CHEEZ-IT BOWL: OKLAHOMA STATE VS MIAMI

December 27, 2020

Rhett Lashlee

Camping World Stadium

Miami Hurricanes

Q. We know Cam Harris is weighing out some options. He Tweeted that he's going to make a decision coming up soon. What kind of conversations have you had with him about as junior running back, the pros and cons, if you want to leave early, as a running back, is it kind of best even if you're not such a high-end draft choice, just to go because of that shelf life and you don't want to be too old when you get to the NFL? What have you weighed out with him?

RHETT LASHLEE: We've treated Cam like we have everybody else. At the end of the day we all want them to know we want them back if this is where they want to be. At the same time we want what's best for each player. I think Coach Diaz has made that clear. Gathers the information that we can get from the NFL and gives that information to our guys.

Every situation is different and every kid is different. I don't think just because you're a running back you should say you should go. You should go when it's the right time for you to go and every kid, that will be different.

Cam is no different. We want what's best for Cam and if it's a go, and this is the best time and the best opportunity for him, we'll fully support him and if he chooses to come back, we'll fully support that, as well.

Q. When you look at the Oklahoma State defense, they are going to have a few cogs missing, Williams at corner, but do you anticipate seeing what you've seen from them all season, a lot of man coverage and the way they played most of the season or do you expect them to change that up with you?

RHETT LASHLEE: That's a great question. Absolutely. You don't become a really good defense like they have been this year and then just all of the sudden change who you are. They are just like us. They have got some guys they have had all year that won't be playing. It's just the nature of 2020. You get to Bowl games and certain guys have opportunities and they choose to opt out or maybe certain guys get injured.

You know, both -- I know the Oklahoma State staff and our staff, we are going to coach the guys the best we can. You don't play ten games and hold five teams under 20 points and be Top-10 in the country in negative plays and sacks and No. 3 in third down defense, which is a staggering number of 26 percent, and then all of the sudden do something different.

I'm sure like anybody else, they have game plan for us and have wrinkles and things they try to do to stop us. But that's the same thing as every week. But who they are is they do play a lot of tight coverage. They are really aggressive. They try to, you know, make you earn everything and I think that's why they have been really successful all year defensively.

Q. Curious if you can review the seasons of the running backs with Don and Jalen, the freshmen, how their year went; and the four freshmen receivers, we saw them at times throughout the year but your thoughts on the development of that group of guys, if there's anything that you saw in particular with that?

RHETT LASHLEE: We feel really good about all our freshmen and I think sometimes unrealistic expectations are put on freshmen. Sometimes when you have a bad game, everybody screams for the freshmen and that's not really fair for the freshmen or the older guys to be honest with you. We think they all have bright futures and Don and Jalen are going to be really good running backs here. They have already done a lot of really good things.

I think for Jalen there were some up and down moments and obviously the injury late in the year slowed him down. I think Don, same thing, had a couple minor injuries throughout the year. Had some personal things going. Nothing bad, just things that make it hard for any freshman much less in the environment this year's been played. But they pushed through and they both have done some really good things and we think their future is bright.

Freshmen receivers, same thing. Whether it be being unavailable for certain games due to just the pandemic we are in, whether it be the fact that, you know, three or four games in, we kind of had the older guys step up and just at the end of the day they were the guys playing the best. That's just the truth.

And so you know, we want to play more guys down in the future, I think we'll be able to. I think we'll be able to grow and develop our depth, but we feel really good about guys like Xavier Restrepo and Keyshawn Smith and Mike Redding and some of those freshmen, too, at the receiver position.

It's just I think they are still true freshmen, and plus you factor in it's a pandemic, it wasn't a normal off-season. Guys that came in mid-year didn't have a normal spring practice. I just don't think it's been an unusual year for most of those guys at all. Most of the time, freshmen don't have a major impact, but they have provided depth at times and made plays, and I think you'll see them get better in the future.

Q. Just want to ask you an open-ended question about Mike Harley and what's impressed you most about him this season?

RHETT LASHLEE: I think the thing from Mike, I just think Mike is really just -- it's weird to say grown up for an older guy but just really grown up and matured. Not only from when we first got here in the spring, but even just from game one till now, he's really taken on the leadership role in that room. I don't mean by catches, but by being the leader and holding the guys accountable and being that vocal guy that keeps those younger guys we just were talking about kind of in line when maybe sometimes you hit that freshman wall or you can lose focus and really holds himself to a high standard. Holds the older guys like Pope to a high standard, too.

It's helped Coach Likens in that process of creating a culture of accountability in that room. We're not where we want to be there or anywhere in offense to be honest with you. But when you look at where our receivers were game one to where they have come at the end of the year, Mike, how he's grown and developed in his leadership, both by example and vocally and keeping guys accountable and trying to hold them to a higher standard than maybe they have tried to hold themselves too before.

I think that's the big thing I've seen Mike take a big step. Because of that, I don't think there's any shock that there's a correlation to the second half of the season he's really elevated his level of play.

Q. Curious how you felt about the future at offensive tackle.

RHETT LASHLEE: Great question. I definitely think we'll improve our depth. Having a lot of the guys currently on the roster back next year is big. But also having guys like McLaughlin and Walker and some other young guys come in, I think is big.

You know, you would always like to play guys if you can at right and left, not because -- some guys are better on one side are the other but if you can pick, it doesn't matter, one side for Walker, one side for McLaughlin, etc., to let them rep over and over again.

Setting on the right side for one, two, three, four years, you get better, as opposed to having to flip flop back and forth. Sometimes you have to out of necessity and some guys can do it better than others but you would certainly like them to hone in on one side and try to really develop their craft. Not as much because one side is the blind side like people think, left and right, playing one side is good.

Rivers is to me, he can play tackle but he can also play guard. To me, he's kind of also -- he's long enough and athletic enough to play tackle and big enough and strong enough and smart enough to play inside. So I don't know where Jalen will end up next year, but I do think he's got a great chance to be a big factor for us. We really think his future is bright, whether it's outside at tackle or inside.

And you asked about Zion, I mean, I think Zion has really cemented himself as a really good football player this year. Probably a combination of being thrown in the fire too early last year, taking a lot of his lumps, but he learned a lot from it and didn't lose confidence. Really developed and change his body over the off-season. Went from playing way too light in the 260s to over 300. He's really athletic and has really good football instincts. He's been a guy since the Florida State game this year has really raised his level and been our most consistent performer up front. Having a guy like that next year is big for us to hopefully show guys the right way to do things.

Q. About Mike Harley, I know you talked about him, how much would it help if D'Eriq King, I know those guys are close, how much would it help if he returned for one more season, how much could it help the team and how much could it help him?

RHETT LASHLEE: I think it could help a lot. Like I said, he has to assess all the information and what's best for him. Coach Diaz is doing a good job with all our guys, but obviously would help us. There's continuity. He's started to show some leadership and accountability in that room at a level that -- we have got three young freshmen receivers coming in that we think are going to be really good football players.

Got three guys that are freshmen this year, and the longer they can be around veteran guys who start to understand how to practice, how to prepare, how to carry themselves every day like a professional and just have that maturity, I think is big.

I think you look at a guy like Mike, I don't know the exact numbers but he's got to be -- being an older guy, he's got to be closing in on some all-time potential records here at a school like this, and to be able to do that personally would probably be a big deal and you never know how that enhances your stock and your opportunity to go to the next level.

I think consistency is probably something that doesn't get talked about enough and NFL teams, they are going to look for consistency. In other words one guy can go have one great year, but guys that do it one, two, three years, even sometimes four years in a row. But if you can stack multiple, productive years together, that shows a trend.

And if you're drafting kids and you can have one guy that's had this one phenomenal year but you have another guy that has had two, three, really good, consistent years back to back, that consistency of performance isn't usually by accident.

And so to me, a guy like Mike, if he wanted to come back and have a another good year, there's a lot of positives that can come from that. But ultimately he'll make the decision that's best for him and we'll support him either way.

Q. About Perry, in light of D'Eriq returning, how do you feel that affects his future and have you talked about at all?

RHETT LASHLEE: We have. I've talked about it with all my guys as most of the coaches have.

N'Kosi, first of all, he loves the University of Miami. I think he's set to graduate end of the spring this year. For him graduating from here to be a big deal, be a big deal for his family and him personally.

Also, I know the way this year's gone, N'Kosi's a junior that would be going into his final season but now with just this season, he's actually got two years of eligibility left. That's just something we just decided we were going to finish the season through Tuesday. He's preparing like by the second play of the game he's got to go in.

And after Tuesday, we'll talk, and one thing N'Kosi's made clear is he loves the University of Miami. He wants to be here. He also wants to play and he should. You know, I know Coach Diaz and I both want what's best for him.

Like a lot of these conversations, I know it's not a stall deal to say "after the game". I think it's simply guys want to focus on playing the game, and once the game is over, they feel the season is finally over and they have enough time to maybe take in all the information and options and whatever that is, again, for N'Kosi, we'll support him, because we want what's best for him. He's done nothing but represent the University of Miami with a lot of class since he's been here, including this season.

Q. In the league we cover the Big 12 and we have a lot of dual-threat quarterbacks. Most of them are protected. They don't run as many designed runs. Looking at your offense and getting ready for this, you do run D'Eriq a lot of designed runs. Talk about his toughness, because he hasn't missed a beat. He's not only a good quarterback, he's a tough runner.

RHETT LASHLEE: He's real tough. He's real durable. He played against Oklahoma two years ago the first game of the year when he was at Houston. I think had some success running on those guys and showed some toughness like you're talking about in that game. He's done that all year this year.

You know, D'Eriq is a unique player because he's going to kind of get his runs and carry, sometimes without you having to call design runs, where he scrambles or pulls his own read. Maybe later in the year, we had more designed runs than earlier in the year, for the same reason as you said, even if he is a durable, tough kid, he's your quarterback.

I would say more than half his carries this year have not been designed runs. Either the read lets him pull the football or he makes it happen on his own but he does give that you ability, one, because he's really good at it and two, to your point, he's a thick, tough kid and if you ask him -- you know, sometimes quarterbacks you ask them and they are kind of hesitant. And he's like, "Let's do whatever we've got to do to win." I think that toughness has been contagious with his teammates, too.

Q. I know you started talking about the recruiting last yesterday. Wanted to ask you about Elijah, put up big numbers as a receiver in high school. Any qualities he has similar to Brevin? And the skill set for Brantley and Larry Hodges, what you envision for him moving into year three next year?

RHETT LASHLEE: Great question, Elijah is a kid that I've got a relationship when I was at SMU in Dallas. He actually went to high school just north of SMU, and so had a chance to -- and I actually knew his coaches very well and actually was in recruiting area at SMU, and that was all coincidence to the fact that he grew up in Pinecrest. I think he's got family that lives in Kendall. So he, kind of always growing up being a big Miami fan. On top of it, we had a relationship. We had had success with a tight end at SMU, Kylen Granson, who is going to the Senior Bowl this year; and then coming here knowing about Brevin and Will and those guys, ended up being a fit.

We are really excited about him because I do think to your question, he's your long, he's 6-4, athletic, he plays like a receiver in a tight end's body in a lot of ways like Brevin does, and he's going to be a true freshman.

But he's that style of player which is big for us, and then Brantley is very versatile. Obviously used to winning championships at Miami Northwestern. Reverse is a till, too. Cal little is probably thicker, not as long but he can play in the backfield as well.

Larry Hodges is a guy that I think he's going to have a big off-season. In Bowl practice this last couple weeks, he's really kind of -- having guys like Brevin and Will, I don't want to say he's in their shadow. You just don't get the opportunities; you've got veteran guys.

And what we've seen is he's got the ability to really catch the football at a high level. He's very athletic. Was a very athletic, versatile player in high school and if he could have a really good off-season in the weight room, put on some weight, get a little stronger, his ball skills are definitely there to really help us next year and kind of for him maybe make a big jump and earn a lot of playing time for us.