It’s on: 2016 University of Miami preseason football camp has begun. The guys were running hard and running all the time – during drills, after drills, before drills. Running. This team is high-tempo, all right.
Notes from the first hour we watched. We still haven’t talked to Mark Richt yet.
*** Quarterback Brad Kaaya was waaay down the field all day, some of it working with true freshman Jack Allison. Redshirt freshman Evan Shirreffs worked as the No. 2 guy in the hour we watched, with Vincent Testaverde and Malik Rosier behind him.
*** Saw the son of Pro Hall of Fame receiver and Miami great Michael Irvin’s son – tight end Michael Irvin II — looking mighty good with an extremely impressive, one-handed grab as he was falling to the ground. And guess what happened then? One of UM’s assistants yelled that the route he ran was [expletive]. He was being covered by strong-side linebacker Jermaine Grace. Irvin looks strong.
***Saw freshman receiver Sam Bruce playing in the slot. Saw fellow fellow freshman Ahmmon Richards lining up at the same time as transfer Dayall Harris. Saw senior Malcolm Lewis on the field making plays with junior Braxton Berrios.
*** It was good to see linebacker Darrion Owens back after tearing the ACL of his right knee at FAU in the second week of the 2015 season. He is a much-needed addition to that position group. In 2014, Owens played in 12 games, with no starts, and tallied 23 tackles and a pass breakup. He is from the same high school as first-team middle linebacker Shaquille Quarterman, who has done everything right since he arrived at UM in the spring.
*** Junior linebacker Juwon Young, listed as 6-2 and 248 pounds in the media guide, is no longer on the Roster. Young was behind freshman Michael Pinckney at weak-side. I hear he’s back in his home state of Georgia. He’s not expected back at Miami, as he was suspended indefinitely surrounding the rental-car situation in which other Canes, including defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and strong-side starting linebacker Jermaine Grace, are allegedly involved. Young, like Muhammad and Grace, was a substantial talent. He finished 2015 with 47 tackles in 10 games, with four starts, adding three tackles for loss and an interception.
*** Kicker Diego Marquez is a new name on the roster, and he wears No. 98. He is a 6-1, 200-pound redshirt freshman from Loma Linda, Calif.
*** On the sidelines still recuperating from earlier injuries were defensive end Scott Patchan and fullback Gage Batten.
*** And the guy who made all of us do double-takes and elicited “oohs” and “ahhs” was new fullback Marquez Williams. He’s listed as 6-1, 280 and he can motor. He caught one from Shirreffs and zoomed down the field like a locomotive run wild.
SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN