Five Takeaways from Monday's Media Sessions with Miami Hurricanes Coach Mario Cristobal and his coordinators

Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mario Cristobal and coordinators Josh Gattis and Kevin Steele met with media members Monday, covering a wide-range of subjects. Here are five takeaways from the session:

WR Frank Ladson is quickly emerging in Gattis’ offense

It is no secret that coaches have been pushing and searching very hard for a receiver they can count on to compliment Key’shawn Smith and fill the void left by Xavier Restrepo’s injury. Miami junior wide receiver Frank Ladson had only two catches for 33 yards entering the game against Middle Tennessee State. Ladson had an impressive first half against the Blue Raiders, with six catches for 65 yards, the most catches in a single game in his collegiate career so far and the third highest yardage output.

Mario Cristobal is impressed with the improvement he is starting to see from the Clemson transfer. 

“Drastic improvement,” Cristobal said of Ladson. “Confidence, played hard, made contested catches. Precision on his route running. Took a big big step. Something we have been from day one since we signed Frank Ladson what we were hoping to see. It’s starting to come together, and we expect another big week from him in terms of practice and preparation. “

Ladson’s production did drop off in the second half last Saturday, but he did show flashes of his former four-star self. With Miami figuring to need to score in bunches Saturday against North Carolina, Ladson could not be picking a better time to make his emergence. Now he has to sustain his effort.

Miami’s injury woes could be bigger than we think

The Hurricanes’ injury list continues to grow this season, and the latest name believed to have joined is TE Elijah Arroyo. Cristobal provided an update on Arroyo and several other Hurricanes who are injured during Monday’s press conference.

“He did get banged up, we’re not sure if he’ll be able to play for us this Saturday,” Cristobal said of Arroyo. 

With Arroyo’s health in question, that potentially takes away yet another pass catcher for the Canes, who’ve already lost Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George for the foreseeable future. 

In addition to Arroyo and the receivers, running backs Jaylen Knighton and Henry Parrish, defensive back Tyrique Stevenson, offensive lineman Zion Nelson, and punter Lou Hedley are all dealing with injuries.

“We have to have the next man ready,” offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said. “We don’t have as much depth as we would like, but we have to have everybody ready for their opportunity when it comes.”

Coaches are owning Miami’s recent struggles and losing streak

One noticeable thing from conversations with Cristobal and the coordinators was that they were extra careful to make it clear that they aren’t blaming the players for the Middle Tennessee State debacle or Miami’s two-game losing streak. They are taking it upon themselves to coach and game plan better.

“The first thing you’ve got to know is if you see something on tape or see it on the field and it doesn’t look right, that’s on me,” Steele said. “The players play and the coaches coach, that’s a coaching job. It’s my responsibility and it totally falls on me 100% to get it rectified.”

In a tough situation, the Miami coaches are creating a positive environment for the players with ACC play beginning this weekend. 

“As positive as we can be is as positive as they will be,” Gattis said. “We haven’t had the success the last two weeks that we wanted, but we’re going to be positive, we’re going to be upbeat about it. We’re going to continue to move forward. We’re not going to let a cloud just hang over top of our program. We’ve still got a long season left. We look forward to getting into conference play. “

Steele longs for the days without electronic and social media

Steele is an old-school coach who embraced the days when he could talk candidly to the media and not have to worry about his every word showing up on the desk of an opposing coach. Now Steele knows better and he apologetically dodged several questions Monday pertaining to his game plan to stop the high-powered North Carolina offense, knowing that Carolina staffers are monitoring every word he utters.

Slowing down the Heels will be quite a challenge for Steele. Carolina averages 45.5 points and 507.2 yards per game. 

When asked how he is going to limit North Carolina’s offense, Steele deflected the question and said, “That’s a 64 million dollar question. One of those (questions) I’m going to reserve the right not to completely answer it because I know coach (Mack) Brown pretty well. I’ve coached with three of their offensive coaches, and all those guys are very intelligent and they can read, so I don’t think I’m going to expose the game plan to you if that’s okay.” 

What he did talk about was how well the Tar Heels’ QB Drake Maye not only throws, but also extends drives with his feet. He compared Maye to NFL Pro-Bowler Josh Allen. 

“He keeps the chains moving, he extends drives,” Steele said. “With not 40 or 50 yard scrambles where he’s just bouncing around and you can’t tackle him, that’s not it. He just extends drives. They need 10 yards on 3rd & 10, he’ll scramble for 12, it’s 2nd & 6 and everything bottled up and you’ve got it covered, he scrambles for 7. He just extends plays.”  

A Fast Start is Crucial for Miami

Three turnovers occurred in Miami’s first seven offensive plays against Middle Tennessee State. The Hurricanes obviously never recovered as the defense had its own issues containing Middle Tennessee’s passing game.

With high-scoring North Carolina up next, it will be important for Miami to get off to a good start in the first quarter so the Hurricanes are not again playing from behind.

“It’s not necessarily about what a certain team did to us but it’s about the lack of execution on our part,” Gattis said. ” We’ve got to be able to respond back from adversity and that’s overall as a team. You can’t get caught up in the ups and downs of games. There’s going to be positive momentum swings there’s going to be negative momentum swings. You’ve got to stand the positives and bounce back from the negatives.” 

Miami has scored a touchdown just once on its opening drive this season compared to North Carolina’s three, a reason why the Tar Heels offense is averaging 45 points per game.

Miami will be looking to get out of the gate much faster this weekend.