Miami football players praise impact of QB D’Eriq King

Graduate transfer quarterback D’Eriq King made an immediate impact with the Miami football team in the short four practices the Hurricanes had this spring. He was praised by the leadership and ability he showed during the one week of spring practice.

Graduate transfer quarterback D’Eriq King has quickly upgraded the skill set and leadership for the signal callers on the Miami football team. During the short one week, four-session spring practice King has already made his presence felt. Several of King’s teammates praised the difference he is already making with the Hurricanes.

Only one player on the Miami roster has seen King play up close. Defensive end Quincy Roche who also transferred to Miami played against King when Temple defeated Houston 59-49 in 2018. You could say that King and the Cougars offense won the battle, but Roche and Temple won the war.

King was nearly unstoppable against Temple. He threw for 322 yards, five touchdowns, an interception and added 125 yards rushing and another TD in the loss to the Owls. Roche finished with three tackles including recovering a King fumble. They will face each other much more often now but without big stakes on the line.

Roche spoke to the Miami Herald

earlier this month about King’s character, their mutual understanding transferring from the American Athletic Conference and why he likes being in Miami. The leadership skills King and Roche bring to the Miami football team will be critical in their fifth and fourth years of college.

"“A good character dude, real on top of everything, always perfectly on time, punctual. That’s a good guy. It helps to have somebody you can relate to that comes from a similar conference. I think both of us have been welcomed with open arms. Just the family atmosphere around here has kind of helped the transition.They just welcomed us so well. “"

Roche will team with rising redshirt sophomore Greg Rousseau and rising redshirt junior Jaelan Phillips to give Miami what should be the best pass rush nationally in 2020. Rousseau was impressed with the skill set that King has, his extreme athleticism and his work ethic in the short amount of time Miami had spring practice.

"“He’s a great player. His skill set is so huge. He’s like a running back/receiver/quarterback. He can do it all. He’s an extreme athlete — another workaholic.”"

Losing 11 spring practices makes the work in training camp for the season later this year more critical. Getting the timing down with the receivers will be critical for King. Rising senior Mike Harley is projected to be the go receiver for Miami this fall. Harley spoke about the relationship the receivers have with King after his father died.

"“He’s been strong. Me and a couple of guys, receivers in the offense, were shooting texts back and forth. ‘Stay strong, brother.’ He just told me that his pops wanted him to take this step and take advantage of it and win a championship, so that’s what he’s gonna do for his pops.He’s just being that leader, setting a tone for the offense. When he gets the 1s reps, he’s just going on from there. What I learned from him today: He was like a very fast-paced type of guy, like an option guy. You’ve got to stay on point because you’ll never know if he’ll hand it off, he’ll pull it and run or he’ll throw the ball.He keeps the defense on its toes and also keeps the offense on its toes. He’s very unpredictable.’’"

King has made an impact on and off the field with the Miami football team in less than two months. Based on what Harley said it is clear that building a relationship with the wide receivers and the offense is a priority for King during the offseason. King has proven that helping to change the culture will be critical in 2020.

King brings a dynamic at QB that has never been seen at Miami. No signal-caller that has ever played for the Hurricanes has the dimension of running and passing that King has. As Rousseau said, King is like a running back, QB and WR all in on package. At Houston King played the latter two positions.