New Mailbag: X’s and Ro

Recently on social media I asked a simple question. New offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was brought in with a purpose. Save University of Miami football. Not just the offense, the whole thing.

The total offensive rankings for the Hurricanes the past several seasons were 98th, 105th, 60th and 57th respectively. It is safe to say that since Manny Diaz became a part of the program, the offense has been less than stellar. It has been a black hole.

So game on. Let’s focus on the task at hand. What were some questions on social media centered around this galvanized new offense and its highly sought after new play caller?

SMU averaged nearly 15 more plays a game then the Hurricanes last season. All things considered, and there isn’t a loss of games due to covid concerns, Miami will obliterate certain metrics based on volume alone.

In particular I believe the burden will loosen considerably on the offensive line. The stock up factor will be highly attributed to the fact that Lashlee will beat the national average for ball out time. SMU gave up only 17 sacks last year (13th Nationally) Miami gave up 51. (128th)

Take what the defense gives you. That will be a universal theme and something that will have hard application based on two fronts. 1) The heavy utilization of the RPO with this offense. (Pre and Post snap varieties) 2) The check with me aspect at the line of scrimmage.

Those two avenues alone will allow adjustments systematically to what the defense is showing and provide a counter. With that said, if a defense is selling out to stop the run, Miami will pass. If the inverse is true, Miami will run.

In terms of can a pro style quarterback eat in a system such as this? Absolutely. Shane Buschele was not a fast quarterback for the SMU Ponies. They averaged over 40 points a game last season.

Tyler Van Dyke in a spread might you ask? His junior year was primarily under center and the offense certainly mimicked a Mark Richt offense. His senior year was absolutely 100% unequivocally spread based. Watch the video below and see how he operated in a spread system.

If there was a style of offense that needed to be installed under constricted pretenses it would be this one. I do not want any Hurricane fans confused. This system is not overly complicated. The route tree is the route tree. The blocking style is the blocking style.

It relies on tempo to push the pace and will subsequently try to keep defenses predictable by doing so. This won’t be an offense reliant on a ton of pre-snap shifts or complicated verbiage in the huddle. Just go fast, keep it simple and keep your foot on the gas.

11 set personnel is one running back and one tight end. Brevin Jordan’s greatest strength is his multiplicity. You can keep him in line to block or go for routes or as an H back used in various ways and even flexed out in a wide receiver capacity.

Brevin will be the universal Swiss army knife for this offense and with good reason. Lashlee will use him in various ways and he absolutely featured the tight end last year for SMU. Two tight end sets were also noted multiple times last season in film review.

Finally, the question about QB. There is no question who the starter will be and it has already been announced with good reason. D’Eriq King and his 50 touchdown form will be called upon to help transverse this all ACC schedule.

If Miami were to play musical chairs based on performance, that would be disastrous. I don’t anticipate this happening however. King has been all business and has a skill set not yet scene at the Gables frankly ever.

A “Ferrari with feet.” He will be a nightmare for opposing defenses to contend with. The ability to improvise and score from anywhere on the field is something that will excite fans to endless delight. He is the guy. From the second he hit the portal, I knew this to be the case.