Young Miami football roster requires patience and letting team grow

Manny Diaz taking over from Mark Richt as head coach for 2019 has meant a lot of turnover on the Miami football roster. That creates a lot of patience in letting the team grow.

What a player has accomplished this far in his college career is meaningless. Miami offensive coordinator Dan Enos said last week of Jarren Williams he doesn’t care what Williams is, he cares what can be and becomes. The bar for the Miami football players with Enos and Manny Diaz is as high as it has been in years.

Who plays as long as Diaz and Enos are leading the Miami football program will depend on merit, potential and how well they are able to perform based on what is asked of them. That is one of the reasons that Williams won the quarterback job and why Tate Martell received more snaps at WR than more experienced players.

Miami played a mostly young group against Florida. Part of the reason Florida defeated Miami is that they were more experienced virtually throughout their entire lineup. The only position group Miami had the edge in experience was at linebacker.

The Hurricanes should have the edge in experience at LB over their opponents throughout the season. Four seniors will start at LB or the equivalent at striker. Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney started at the traditional positions at weakside and middle LB. Romeo Finley started at striker.

Finley was backed up by sophomore Gilbert Frierson. When the Hurricanes went to a more traditional LB set, senior Zach McCloud came at weakside LB. The Miami experience showed in the middle of their defense. Florida ran the ball 28 times for 50 yards.