Three true freshmen considered future (and present) for Miami Hurricanes speak their minds
Three University of Miami budding standouts spoke to the media Wednesday, sharing what they have learned, how they plan to continue growing and their perception of their first season.
Defensive end Nyjalik Kelly, offensive guard Anez Cooper and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, already making their marks for the struggling Hurricanes, are clearly zoning in on the present while eyeing the future as Miami (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) prepares to travel to Georgia Tech (4-5, 3-3) for a 3:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff.
Nyjalik Kelly
Kelly, a 6-4, 240-pound graduate of Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School, is second on the team with four sacks — one against Southern Miss, one at Virginia, one last Saturday against Florida State with half a sack against North Carolina and at Virginia Tech. He also has 4 1/2 tackles for loss. All that without starting a game.
When asked some of the biggest things he has learned, Kelly said, “Well, I had to learn how to adapt and become a college athlete, had to learn how to set my alarm and wake up without my mom. Just had to learn different things — how to become a man and do stuff on my own.”
More from Kelly:
On what’s it like having UM analyst and former Miami Dolphin/Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jason Taylor to help him: “It’s great being coached by a previous Hall of Famer. He taught me a lot, taught me how to get off the ball, how to mature in my pass rush. So he really helped me in my game.”
On what the quadruple-overtime win at Virginia and home loss to Florida State were like: “They were a good experience. It was fun to play in overtime on my birthday, my first overtime college game. It was hype and it was away. I had fun playing in the overtime game, and I’m glad we came out with the win.
“And the Florida State game, it was hype. That was the [most] packed crowd I ever seen at Hard Rock. So when I first ran out it was like ‘I’m finally here.’ And that was my first night game so it was a cool experience to play at night in a packed Hard Rock Stadium against our rivals.”
On areas of his game he would like to improve: “I want to develop in the run game, learning how to shed blocks and learning how to read the offense and knowing what they’re running before they even hike the ball. Just being more ready before the ball is snapped.”
On the message to true freshmen from coaching staff: “Just trust the process. We know our season ain’t going too well but we’re still the future, we still can change things around next year. Just trust the process, don’t be down on yourself. Even though we’re not having the season we’re having, just keep pushing, keep going through it and keep playing hard because next year we’re going to be the leaders of the team.
On blocking out the outside noise:
“I don’t be on social media like that so I don’t really feed into all the negative things people say. And negative stuff really is like a fuse to me. When I hear negative things that just helps me go back in the lab, get better and work on what I need to work on.”
Anez Cooper
Cooper is 6-6 and down from his Pleasant Grove (Alabama) High weight of about 400 to 340-350 pounds, he said, from changing his eating habits and conditioning hard. Cooper was forced into a starting role the past two games after right guard Justice Oluwaseun was significantly injured against North Carolina.
“Virginia was my first game starting,’’ Cooper said. “There was a lot of fans, and their fans get crazy in there. The first play I was kind of nervous, but as the game went on I just got better and better.’’
On how he chose to be an offensive lineman instead of defensive lineman: “I’ve been playing offensive line my whole life. I started playing D-line my 10th grade year and I fell in love with D-line so I was playing both in high school the whole game. But I really love Coach [Alex] Mirabal and Coach [Mario] Cristobal and feel like they’re good O-line coaches, so that’s why I chose O-line, to get better at that.”
Anez said defensive line coach Joe Salave’a and Cristobal came to his house for a home visit and asked him “which one I wanted to play, so I just told them O-line... I know they coached good guys [and] they get O-linemen drafted. I felt that would be a good experience.’’
On playing better after losing weight: “It helped me a lot because I couldn’t move how I wanted to and pass-block how I wanted to and it was a big struggle I had in the passing game. Now I move faster. My first step is faster. Losing that weight just developed me into a better player.”
Wesley Bissainthe
Bissainthe, 6-1 and 205 pounds out of Miami Central, has played in all nine games but has yet to start. He has 14 tackles — 10 solo— and has been continually praised by coaches.
“I’ve been picking up more and more and getting more and more comfortable,’’ Bissainthe said. “I’m just showing them they can trust me more each week.’’
On what he learned from the Virginia and FSU games: “Honestly it’s all about your opportunity. If coaches trust you enough to put you out there on the field, just make the most of it, make plays. They see you making plays each and every week, they’re going to try to get you on the field more and more. That’s one thing I learned.”
On being disciplined enough to not lead with his helmet but still get the opponent on the ground after a hit: “I was always taught to come downhill. You can’t use your head, so sometimes you’re able to stuff them with your shoulder. I like to come with a lot of power, throw the shoulder in there, knock the ball back, knock the lineman back. That’s something Coach Cristobal emphasizes a lot. You knock them back, you knock the play back. You interrupt the play.”
On what he would tell young linebackers in high school who will be going to Power 5 schools: “Honestly, get familiar with the film. Start going on Hudl, watching film, looking at other team’s tendencies and getting familiar with it. Because when you get to college that’s what a lot of college football is all about, the film room and knowing your plays and the playbook.”
