Spring Practice Begins for the Miami Hurricanes

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Brandon Odoi

CORAL GABLES, FL— The Miami Hurricanes began year three with head coach Mark Richt at the helm and it was a very business like scene on the greentree practice fields. All eyes were on the quarterbacks for much of the 25 minute “media viewing period” during which veteran Malik Rosier took first team reps and he was backed up by redshirt Freshman and heir apparent, N’Kosi Perry.

Cutting right to the chase, Perry looked vastly improved. His balls were more crisp. He had a pop in his throws, he looked athletic (nothing new) and he seemed to be tremendously more comfortable with the way practice flowed.  Something he clearly was learning last year as he was always getting instruction from the coaches.  This is positive for the Hurricanes because as offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown explained, it bolsters competition.

 

“He [Perry] has been good. Obviously a lot more relaxed. He has been a year in the system. When he came in as a freshman, there were high expectations for him, as there should be. Just being able to learn the system, because obviously playing quarterback is different than Lorenzo [Lingard] coming in and playing running back. It’s a lot easier to come in and play at that spot than playing quarterback. He was looking pretty good today. But it’s just Day 1. I don’t want to get too excited.”

 

Brown didn’t want to get too excited but it was hard not too. Perry had that flow.  Having covered the Hurricanes for a while, this being my 6th spring, I can tell when a player is about to break out.  We never get to see much, so that’s nothing new. So I ignore anyone telling me we can’t draw conclusions.  That’s our job.  We see more than 99% of the general public and someone has to project on what the team could be.

What you learn to make judgments based on limited viewing coupled with intel from sources and juxtaposing that with what you’ve seen in the past and what it takes to win games. Perry is on something different (positively speaking) and the staff is trying to hid their excitement (Richt cut his comments short, blaming it on visitors) but it’s easy to see why they like what he can bring.

My thoughts on his usage this season? He’ll be used to spell Rosier when he’s messing up badly.  So now, instead of Evan Sherrifs, you bring in a guy who can actually take your job.  That’s something Rosier has to have in the back of his mind all spring and all camp. And especially this fall. That in itself, makes Miami a better football team. The fact that there was even a quarterback competition last year was in retrospect, laughable, given what we all saw on the field. So now, you have to like the fact that you bring back a capable Perry (we think) and an experienced starter with a chip on his shoulder.

 

NEWS AND NOTES

-Senior safety JaQuan Johnson missed the media viewing portion of the scrimmage but was there by the end of practice.  He’s unquestionable one of the biggest leaders on the team.

-Freshman DB DJ Ivey made an incredible grab in DB drills that would have made OBJ blush.  He looks like he’s added some weight since I last saw him in December during the Florida 8A state quarterfinals.

–Trajan Bandy is a baller. That just needs to be said.

-A note on the WRs

 

About Brandon Odoi

Brandon Odoi is a tenured journalist. He's covered youth football since 8th grade, high school football since 2009 and began covering college football in 2011 as a beat writer for the University of Miami Athletic programs. In 2011, he founded Football Hotbed a national multi-media platform for football across the country. He's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and spent his first five years as a professional working at ABC Television Network, ending his career as a producer in Miami. He's married with two sons and a daughter and resides in South Florida.
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