ten kick returns.
Osborn comes to Miami from Buffalo looking to increase his profile for the NFL on a bigger stage. Osborn had 53 receptions for 892 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018 for the Bulls. He has the potential to lead Miami in receiving in 2019. Is his collegiate career Osborn has 96 receptions for 1,490 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Harley praised Osborn and told the Sun Sentinel’s Christy Chirinos
that his leadership was exactly what the Miami football team needed heading into the 2019 season.
"“That’s what we needed, that leadership…Without him coming in, it was just me and Evidence [Njoku] and Jeff Thomas. We would have been the older guys.But it’s a great feeling to have that older guy that’s been there for like four, five years. He’s teaching us knowledge. He’s pushing us more. … He’s a big brother to me and the rest of the guys.”"
Thomas and Harley had last season as their first year in college being among the leaders of the Hurricanes wide receivers. They also had graduated senior Darrell Langham and redshirt junior Lawrence Cager (who has since left for Georgia as a graduate transfer) to defer to as leaders.
One of the things Diaz has routinely talked about since succeeding Richt is changing the culture at Miami. Osborn has come in and made an immediate impact with the wide receivers. Osborn has shown his younger teammates the importance of putting in the time to work on their receiving skills.
"“One of the great advantages of our first offseason with the indoor (Soffer practice facility) is this place really is like our players’ playground…They have the ability to come in here and catch balls out of the JUGS.And what happens is K.J.’s doing it and all of a sudden, another guy will show up, and another guy will do it, and he starts to create habits in a room that didn’t really have habits. He’s doing exactly what we thought in terms of helping us change the culture of that wide receiver room.”"
Osborn will only have 2019 to play for Miami. His impact could last far beyond that. It often only takes one player or coach to come in and change the culture. Diaz has made it clear he wants his players to hold each other accountable. The offseason has seen the players work harder than they have before.
Diaz has spoken about more players attending voluntary workouts, being in the weight room more often and working closer and more frequently with strength and conditioning coach David Feeley. The hard work for the Hurricanes in the offseason should pay off on the field in 2019.