Miami football pushes spring practice back two days without explanation

A pair of reports late on Monday afternoon indicated the Miami football team has pushed the beginning of spring practice back from Saturday to begin March 2.

The Miami football team announced late on Monday afternoon that they have pushed the beginning of spring practice back two days to begin on Monday, March 2. Andrew Ivins of Inside the U and Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald both reported the decision by the Hurricanes.

No reason was mentioned for pushing the start date back. The Miami football team has a plethora of injuries entering the spring. The start date 48 hours later would not seem to make a significant impact to allow those players to get healthy. Head coach Manny Diaz is hosting a Women’s Football Clinic Saturday.

According to Ivins, Miami will practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 9:30 AM each day during their first week of spring practice. No schedule beyond that has been released publically. Following the first week of spring practice, the Hurricanes will take the following week off.

The decision to take a week off after beginning spring practice could have been made to simulate the 0-4 record the Miami football team had following a week off last season. That record would extend to 0-5 if you include the 2019 season opener against Florida. Miami had a bye week to begin 2019 following the loss to the Gators.

The Hurricanes lost two weeks later to North Carolina following the bye after the loss to Florida. Later in the season, Miami lost at home to Virginia Tech following a bye after a sluggish 17-12 victory over Central Michigan. The Hurricanes finished the season with a 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl.

Several position groups are impacted by injuries this spring. Miami will be missing four linebackers during spring football, star freshman running back Don Chaney jr is out with a shoulder injury and rising junior tight end Brevin Jordan is expected to miss the entire spring recovering from a left foot injury suffered during the 2019 season.

All eyes will be on the reconstructed offense for the Miami football team this spring. In are quarterback D’Eriq King, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, offensive line coach Garin Justice and wide receivers coach Rob Likens. Out are former QB Jarren Williams, OC Dan Enos, OL coach Butch Barry and WR coach Taylor Stubblefield.

The Hurricanes are switching from the antiquated pro-style offense of Enos to the uptempo, spread that Lashlee runs. Under Lashlee in 2019, SMU finished ninth in FBS in total offense and seventh averaging 41.8 points per game. King is one of the early favorites for the Heisman Trophy in 2020.