After the Miami Hurricanes’ disappointing 2-3 start, coach Manny Diaz noticed that dissension and friction had trickled into the team’s locker room, with some veteran players losing playing time to younger players.
“There were some sit-down, one-on-ones saying, ‘Look, if you’re not happy with your role now, if you don’t raise your level of play, it’s going to get worse and we’re going to have to move on,'” Diaz said. “I think some guys saw some hard truths. It was a week where they had to grind through too much stuff where if your heart wasn’t into it, you’d probably find your way out. To that point, I’m proud of the way the guys persevered.”
So following a “you’re-in-or-you’re-out week” in which Diaz and his staff used the team’s bye to “make them do a lot of things they didn’t like doing, to see whether they’d persevere through it,” it appears some veteran players may not return to the program.
“In terms of the older guys, some of those guys are still to be determined,” Diaz said Tuesday. “Certainly, a storyline of this team has been with the expanded roster and all the questions you’d ask earlier in the year about the young guys getting more reps.
“Without commenting on anybody in particular, when older guys, some of whom have even started have had their roles changed, that’s hard. Some guys accept that, some guys don’t. That can create division in your locker room. That’s a real thing we’ve had to deal with. Coming off the bye week, I think we’re in a better place now. I think guys have accepted their roles a little bit better. That’s where it is going forward.”
Some older guys who weren’t seen by reporters during the portion of Tuesday’s practice that was open to the media were receivers Mark Pope and Dee Wiggins, both of whom are fourth-year juniors out of Miami Southridge.
Pope and Wiggins didn’t play in Miami’s most recent game against Virginia on Sept. 30 and have had their roles reduced significantly after being starters in 2020.
Pope, who had been practicing with the defensive backs in recent weeks and got playing time at the position against Central Connecticut State on Sept. 25, hasn’t caught a pass in the two games he’s played in this season, while Wiggins has four catches for 25 yards.
Diaz didn’t directly address either of their statuses and both were listed on Miami’s online roster as of Tuesday afternoon.
When asked if any players have mentioned wanting to enter the transfer portal or redshirt this season, Diaz said there are multiple options being mulled over without mentioning specific players.
“There are some individual cases that are ongoing right now that I’m not going to comment on,” he added. “There are some that will be back. There are some that probably won’t.”
Starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who transferred from Georgia during the spring after two years with the Bulldogs, emphasized the importance of players keeping a level head as they prepare for their matchup against North Carolina on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“This is a family, this is a brotherhood. If we let us [or] the outside come between us, we’re ruined,” Stevenson said. “Things are not going to go the way we want to if we’re all divided. We all came together as a team and we let everybody speak their piece so everybody understands where everybody’s coming from.
“It’s just football, and football comes with the emotions and the anger behind some players not getting what they want. We just made sure that we keep all that to a minimum and remind everybody this is a family. We need everybody.”
Missing from practice
When asked about the status of third-year linebacker Sam Brooks, second-year running back Cody Brown and true freshman tight end Khalil Brantley — all of whom weren’t seen by reporters during Tuesday’s practice, in addition to Pope and Wiggins — Diaz mentioned that “over 10? guys didn’t practice Wednesday.
“The young guys are ill,” Diaz said. “I guess on campus, there’s some virus that’s been running through the dorms and we’ve actually been dealing with that all week. It’s not coronavirus related. Hopefully, it won’t affect anybody for Saturday.”
