So much has changed with this UM football program - the quality of the coaching staff, the degree of discipline, the way tackling is taught, the pain-staking attention paid to correcting every single mistake on the practice field.
Recruiting, in recent years, has never been at the level we’ve witnessed the past month, with a handful of commitments from elite prospects.
And here’s something that also must change, as WQAM Hurricanes radio analyst Don Bailey Jr. recently noted: “When you get to the point that you know that you can’t take a snap off or you may lose your job, that’s when you know Miami [is back]. That’s what they’re trying to create.”
Two recent former players said that in past years, UM players might skip practice, complaining about a minor injury, with absolutely no fear of losing their job or other consequences. As one player who played for Manny Diaz said, too much was allowed to slide, from minor team rules violations to committing penalties to missing tackles.
That player said he was disgusted at one point that Diaz would look the other way repeatedly about behavior that warranted discipline. The player nevertheless understood why Diaz was doing it, as a coach under immense pressure to win games.
We don’t think that’s going to happen, certainly not to that extent, under Mario Cristobal.
My educated theory is that the lack of discipline, the fact that Diaz let things slide, boiled down to one issue: Diaz wanted players - at least his best players - to like him, because he feared losing them - figuratively - or literally, to the transfer portal or the NFL.
I can understand that, but it also bred an environment where Jarren Williams felt it was fine to break curfew the night before the FIU loss without consequences, where players could sit out practice if they didn’t feel 100 percent, where players could repeatedly commit penalties without being benched.
Diaz determined there were some things he would need to overlook; the priority was keeping his best players and playing them, unless university policies (such as multiple failed drug tests) dictated discipline.
Cristobal has the job security to bench a top player (at least for part of a game) if he’s tardy or loafs at practice or commits repeated mental mistakes.
And because of his ability to recruit, it’s likely that at some point the talent gap between most of the Canes starters and backups will be closed, to the point that most starters will know their jobs might be at risk for sitting out practice simply because they’re not feeling 100 percent.
The construction of a roster where the backups are good enough to overtake the starters is already happening at multiple positions.
It’s happening at defensive end, where top transfers Akheem Mesidor (who can play end and tackle) and Mitchell Agude will be pushed by Jahfari Harvey and Chantz Williams and freshmen Nyjalik Kelly and Cyrus Moss.
It’s happening at running back, where any of five players (Henry Parrish, Don Chaney Jr., Jaylan Knighton, Thad Franklin and incoming TreVonte’ Citizen) could make the case to start.
It’s happening at cornerback, where the battle for the second and third slots (behind likely starter Tyrique Stevenson) will be fiercely competitive among DJ Ivey, Te’Cory Couch, Al Blades Jr., Marcus Clarke, Isaiah Dunson and West Virginia transfer Daryl Porter Jr.
The battle for the second tight end job (Elijah Arroyo/Jaleel Skinner) will be fascinating, dispelling the notion that a backup tight end battle can never be fascinating.
Competition is intense on the offensive line and at receiver, even though UM doesn’t have a Bryant McKinnie or Andre Johnson level talent at either position.
And competition will ratchet up even more next season, when a top-10 recruiting class joins the roster. UM on Wednesday received a commitment from arguably the best linebacker in the 2023 class, Orlando-based Malik Bryant.
Receiver Xavier Restrepo, speaking to WQAM’s Joe Zagacki, put it this way about what’s changed around here (beyond the discipline and mistakes being corrected): “We have a lot more competition periods. Guys are going at it on the field but it’s never fighting. [Ed] Reed, [Mike] Rumph tell us about competition...
“[And] we have players’ coaches. They put us first. I feel like we’re playing with a purpose.”
They might be players’ coaches, but the players are now operating with the understanding that undisciplined behavior and lack of preparation and team rules violations won’t be tolerated. And knowing that in many cases, there’s a player of comparable talent waiting to take your job if you do something that warrants losing it.
