MIAMI FOOTBALL

Showcase teased potential for 'exciting' 2025 team

Martin says summer and fall progress will be critical

Cole Weaver stretches for a catch. (MVSmith/MRO)

By MIKE SMITH
After a winter of massive turnover, Miami RedHawks football heading off to summer with some momentum. 
Saturday's Spring Showcase -- a combination of drills and offense versus defense scimmage work -- showed enough to let fans know the RedHawks have made progress with a puzzle that won't be complete until this fall. 
"We had 11 early enrollees. We had 13, 14 transfers," Head Coach Chuck Martin said after the session. Today "was kind of like all spring. There was a lot of good. There was a lot of okay, and there was some bad stuff." 

"We had a really . . . 

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Henry Hesson rolls right while looking for a receiver. (MVSmith/MRO)

. . . good offseason . . . (and) we had a really good spring," he continued. "We have a long way to go as far as execution ... but overall, I'm very pleased at this point." 

It (was) our 15th day. ... We filmed (the practice)  and we're going to watch it next week. We'll try to get better at ... all the details of every position."

Summer, Martin said, is the next big step. "We've got to have a great summer. We've got to have a great fall camp. We're a long way from where we want to be, (but) we've got plenty of talent out here. We have good kids that will compete.We have kids that will play for one another, so our chemistry has been really good."

Summer is particularly good time for quarterbacks and receivers as they strive for the magic "chemistry" needed for maximum success when the season arrives. New quarterback Daquan Finn and a bevy of new receivers, Martin said, made progress during the spring. 

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"It's getting better," he observed. "The nice thing is, as springs going on, they are figuring out the importance of timing. ... Early ... it was like I'm just running my routes. The longer spring went, the more we could show them, 'Hey, this is the right depth at the right drop with the right protection. Look how good its working.'

"You've got to learn from mistakes. Our timing is headed in the right direction. Like everything, we've got a long ways to go, but I love our puzzle pieces. I love the group. I think we're going to compete. I think we'll be ... pretty dang exciting."

Both offense and defense had their moments Saturday. RedHawk QBs tossed several touchdowns, including strikes to Kam Perry and Cole Weaver. 

"It felt great that I could come out here and have fun," Weaver said. "Today was just an example of what we've been working on for the past couple months. 

"Cole had a great day," Martin said. He "took the ball away from a couple of DBs and Dequan led us on a really nice drive."

"I think I came here a little raw," said Weaver, who said he was kind of a "basketball guy" and showed some of those skills with his catches on Saturday. 

"You take the knowledge of the spring. The pressure is off in the summer," Martin said. "They'll do a lot of football on their own without a coach breathing down their neck. If you take the knowledge of the spring and apply it in the summer, you can make really good strides. That's kind of the next thing we're looking for. 

Gavin Rohrs gives Kam Perry a celebratory lift following Perry's TD reception. (MVSmith/MRO)

• While the Spring Showcase event was a chance to see a new (albeit incomplete) version of the RedHawks, Martin noted "We probably had a third of our skill guys out here. There are starters that (fans) didn't see today that are going to be really good players on both sides of the ball." Most should be back for the season opener Aug. 28 at Wisconsin. 
• One of the RedHawks in a particularly good position to appreciate the addition of Finn at QB is defensive back Silas Walters. Like other DBs. the redshirt senior is tasked defending against receivers -- often for extra time as the elusive Finn extends plays with his scrambling skills. 
" There's been several times in spring when you think the play should be over, but you look back and he's running around, extending the play," Walters said. "I'm glad he's on our team now. We played in twice in 23, and he gave us fits. He's frustrating to play against ... but he's the type of guy that you need at quarterback to lead the offense and you need to compete for championships. We're super happy that he's here. He's a phenomenal player." 

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Dom Dzioban was a big weapon for the RedHawks last year. (MVSmith/MRO)

• Walters and Eli Blakey will anchor the RedHawks back line on defense. The latter missed time while recovering from injury this spring. 
"We've got a ton of young guys and a ton of transfers all across the board," Walters said. "It's been great to see everyone's progress throughout the spring."
• Like a number of other returning RedHawks, Walters felt the sting of last year's loss to Ohio in the MAC Championship. "Last year kind of left a sour taste in our mouths. We obviously made a great run to get back to the championship and ended up not getting it done," Walters said. "I'm excited to run it back, and I feel like we got the guys to compete for a conference championship again."
• Developing cohesive line play with numerous new -- and less experienced -- pieces will be one of the big challenges for 2025. 
"On the O-line, we've probably got eight or nine guys that are fighting for starting jobs," Martin said. "We've got a lot of good O-linemen that had good springs, but they're not consistent enough. Even today, we were rotating guys with the ones and rotating guys with the twos. D-line (is) the same way. We probably have less depth at the D-line, but we played a lot of young guys. ... They're coming along."

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