Two Tickets To Paradise

On one field, Michael Irvin and Lamar Thomas demonstrated how to run routes. On another, Joaquin Gonzalez and Brett Romberg led offensive linemen through drills. Clearly, these current and former UM players were in paradise.

And at one point in the evening, as young football players milled about, Calais Campbell pulled Greg Rousseau to the side and showed him some of the moves that helped him earn the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Soon after, Jaelan Phillips joined the conversation.

On Saturday night, nearly two dozen former Hurricanes football stars returned to the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility and the Greentree Practice Fields to participate in one of the more well-known events hosted by the Miami program: Paradise Camp.

For many of them, whether they are an NFL Hall of Famer or a alum still playing in the league, the opportunity to be part of Paradise Camp was a no-brainer, their chance to give back to the program they believe changed their lives.

“You come to The U and you’ll always have support. It’s a deep thing. You will always have support,” Irvin said. “All of us showing up all the time, it’s important to show whatever kid is thinking about coming here…we want them to know, right here, buddy, you will always have that support and I think that’s very important…It’s not like a family. We are a family.”

Added Gonzalez, “Any excuse to come back to Coral Gables, even though I live in Miami, is always welcome. It’s always awesome. To do it under these circumstances, such a beautiful backdrop, all about football and talk to the younger generations, to me, I thoroughly enjoy it, maybe more than the kids do. It’s an opportunity.”

Irvin, the Hall of Fame receiver who has been at several past Paradise Camps, helped kick off the evening’s festivities by addressing a large crowd that included approximately 300 campers, their families and high school coaches.

Behind him, Miami head coach Manny Diaz smiled and an awe-inspiring group of Hurricanes nodded along as Irvin spoke. Among them were Edgerrin James, Lamar Thomas, David Njoku, Calais Campbell, Trent Harris, Ufomba Kamalu, Jon Beason, Sean Spence, Antrel Rolle, Duane Starks, Deon Bush, Kenny Phillips, Sheldrick Redwine, Brian Monroe, Javarris James, Lamar Miller and K.J. Osborn.

Also there were the three newest members of the Hurricanes’ NFL fraternity, Jaelan Phillips and Greg Rousseau, who were both first-round picks in this year’s draft and kicker Jose Borregales, who signed a free agent contract with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While past Paradise Camp events have primarily featured Miami greats who have already completed their careers, Diaz felt it was important to make sure Hurricanes currently still playing in the NFL could share their perspective with the campers in attendance.

“It’s really neat. It’s fun to have them share the stories of their first minicamps and things like that,” Diaz said. “The alumni that were here in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s are awesome. But I do think it’s important that our recent alumni feel that you don’t have to be 20 years removed to have the pride of the program. To see guys like K.J. Osborn, [Sheldrick] Redwine, Trent Harris here…the more we can do that, the better we all are.”

Comments

[AeroCane]

Love it!
Just wish ray Lewis was there to help with LB recruiting!

[HerbieIbis]

Unless something changes with Tolan and Jackson, it could be a while before we see a LB commit. Bisainthe will probably wait till the early signing period.

[Terrance Sullivan]

Yeah Daddio!

[Sarasota 'cane]

RIP Corries Hardy. 1991 UM National Champion!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/06/30/hardys-bbq-founder-dies/

[30CINCO]

CINCO!

Hope everyone is well.

Players getting $$$$ - Great day to be a Cane!

Go Canes!

[86Cane]

Time to get paid I guess.

Let's see who is gonna get some and who is not?

[86Cane]

Remember "Car Gate"? I wonder if a player now does a car commercial on TV for a dealership are they legally entitled to a FREE car?

[HerbieIbis]

Coach Richt has parkinsons disease.

[Old Skool]

Dave Hyde of D'Eriq King and the NIL. He's already got three sponsorship deals...

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/2021/07/02/how-miami-and-deriq-king-showed-the-new-world-of-college-sports/

[AeroCane]

Is this simply a way for the big boosters of Bama, and the rest of the sec schools, OSU, Texas, etc to pay for recruits by telling them they’ll get a deal worth such and such after they sign? If this is the case, college football is over and so are our Canes! Please tell me I’m wrong.

[HerbieIbis]

Believe The Herb, if Bama wants somebody and they are in a dig fight for a recruit, I guarantee somebody will come up with some serious cabbage to haul that dude in.

[nemo2020]

AeroCane,
You're right!
SEC boosters (and others too) will regularly expend big bucks buying athletes' photos and they will offer high dollar endorsement deals that coaches can brag about in the recruitment process.
UM can't compete with that.

[AeroCane]

Nemo - that makes me sad
They needed to have parameters- max number of players on a team that’s allowed; max dollar amount etc - something to keep things fairly equal
Oh well

[TonyCane]

On the NIL and SEC....

1) What concerns me is salary escalation. The rumored peak payment for a top level college player is $250k. I’m wondering if an Alabama booster will not simply offer to buy 100K copies of Billy Fivestar’s t-shirt to get him to sign.

2) Notwithstanding that, what changes? The SEC and other schools were already using enhanced recruiting (payments) to land players. Now they can do so openly (or potentially double dip - ie legal NILs and bagmen).

3) Miami (and other Florida schools, as well as Texas) now have an advantage in being states with no state income tax. It may not be a major factor, but King’s deals for instance carry less weight in California or New York.

4) Miami may not be a college town, but that could be advantageous. It’s a huge megalopolis at this point, and there should be many, many opportunities for sponsorships for 85 scholarship players. Moreso than smaller college towns like College Station or Waco.

[TonyCane]

Nemo, I could easily be wrong but this is where I think it is headed:

1) Contraction. More than half of college teams with football will abandon it. The sport does not make sense for many schools from a financial or legal perspective.

2) The 40-50 teams that survive will begin to be sponsored by individual NFL franchises.

3) The surviving teams, perhaps around 30 within 30 years, will become official subsidiaries of the NFL. The programs will be owned by individual NFL teams, with the majority of cost and support run by them. Colleges in turn will pay to “sponsor” their former franchises. So for instance, the Tennessee Volunteers will be owned by the Tennessee Titans, but the University of Tennessee would pay to sponsor the Volunteers and have them play in their stadium. Team facilities would still be at UT. As part of the sponsorship, athletes would be allowed to attend classes as UT free of cost but would not be obligated to attend. At this point, the under 22 players are purely paid athletes and can go up or down from the NFL, just as in the G League of the NBA.

[AeroCane]

Tony - as I said, college football as we now know it (and love it) will be no more. Sad

[TonyCane]

Only question is can Miami keep apace of the changes or even take advantage, or in turn be swept aside.

[AeroCane]

Good question - at this time it can easily go either way - need our millionaire alumni to step in and work with companies to get this done and keep us competitive.

[Terrance Sullivan]

Or Maybe People Should Relax and Stop With The Panic Porn and let it play out lol! It’s not the end of College Football It Will Be Just Fine! Have A Great Holiday Weekend Family I Love Y’all!

[AeroCane]

OK T - you relax and let it play out. We will continue to ask questions and try to figure out what’s best for you our team - that’s our rights as fans!

[Terrance Sullivan]

I Am Relaxed Perfectly Fine! I Am Not In Panic Mode lol!

[AeroCane]

Good to hear! Enjoy your 4th to you and all the other wonderful Canes fans on this great site!

[AeroCane]

Just an fyi
About 6 to 8 of our targets are making commitments in July! Let’s hope we get at a minimum (of the ones I know announcing):
4 star DL Durant out of lake Nona (86 - put in a good word for the U)
4 star LB Tolan out of orlando dr Phillips (again, 86, put in a good word for the U)
4 star CB Chris graves out of Ft Myers
3 star DB/Striker nick cull out of GA
4 star CB j spells out of ft Lauderdale (between us and West Virginia - yes WV)
PS some OL announcing, but we have bigger OL (no pun intended - some huge OL) announcing later on and is rather get these than the 2 announcing in July JMO

[Terrance Sullivan]

For Me I Want Our Canes To Win ACC Coastal, Win New Years 6 Bowl Game, 11 to 12 Wins and A Top 10 Final Ranking Come January 15th 2022. I am judging what happens between September 4th through January 4th! Let’s See What Happens but I definitely appreciate y’all keeping us updated on the recruiting information much appreciated! Go Canes!

[HerbieIbis]

The Herb looks for us to get only Durant today. Nelson, since his twin brother is involved, looks like UCF, maybe Utah.
Spells seems to be between West Vir.and Indiana.

It looks like this class will trickle together.
Graves should be the other we scoop this month.
The TE position is the most worrisome position, as our top 2 targets do not have us on top. If will whiff on Skinner and Helms, it might be portal time later on.

[The Herb]

Well wrong on Durant. Manny may want rethink this laid back approach on recruiting, although I have never been a fan of 6'1 future DT's, unless were were running a 3-4 defense.

[HerbieIbis]

Spells to WVU. What difference a year makes. Looks like an ohfer day on DA 4th.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/acc-coach-rankings-2021-dabo-swinney-mack-brown-continue-to-separate-from-a-solid-pack/

From near last to middle of the pack, everyone he passed was ranked ahead of him except BC's coach who he kept in front of on this compared to where they placed last year:

"Manny Diaz (32 overall): After being the face of what he described as a "dark day" in Miami football history, Diaz has greatly changed his standing among his peers in both the ACC and Power Five in the eyes of our voters. Miami's offensive woes had become so impactful that even very good defenses (that Diaz helped recruit and build under Mark Richt) eventually broke down against lesser opponents. The hire of Rhett Lashlee and the signing of D'Eriq King delivered on the promise of "The New Miami," and 2020's success has him soaring in our rankings. Last year: 13 in ACC"

[AeroCane]

Thx
I’m still in ‘prove it to me mode’ for manny! Way to many let downs in manny’s 1st 2 yrs for me to anoint him anything more than disappointing

PROVE it to me this year manny!

[The Herb]

I think Manny was rolling until UNC came to town and from there not so much. Got to be competitive in big games, which we ain't and we still struggle to put teams away that we should drub.
Losing a top recruit to WVU, is not away to start the summer off, so I say yes, this is a make or break season for Manuel.

[86Cane]

I Am Relaxed Perfectly Fine! I Am Not In Panic Mode lol!

Posted by: Terrance Sullivan | July 03, 2021 at 05:14 PM

Sam Adams beer in one hand, cigar in the other!

[86Cane]

Tony - as I said, college football as we now know it (and love it) will be no more. Sad

Posted by: AeroCane | July 03, 2021 at 06:51 AM

Only question is can Miami keep apace of the changes or even take advantage, or in turn be swept aside.

Posted by: TonyCane | July 03, 2021 at 07:02 AM

Gentlemen, I share your concerns 100%. This is ripe for all kinds of problems and issues and if you can't see that then you just aren't looking.

But what is going to happen to college athletics is going to happen and we can't do little about it. As I indicated once the players are making as much or more than most of their head coaches or position are things will get VERY interesting.

But all of this is way above our "FAN" paygrade.

I say we let the college administrators, athletic directors and coaches figure it out. They are paid to do so, we are not. Our job as fans is to cheer and drink beer, and not necessarily in that order.

It appears right now that there is no plan or guidance much less specific guidelines to follow so it will turn into the wild, wild west most likely. Think of it this way:

1. Some college players in Lambos and Porsches pulling up to practice while others walk or ride bikes.

2. Some players drinking $500 bottles of champagne on Friday night while others drink Powerade.

3. Some eating lobster and steak while others can only eat at the training table.

4. Some players making more money than their coaches and getting an attitude and pitching a fit when coaches take playing time or bench a player because it impacts the player contractual income.

5. Sponsors wanting OUT of the contract if a player is injured and can't play, or benched and demoted to second string, or kicked out of school for academic or disciplinary reasons (puff, puff, pass).

Yeah what could possibly go wrong? Sounds like the best way to ensure team unity to me?

But like I said, this is NOT our problem.

To cheer and drink beer is our winning formula!

[86Cane]

For Me I Want Our Canes To Win ACC Coastal, Win New Years 6 Bowl Game, 11 to 12 Wins and A Top 10 Final Ranking Come January 15th 2022. I am judging what happens between September 4th through January 4th! Let’s See What Happens but I definitely appreciate y’all keeping us updated on the recruiting information much appreciated! Go Canes!

Posted by: Terrance Sullivan | July 03, 2021 at 09:37 PM

Agree 100%. But we agreed on this last year. the year before. and the year before that. And well, you get the idea.

Phil Steel loves him some Canes. He has us #16 in his new predictions for 2021.

[Terrance Sullivan]

Soupster Yessir and Phil Steel is accurate I Ageee With his assessment! This Fall and Winter will reveal a lot about our Program one way or the other!

[86Cane]

Phil Steel:

https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/LongFormArticle/College-football-2021-preseason-Top-25-rankings-Phil-Steele-poll-Alabama-Clemson-Ohio-State-Oklahoma-Georgia-Notre-Dame-167447078/

[86Cane]

BTW...on Facebook there is a guy named Rodney Conley who posts really good info about UM football. He just posted about a fitness company that is offering $6000 to ALL UM football players who use their equipment/system. I LIKE IT!

American Top Team Fitness Centers

[86Cane]

Here U go:

https://americantopteam.com/locations/att-facilities/

[86Cane]

Article on the deal:

https://thespun.com/acc/miami-fl/report-miami-offered-massive-nil-deal-american-top-team

Now THIS I can stand behind!

[AeroCane]

This Fall and Winter will reveal a lot about our Program one way or the other!
Posted by: Terrance Sullivan

I agree! Prove it to me manny!

[AeroCane]

Another 4 star cb commits
Chris graves 6’1; 175

Per inside the U
Graves, who the 247Sports Composite pegs as the nation’s No. 16 athlete, picked Miami over his three other finalists: South Carolina, LSU and Florida. He also reported offers from Oklahoma, FSU, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss and Boston College.

While some schools initially were recruiting Graves to play wide receiver for them, most schools – including Miami – view him as a cornerback at the next level.

[AeroCane]

From inside the U

UM received good news on Friday evening with the commitment of four-star Ft. Myers Bishop Verot cornerback Chris Graves, giving the Hurricanes two pledges at a key position of need.

Graves, who ranks as the No. 288 overall player in the country, joins top 100 cornerback, four-star Khamauri Rogers, in the class—as cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Van Dyke continues to flex his recruiting prowess in his first year as a member of the coaching staff.

[TonyCane]

Excellent. I think that this class will end up just fine. Really like the strides that Manny has made over Richt (who himself was an improvement over CM Richt).

[AeroCane]

Agree Tony
And if you look at our OL recruiting- we are going after BIG guys! We should get Falentha Carswell,OT, 6-7 275 - basketball player who should develop into a top OL
Others we are involved with:
• Malik Agbo OT 6-5.5 320
• Jacob Hood OT 6-8 342
To name a few
We are also high on 4star CB Trequon Fegans 6-2 181
IF we get him, that would be 3 ELITE CB’s
TRob and DVD cooking at this time

[HerbieIbis]

Yes, Finally we are getting the CB's and Feģans could be our next get at that position.
Lost out on Tolan at LB, so that board is thinning out, so getting at least Bisainthe is a must.

[AeroCane]

Herb
Bissante and 4star LB Jackson out of Omaha - need at least 1 of the 2 but I want to be greedy and get BOTH

[CGNC]

But like I said, this is NOT our problem.

To cheer and drink beer is our winning formula!

Posted by: 86Cane | July 06, 2021 at 01:03 PM

Agreed. Although the disparity you mention may be a bigger problem for a school like Alabama....hopefully - Saban likes control and they may not want to give it to him

[The Word From The Herb]

As far as the class goes, I think it will fall a little short.
LB talent is must in this class.
At this time I don't know where we are getting a TE from, except the portal.
The Oh line will add some pieces but I don't see any elite players we will be getting. Probably looking at two 3 stars and maybe a 4 star.
If we don't get Gibson or Horton at WR maybe Mbake but I don't see anyone else out their we are really looking at.
Dee line is going to be a dog fight. A lot of talent but not to many have us leading. Stewert looks good at the moment to us but that is it. Manny will have his work cut out for him going into the fall. Covid helped us last year this year, we will have to help ourselves out by winning and at least playing Bama tough.

[AeroCane]

Can’t argue with any of that Herb

[TonyCane]

Right. Recruiting (and transfer portal moves) have tipped our blue chip ratio to close to 50%. Total blue chip numbers will be over 40 in 2021 and 2022. Hard to believe that we were below 30 just four years ago, and had been mired in the 20s from 2012-2017.

[AeroCane]

and had been mired in the 20s from 2012-2017.

Al Golden - HC 2011-2015
Nuff said lol