What a difference! (with Lamar, Travis, Blake, Vaughn and Brandon M.)

It is becoming more evident every day that either the Hurricanes didn't work exceptionally hard last season, weren't exceptionally organized or efficient and weren't intricately taught --at least in the structured fashion they are being taught during practice now.

     I am very impressed with the meticulousness and organization of the Golden staff and how they are obviously translating that to actual teaching during these early spring practices.

     Sophomore running back Lamar Miller said UM's first practice was three hours long. "We're not used to that,'' he said. "Usually practices are like an hour and 30 [minutes]. But it's a lot of teaching periods so you get to rest during the teaching period.''

   What else is different between the last coaching staff's practices and the new one's? "The tempo,'' he said. "It's a lot faster.''

   More from Miller on the new staff: "I see a difference. Everybody sees a difference. They're changing the attitudes around here and that should help us out a lot.''

   When the depth chart came out, how 'pissed off' were some guys? Miller was asked.

    "Well, some guys were really pissed,'' Miller said. "But it depends on how you worked in the offseason. Now guys get the idea of what they've got to do in the summer.''

    Miller, who is listed third on the depth chart behind Mike James and Storm Johnson, said he wasn't upset at his placement. The reason: He had been working out with the track team when the new conditioning program was implemented.

     "I was expecting that because I was really doing track and them guys have been out here working hard, so now in the spring and summer I have to come out and work harder than everybody else and make my teammates better.''

    Miller said it was "very tough" balancing football and track, but that "it helps keep you in shape and helps with your turnover while you're running.''

 TRAVIS BENJAMIN

> Senior wide receiver Travis Benjamin has either shrunk (we think not) or been measured correctly for this season. The new depth chart/roster has him listed as 5-10, as opposed to last season's 5-11 in the media guIde. Benjamin, who said he has gained six pounds since last year, was asked how coaches told him he would be used this season.

    "They haven't really gotten into details just yet,'' he said. "But I know that I'm going to develop in any kind of way -- even at slot receiver, outside receiver, lined up close to the line, anything.''

    How does he feel about being listed as the No. 1 guy on punt- and kickoff returns? "I like to do anything to put us in the best field position and score points. Special teams is like a free play you get to score touchdowns.''

BLAKE AYLES HAS ONE MORE SHOT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

   > Talked with new tight end Blake Ayles -- a national phenom coming out of Orange Lutheran High in 2008 -- for the first time, and he seems pretty personable and frank. He said he didn't get along that well with USC coach Lane Kiffin, and Miami had always been his second choice. He said he really likes this coaching staff and his teammates. Now, all he has to do is catch some passes and do some heavy-duty blocking. At 6-5 and 265 pounds, he is a definite physical force. His three seasons at USC were not impressive, but he spent a lot of time injured. Last year he had one catch.

       New UM tight ends coach Brennan Carroll, who coached Ayles at USC, said Ayles originally contacted him by Facebook and wished his son Dillon (he's 2) happy birthday and congratulated him on the soon-to-be birth of his first daughter (she's due on St. Patrick's Day). Then Ayles contacted Carroll about transferring.   

VAUGHN TELEMAQUE PROUD OF BLACK JERSEY

> Safety Vaughn Telemaque, the hip Southern Californian who uses his skateboard for transportation, had no turnovers in 2008 and 2009, but ended up with a team-leading three interceptions (tied with Ray-Ray Armstrong and Ryan Hill), three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and four pass breakups to go along with his 58 tackles.

   Telemaque is elated to be wearing the black jersey that coach Al Golden has awarded to first-team defenders. "You can take pride in wearing these black jerseys,'' he told me. "You want to keep it going and show all your teammates around you that you're working hard and you're getting rewarded for working hard and doing the right things.

    "The coaching staff is great, man. They have their philosophy and that's what they feed to us and we just have to eat it up and take it in stride, man. You really buy into this group of people they have around us.''

    Telemaque called the UTough conditioning program "fun'' and challenging. "You definitely had to answer the call,'' he said.

    Telemaque believes converted safety-to-cornerback JoJo Nicolas will be a success story and brings "a more physical presence,'especially at the spot he's playing in the boundary. A boundary corner technically helps with run support a lot,'' and Nicolas' experience at safety should only help in that area.'' 

BRANDON MCGEE ON UTOUGH: "IT MAKES A MAN OUT OF YOU.''

> Junior cornerback Brandon McGee is on the track team along with Benjamin and Lamar Miller. He is listed second on the depth chart behind freshman Thomas Finnie.

   Here's McGee's take on the UTough program: "It works. It does what it's supposed to do. It makes a man out of you and brings the best out of you. When Coach Golden first introduced it we were at track and so I didn't know anything about it. Then all the guy were like, 'Yeah, when you all come back you all gotta see what it's like.' We came back ready to work and we were excited.''

-- SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

P.S. Next practice is Thursday afternoon. UM Pro Timing Day is Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[dbc]

This is great stuff! You can see the culture of the program changing. The players seem to be responding to the new coaches. I believe Coach Golden and staff will get the utmost out of the team. With their talent level, they will be a force sooner than later.

Keep it going into and through the upcoming season! A Miami team that is conditioned, embracing of positive attitude and fierce on the field will go a long way. And the fans will come out. It's gonna be good, my friends! Go Canes!

[Koeniggsegg CCX]

Great article. Nothing but the truth about the last 4 yrs or so.
We're returning to the conditioning that made this UM program great. Always with a chip on the shoulders. Always a Us vs the world attitude/

The U will be back. You can believe that and take it to the buh ank baybay!

[Dizzle]

Canes, we love and support you guys. Keep working and make us proud!

[miami maestro]

play-on playas

[FZB]

People, We finally have a coach..can't wait for the season to get going.

[David - Canes]

I am very pleased to see these types of articles, but why did Shannon get the extension if he was so bad?

I just hope we are not buying the hype and being set up for another dissapointing season.

[Championships is all that matters]

The reason he got an extension was due to the fact that the win totals had increased each year under him. They had to give him an extension, just glad they didn't give him one that would have killed us financially. It's kinda hard to fire a guy who does that and is a U M alum even though we all knew he was crap as a Head Coach. Just be glad we got a real coach now and I can't wait for the season to begin. And think about it as bad as we were under SHannon's direction, we only got blown out once by FSU. This is going to be the beginning of the next Cane Reign.

[Tampa Cane]

Better organization, teaching, better coaching, better preparation and better recruiting equals better results on the field. Its gonna be so great up in Joe Robby cheering and drinking to a ass busting and winning Canes.

[Oakland Park Cane]

Thanks Susan for the insight from the various players. You have to love the culture of competition and unity Coach Golden is building.

[tallycane]

David canes is right. with any new regime what are the players supposed to say that this new coach is softer than the last.lol. I'm extremely happy kehoe is back and that has to be the difference. if our oline dominates and we run the ball more effectively everything will fall in place.

[Mubarak]

NativeCane, you have amply demonstrated that you are the biggest coward on all of these blogs. You hide behind a list of names.

Gatard trash heap
canesrule 21 'ships

CANES FAN
Sean Wilson

Do all of your friends at Canespace understand what a disturbed guy you are? Do you try to hang out with spacers and appear normal?

You spend half of your life posting as "CANES FAN" promising to clean up the internet and bring evil Gators to justice. U are an epic clown.

[Fred]

All sounds good. C N sept.

[DNix]

Real good info! The players are 'buying in' which is good to see. There is no leadership without 'followship'. I just cant see us going 7-6 next year. Quite a few 'revenge' games on tap for next year. If pracitces are tougher than the games we will be in great shape. 1.5 hour practices under old regime????? WHAT????? Unbelievable. Let's see what happens when the 'real lights' are turned on.

[The Curse of Art Kehoe]

Sean Wilson is a piece of garbage.

[Eudocimus]

"Sean Wilson" - "Your school sucks! Your players suck! Your coach comes from Temple! You have no AD! Riiiight?!

Idiot Canes fans and also "Sean Wilson" answering himself - "Gatard trash! Piggy curse piggy! Virgin! Wall Mart security!

There, does that take care of it for y'all? Can we skip it this one time?

[Eudocimus]

Good to get Nicolas on the field with Ray Ray and Telemarketer but he's definitely better suited as a safety than a corner.

[DC Cane]

I am so glad that the "Bubonic Plague", known as Randy Shannon is gone... That man was the worst coach in the the program's history!!

Keep it up Golden. Do not let us down. We have been craving success for almost a decade now.

[Canesfan]

Nice article glad to hear it from the players for a change i guess change is good lets go canes

[Championships is all that matters]

Great job and thanks for the info Susan.

[johnny]

wow, its nice to see that the players are allowed to talk to the media.

[dbc]

All these positive posts are great! It's catchy! Go Canes!

[Championships is all that matters]

dbc, it seems refreshing to have something to look forward to after the last 7 years of misery. We are headed back to the top where we belong. Man I haven't been this excited about an upcoming season since the start of the 2000 season.

[cawyst]

I love seeing that our boys are tough on the field, responding to the challenge, going to class, and are a pretty nice bunch! I am so proud to be a Cane. I cannot wait until we show up on the field and silence the haters next season. We are the only ones who will NOT be surprised when the Canes dominate on the field. I cannot wait.

[239CANE]

ONLY 1 THING IS LEFT TO DO, AND THATS SSEE ALL THE TALK COME TO REALITY. READY TO C WHAT HAPPENS THIS SEASON BECAUSE I HAVE MY SEASON TICS AND WORKING ON THE CANES Vs fsu TICS. I HOPE WE STR8 SMASH THE GAYTURDS IN UOR NEXT GAME AGAINST THEM. THESE GUYS MAKE GAYTURDS LOOK EVEN WORSE THAN THEY REALLY ARE. GET A LIFE AND GET OFF OUR SITE.

[miggs]

Good stuff. Go Canes.

[EK]

The problem was coaching. As much as Shannon wanted to be part of Jimmy Johnson's pupil he was actually Larry Coker's pupil. Coker did not know squat about tempo so when Shannon took over the program there was an improvement in how they were practicing but not enough.

Coker was also known for not developing his players and so was Shannon.

Golden on the other hand is one of Joe Pa's pupil. I am starting to finally believe that Golden was the key to Miami's next national championship. He put together a great defensive staff and the offense shouldn't be to bad either. He was also smart enough to pick up our lucky charm Coach Kehoe.

[Gtr this]

Hey you all:

We here get into some heated arguments with Gator fans and there is a lot of hatred.

But listen to this story:

I'm driving down the street minding my own business, on my way to work, when alongside me a red pickup truck with a big "O" for Ohio State sticker on the back window, then I look down and the danged j--k off's license plate reads: "UM H8TER".

I chased the dude down in my green car thats decked with "[]_[]s" and wrongly started stuff with the guy.

My point is, The real hate should go to "THE" Ohio state Suckeyes. Those smug, obnoxious pasty, needy, wish they were us landlocked p-o-s es who are now scrambling to sweep The weeniee sweater vest's transgressions under the rug...again!

Sc-ew you all suckeye fans. Your 2002 NC is tainted and so is your 2010 season. Prepare for a beatdown in the fall.

[Canesrule '21 ships]

"Shoot"
- Brandon Merriweather

[Feral Cat]

Good Luck Endo,

I do hope things go your way. And it was a great summary of the daily rehash.

But if they don't, remember that not everyone responding is doing so to pish you off.

Very happy for Willis, his career has been better than most, and showed heart coming back from that illegal spearing hit.

EK, great point. Jo Pa is what, 90? and he has more energy come out of his team than Shannon did.

[Cane4Life]

Gtr this,
You are right on your dislike for OSU fans. They are smug and arrogant, but don't get bent out of shape over the guys UM H8TER license plate. I believe 99.9% that the UM on the plate is not for University of Miami, but for University of Michigan. See those two schools have a very heated rivalry that goes back decades. We just played them in one controversial game (granted we were robbed and it was for the BCS championship), they have almost, if not more, than a century of games against Michigan. So I while most OSU fans dislike Miami, they absolutely HATE Michigan. As for the Gators I would rather lose to OSU the next 5 times we play them , than to lose to the Gators in 2013. They are the most smug and arrogant team and fans around. If you ask any other teams in the SEC or FSU fans (teams that play them yearly, which they are scared to do with Miami)who has the most arrogant fans, they will all say Florida. They are the true enemy, no one else.

[jra]

This all sounds great but lets hope it does cross over to the playing field in 2011. Cause the last vision I have of the "U" is them quitting in the Sun Bowl. I thought they would play hard after the firing of Shannon and the tragic death of M. James mother. But they didn't and that worries me going into 2011. May take more than one full season to toughen this team up.

[slimy crock lawyer]

http://www.nesn.com/2011/03/lawyer-john-morgan-i-have-a-lot-of-doubt-that-brandon-meriweather-was-shooter.html

Looks like the gaytor ambulance chaser is starting to back track. Don't you think if an NFL player shot someone in the head two weeks ago you would of heard about it before now?

[3G Cane]

I like this coaching staff more and more everyday and its seems that the players do as well. They recognize the UTough love is only going to make them better in life as well as on the field. Our opponents next season are going to be in for a big surprise if they pencil us in as a win and expect to see the same undisciplined, unmotivated team. Can't wait to go to the scrimmages and see the renewed sense of excitement for myself.

[]_[] GO CANES []_[]

[miamicanes]

Can't wait for the U season to start

[J CORN]

i love the canes ,it was killing me to watch them make the same mistakes week in and week out ,
the level of play was poor to say the least .
i also feel that we got out coached on a weekly basis (vir.) .i love coach randy, but thats what i was seeing . change had to be made .
i bet you this that there will be no half stepp'en this year by anybody ! go canes !

[EK]

The UTough program reminds me of the Junction Boys.

The only difference between PSU and Miami is the type of atheletes that each school can recruit. With Golden coming from Pennsylvania he should be able to get the same recruits his mentor JOE PA got plus the Florida boys.

It's on the tip of my tongue to say this might have been the best hire since Butch Davis but I can't until I only see nothing but Ws and at least a conference title.

[ROBINSONCANE]

WHEN SHANNON FINISH HIS FIRST SEASON, ALL OF YOU GUYS WAS SAYING THE SAME THING UR SAYING ABOUT GOLDEN NOW!! THE FACT IS THAT SHANNON WASNT THE BEST OF COACHES BUT HOW DO U KNOW THAT GOLDEN WILL BE. ATLEAST THE PLAYERS DID MATTER WITH SHANNON BECAUSE THE PLAYERS GRADES AND BEHAVIOR GOT BETTER, BUT SOME OF YOU GUYS JUST CARE ABOUT WINNING AND WOULDNT GIVE A DAMN IF ANY PLAYER ON DIS TEAM GROW UP AS A LOSER AND DONT GRADUATE! CANES FAN WHERE ARE YOUR VALUES, OH I FORGOT THERE IS NONE ONLY WINNING

[dbc]

Championships is all that matters:
Always enjoy your posts. Yes, it's great to feel some positive energy coming out of the program. I don't think that these coaches will settle for less than full out effort. True, we shall see when the Canes take the field. For now, the dreariness of the last several years is gone, and it's great!
Go Canes!

[202canefan]

I wonder why this year more NFL people attended Miami's pro day? I guess because Al is such a swell guy. Enjoy the Randy bashing fellas.. lol

[Smigiegel]

The funny thing is Shannon started out the same way... I don't get why Shannon regressed; but i guess that why he does'nt have a job anymore.

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Posted by: Eudocimus

Golden was hired because he was our fourth or fifth choice - not academics. Everyone else passed.

That being said. I am fired up!! We should win our 6th NC this year then apply to go to the SEsleazy and run rough shod over the whole damn conference. I don't see one team in the SEsleazy that UM should be scared of. We should beat them in basketball too.

Go 'cane!

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Posted by: 202canefan

UM pro day will take about 15 minutes. They are all here because they can also attend the Doral Open and go to the Heat game tonight.

[The Curse of Art Kehoe]

Nice comment by the bitter Pig posting as Canesrule. You are so transparent, Pig (which is an amazing feat considering the porty slob you are.)

Your stench, however, gives you away every time.

Time off from Costco security?

[850cane]

I'd rather lose to FSU during the regular season than to lose to UF anytime during my lifetime.

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Posted by: The Curse of Art Kehoe

Really? If someone disagrees with you - they are the pig huh?

Everything I said is true.

Go 'canes!

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Damn. I would say Virginia is our main rival now...bye bye b-ball

[The Curse of Art Kehoe]

Posted by Canesrule:

Well, can you point to anything in this post of yours based at all on fact (other than you are "fired up")or anything that you have seen for the last 5 years:

"That being said. I am fired up!! We should win our 6th NC this year then apply to go to the SEsleazy and run rough shod over the whole damn conference. I don't see one team in the SEsleazy that UM should be scared of. We should beat them in basketball too.

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Posted by: The Curse of Art Kehoe

Why are you such s downer, bro? BOoo let's not be fired up about our team.

Let's be the blog bounty hunter and capture fakes arse bloggers.

#loser

[Gtr this]

what is this talk about Brandon Merriweather?

[Canesrule '21 ships]

Eat that Virgina. That's for the 48-0 dismantling of the orange bowl and the loss this year.