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Miami is retooling for another shot at glory

The Hurricanes lost a lot of players from their national title team, but don't count them out.

By MICHAEL SNYDER
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 6, 2002

CORAL GABLES -- The Rose Bowl is in the past, so is the national championship.

That has been Miami coach Larry Coker's message to his players all spring. He'll get an opportunity to see if it has sunk in when the Hurricanes play in the their annual CanesFest Spring Game this morning at the Orange Bowl.

Many of the players who helped lead UM to a 12-0 season and its fifth national title since 1983 are gone, including tackles Bryant McKinnie and Joaquin Gonzalez, safety Ed Reed, tailback Clinton Portis, tight end Jeremy Shockey and cornerback Mike Rumph. Coker is replacing his entire secondary, as well as three offensive linemen and his starting backfield.

That has meant more pressure this spring, and more jobs up for grabs on a team that has lost one game in two seasons.

"We're fine-tuning some things and we're in pretty good shape for this time of year," Coker said. "But it's clear we have a lot of work to do when August comes."

One area of significant concern is tailback. Frank Gore tore his anterior cruciate ligament in practice March 19, and had surgery. Gore, who had 62 carries for 562 yards and five touchdowns last season as a freshman, will miss fall practice and his availability for the season, which begins Aug. 31 against Florida A&M at the Orange Bowl, is in question.

That means the competition between sophomore Willis McGahee and junior Jarrett Payton could be for the starting job instead of No. 2. Both began their careers at tailback and ended last season at fullback after a broken foot sidelined senior Najeh Davenport for the Rose Bowl.

McGahee has the inside track -- injuries allowed Gore to jump ahead of him a year ago -- and has been impressive at times this spring, especially during a recent scrimmage in which he showed great movement and vision in totaling 111 yards (56 coming on a spectacular TD run).

Kyle Cobia, a redshirt sophomore, is the front-runner for lead blocker at fullback.

Losing McKinnie, the Outland Trophy winner who did not allow a sack in his career, Gonzalez and guard Martin Bibla means players such as tackles Carlos Joseph (6-6, 316) and Vernon Carey (6-5, 346) will have to improve and be more consistent. Carey, in particular, must prove the critics, who have questioned his work ethic, wrong.

"I am doing fine learning the plays and trying to fill in a big position," said Joseph, who played on the defensive side of the ball but is penciled in as McKinnie's replacement. "Sometimes, I feel a lot of pressure. The coaches get on my back a lot, and I get nervous at times. But I just keep working at it because I have a reputation to uphold."

So does Miami's secondary. Al Marshall appears to be the next leader at cornerback, and Antrel Rolle and Sean Taylor have been solid at safety. But redshirt freshman Kelly Jennings has had the best spring of any DB and will start on the right side. He had three tackles, an interception, broke up two passes and had a sack in the last scrimmage.

The 'Canes expect a crowd of more than 15,000.

"That's the fun part of spring," quarterback Ken Dorsey said. "We're looking to have a good time, and go out and end spring on a good note."

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