UM offensive coaches dish on lineup decisions, emerging players, where things stand

A fresh pack of news and nuggets from Miami Hurricanes offensive coaches as fall camp gets underway:

▪ The Canes have three very skilled veteran receivers (Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George, Sam Brown) and a fourth (Isaiah Horton) who shouldn’t be overlooked.

But they’re complemented by a handful of more recent additions - early enrollees Ny Carr and JoJo Trader, fellow freshman Chance Robinson and second-year players Ray-Ray Joseph and Robby Washington. (Shermar Kirk also has made strides.)

Receivers coach Kevin Beard offered insight on the young players this week, beginning with Carr and Trader, who both impressed during spring ball.

“Ny Carr is fast,” Beard said. “He’s so fast that he’s out of control at times. And that’s the development part of learning to control it.

“With JoJo, he’s smooth. He has great balance and body control. His catching ability, he hasn’t seen a ball he can’t catch. It’s really good to have those two guys and different dynamics. You get the best of different worlds. When you combine that, it’s going to be big time.”

Beard said he believes both can play and contribute as freshmen: “They made a lot of plays in the spring. I always tell them I never recruit kids with the hope or mindset to redshirt them….

“As the process goes on, they will show themselves how big their shoulders are where the moment is not too big for them.”

▪ As for Joseph and Washington, they “have improved as receivers,” Beard said. “They came in as athletes. One of the things for those guys is you can’t catch enough balls. You can’t learn how to run enough intermediate routes and learn how to get in and out of breaks. They’ve done a really good job doing that in the offseason.”

▪ Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said Michael McCoy and Samson Okunlola would both get first-team left guard snaps during Wednesday’s first practice of training camp. They seem to be the co-front-runners to replace Javion Cohen.

“McCoy has had an unbelievable January through the summer,” Mirabal said. “He’s going to surprise a lot of people this year.”

▪ Jalen Rivers, Francis Mauogia, Anez Cooper and new center Zach Carpenter are very likely starters, leaving one job potentially for McCoy or Oklunlola.

But don’t rule out tackle Markel Bell breaking through at some point this season.

Bell, a mammoth man at 6-9 and 340 pounds, has consistently impressed coaches after joining UM from Holmes (Mississippi) Community College last December. He was the No. 1 rated JUCO tackle.

“His worth ethic is phenomenal,” Mirabal said. “His desire to get better [is great]; he never left Miami [this summer]. He had opportunities to go back to Cleveland, Mississippi and he loves his mom and stuff, but he has not left Miami because he wanted to stay around and work. His improvement has been monumental. He’s 180 degree different today than he was at the end of spring.”

Mirabal said “what he’s done on the field,... you say, ‘OK, he’s tall, great.’ But he uses his hands really well. Man, he’s got really good feet and bends his knees. His implementation of technique and fundamentals has been really good.”

▪ Though left tackle Rivers and right tackle Mauogia are cross-trained at guard, UM seems likely to leave them at tackle. Why was that decision made?

“It’s the growth of those other guys,” Mirabal said. “It’s the growth of Coop, the growth of McCoy, the growth of [Tommy] Kinsler. I’m going to play the five best guys. After a week of camp, if the fifth best guy is the guy who’s getting all the backup snaps at right tackle, then we’ve got to move them.”

▪ Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said he will play up tempo “at times,” but he also likes to huddle.

“Changing tempos is key,” Dawson said. “But ultimately I think there’s a high value in huddling, too. If you really want to disguise things the most, you huddle. If you really want to hide what you’re doing, huddle and talk.

“There’s an element to going fast that’s good, an element to huddling that’s good. Mix it up.”

▪ How does the move from Tyler Van Dyke to Cam Ward change the offensive playbook?

“I’m not sure if the plays are going to look different, [but] I do think Cam brings the ability to extend plays that’s very unique in college football,” Dawson said. “We have guys that can stretch a defense down the field. It’ll look different because of the players out there more than the plays.”

Dawson said the offense needs to be more explosive.

▪ Dawson also said Horton is “very close” with Restrepo, George and Brown in the battle for a top three receiver job.

“He does the gritty things at receiver that don’t show up on the stat line,” Dawson said. “When I ask you to block a safety, a linebacker, how do you react? Because it’s about the whole offense being successful. He embodies all that, is willing to do whatever it takes. Those guys should get rewarded with some balls down the field and some good things happening.”