With only four out of 15 spring practices completed for the Miami football program and August training camp in doubt, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee stated the Hurricanes staff will have to make decisions about starters quicker than normal.
The Miami football program completed four practices in early March before all of their athletic teams were shut down for the remainder of the academic year. In a conference call with reporters earlier this week, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee spoke about losing the opportunity to evaluate his players this spring.
The loss of nearly three-quarters of the spring evaluation period is a difficult situation for a coach in his first year with the Miami football program. The Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine have created an unprecedented situation in collegiate sports. Lashlee is having to build his relationship virtually with his new players.
Most teams are in the same situation. While some college football programs did not conduct spring practice, all 130 FBS programs missed out on critical time with their players this spring. Lashlee discussed the situation he and his staff are in about having to make decisions on their players with the lost time.
There will still be competition for several starting spots on offense, particularly on the offensive line and at wide receiver to start for the Miami football team this fall. While the evaluation time was lost, Lashlee acknowledged that getting their teams ready no matter where and when games are played is part of the job.
"“There’s no question it’s going to be different than — quote — ‘normal.We’ve got competitions going on everywhere, and we’re going to have to make decisions quicker probably than normal in terms of the amount of practices or data we have to go into that decision because depending on how much time they give us you’ve got to get ready, but I look at it like this: We’re football coaches.It’s our job to get done whatever they put in front of us and if they want us to play on Sept. 3 in the Walmart parking lot, then we’ve got to find a way to get that done.”"
Canes OC Rhett Lashlee on keeping players going: "These are 18-22-year-old kids and most of them are scattered all across...the best thing we try to do is not wear them down, but stay connected. ... And I think, just be honest and real, but keep a positive outlook."
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) May 1, 2020
Lashlee realizes the four practices were a blessing. Considering that many schools did not get a chance to hold spring practice at all, despite the limited time with his new players, Lashlee was grateful to have the opportunity to work with the Miami football players at all. Lashlee discussed the four practices.
"“That was really good for us to learn a little bit about our kids. Did we learn all the info we needed? No, but we at least have something to go off of other than just our initial thoughts, and so it gives us a better educated guess.It was good for our kids to learn us at least enough to know how we coach, and how our demeanor is and the expectation. Everything from the way we want to practice and how we want the offense to go, they at least understand that.”"
The expectations from the Miami football players of Lashlee, new offensive line coach Garin Justice and new wide receivers coach Rob Likens give the offense for the Hurricanes a baseline of how they should prepare for the 2020 season. Reports have been that Lashlee is more player-friendly than his predecessor Dan Enos.
The offense Lashlee runs is more predicated on tempo. Miami will run an up-tempo spread under Lashlee after running a pro-style offense under Enos and previously Mark Richt. The Miami players have routinely stated that the Lashlee offense is not as complex as Enos. That’s a good thing with the lost practices.