Coral Gables, FL — Going into Fall Camp, former Alabama offensive coordinator Dan Enos made it clear he is looking to run the ‘Spread Coast’ (a combination of the west coast and spread offense) with Miami with the best leader possible for the 2019 season.
Today that leader was named.
QB1.
— Canes Football (@CanesFootball) August 12, 2019
Redshirt freshman Jarren Williams was named the starter in what is known as “The New Miami” era and will take the first snap against the Florida Gators August 24th at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. He was able to beat out last year’s occasional starter N’Kosi Perry and Ohio State transfer Tate Martell for the job.
“All three guys showed tremendous improvement and development, which is a credit to their hard work and the work of Dan Enos and his offensive staff,” said Head Coach Manny Diaz. “We believe we can win with all three guys, however, we feel like Jarren has the greatest upside due to his passing ability, his instincts, and determination.”
The 6’2” 210 pound Georgia native was a four-star prospect coming out of Central Gwinnett High School where he played in the same state of with projected starting Hurricanes running back DeeJay Dallas and redshirt freshman fullback Realus George. Originally committed to Kentucky, he chose the Hurricanes over offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and LSU. He played in one game last year for Miami in mop-up duty against Savannah State completing one of three passes for 17 yards.
“It means the world,” said Williams. “This is something that I’ve always strived for growing up. It’s been my dream since I was a kid. When I was six years old, I used to sit in front of the TV and watch Michael Vick play. Having the opportunity to lead this team is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am going to take full advantage of it.”
This was the tightest Miami Hurricane quarterback battle we have seen in recent memory. All three quarterbacks seemed to be more than capable to be the next starter for the Hurricanes throughout the Spring and Summer camps. Last Saturday, Miami held its final official scrimmage and Coach Diaz conveyed how big the scrimmage was in determining who the start would be. Williams apparently had the greatest impression.
“He is becoming more and more comfortable with the offense,” said Diaz. “I think Jarren also hit 20 miles per hour [running] this summer. Jarren is a better athlete than I think people give him credit for – all the reasons he was recruited to come here in the first place.”
Diaz mentioned after the first practice that he wants a mentally strong team going into the 2019 season. A mentally strong team begins with a strong leader at quarterback and apparently, Williams has emerged to be the leader of this Canes football team.
At times, character has been questioned with all three contenders but this year all three seemed to have a different focus.
After the regular season in 2018, rumors swirled around Williams reportedly transferring out of Miami. Williams sat behind Perry and Malik Rosier last year under the guidance and play-calling of former head coach Mark Richt. In a matter of days, Williams ended the speculation stating in a tweet “I’ll always choose my brothers,” electing to stay with the team.
Redshirt sophomore Tate Martell (5’11,” 205 pounds) seemed to transfer to Miami from Ohio State because Justin Fields (Harrison, Kennesaw, GA) transferred to the Buckeyes early this year. Martell played behind NFL talents Dwayne Haskins and JT Barrett for the last two years and was in the driver seat to start for the Buckeyes for the 2019 season. Until Fields came along. Fields was ranked as the number one dual-threat quarterback of the 2018 class and played sparingly at Georgia before eventually conceding the job to Jake Frohm (Houston County, Warner Robins, GA). All three, Martell, Fields and Frohm are featured in the Netflix series QB1.
According to a 247 Sports report, Martell left for other reasons. Travis Leach, Martell’s attorney that assisted with the appeal for the transfer, conveyed that the removal of Head Coach Urban Meyer from the program and a change in offensive philosophy were the contributing factors for Martell’s transfer.
Martell went 43-0 as a starter at Bishop Gorman High School in Nevada. He threw for 113 touchdowns and only nine interceptions in his entire high school career. He was the number two dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school behind only Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. He now joins his high school teammates in sophomore tight end Brevin Jordan and USC sophomore safety transfer Bubba Bolden. According to Diaz, in an interview on ESPN Martell has raised the level of play of the quarterback room.
“Tate Martell, in addition to what he can do on the field with his athleticism and his ability to make plays with his arm and his feet, we looked at Tate as a gym rat, he’s an excellent X’s and O’s guy, he’s a guy that loves the game and he’s always in his playbook. We thought he would help change the culture in our quarterback room. On January 1st we weren’t sure we had a quarterback on our campus we thought we had talented guys like N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams were very talented but we just felt like the room lacked the maturity level to really lead a program like the University of Miami.”
Williams feels his progression has vastly improved from the Spring.
“I think I’ve progressed a lot under Coach Enos,” said Williams. “Being able to go out there and get meaningful reps with the 1s and really get the speed of the game down and get chemistry together is so important. I feel like it’s night and day if you watched from the spring until now. I feel like I have gotten a lot better, but my goal is perfection and I am still striving for that.”
Redshirt sophomore N’kosi Perry (6’4,” 195 pounds) won the best QB award in the spring and has the obvious advantage of having the most game experience in a Hurricanes uniform. His lack of consistency last season left much to be desired. Reports of a sexually-explicit video surfaced on Perry’s personal Snapchat just before the Hurricanes bowl game last season, a video in which Perry flashes a wad of cash and reports of his lack of knowledge of the playbook put his character and leadership in question.
“I think he’s improving. I do,” said Diaz. “But I think he’s still learning. Quarterbacks don’t end up on lists and that’s just the way it should be. Quarterbacks should not be high-maintenance guys off the field. If anything, they should be the opposite. They should be the most low-maintenance part of your football team.”
Perry was recruited to Miami out of Vanguard (FL) as the seventh-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation in the 2017 class. Perry redshirted his first year and saw his first game action against FIU last season. Perry played in eleven games making six starts including a comeback victory over Florida State 28-27. He helped to score 13 touchdown passes to six interceptions.
Coach Diaz communicated before Saturday’s scrimmage that once they choose a starter he’s the starter and that’s who the team will look to as the leader.
“When we get a guy, we’re gonna get our guy and we’re going to go play with our guy. That doesn’t mean there’s still not a competition at every position. But you know, you got to have a guy, right? So, let’s get a guy. Let’s get behind our guy. And let’s go play with our guy.’’
The quarterback competition will continue for the backup position. The Miami Hurricanes will host Media Day tomorrow on the campus of the university.
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