’Canes counting on QB King to impact more than game day
CORAL GABLES — New Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King comes to UM with a lot on his plate.
Beyond just throwing and running with a football — which he showed during his time at Houston that he can do effectively — King is surrounded by new teammates and has been given the task by new coaches of uplifting a culture that was lacking in Miami’s quarterback room. And oh yeah, win. Merely improving a culture while the results don’t show up in the victory column won’t go over very well at Miami with a fan base that has been starved of national relevancy for well over a decade and just witnessed an unsettling 6-7 season in 2019.
“I’m very aware,” said King on Wednesday at his first news conference at UM since transferring to the Hurricanes on Jan. 20.
“I know the history of the program. I know where it’s been. I know Coach [Manny] Diaz and everybody is trying to get it back to where it’s been.
“I have one year left. I’m just here to win as many games as possible. My ultimate goal is to go 12-0, and wherever it takes us, it’s where it takes us. I’m going to do everything I can to help my teammates and everybody in the whole program to try to reach the ultimate height, where this program has been.”
It’s no secret that offthe-field issues played a part in some of Miami’s poor quarterback play the past couple of seasons.
With last year’s starter, Jarren Williams, having decided to transfer out since King’s arrival, Diaz and new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee are counting on King to be the experienced, mature signal-caller that transforms things.
“Our quarterback room over the last few years has suffered from not having a player-to-player mentorship,” Diaz said. “I want D’Eriq King to not just make us better by the way he plays quarterback this year.
“I [also] want him to make the quarterbacks on our roster better by training them on how to be in a meeting, how to practice, how to watch film on your own, how to get the guys to go throw routes when coaches aren’t allowed to go, so that he doesn’t just improve our football team in 2020 — he improves it beyond [that].
“Because if I’m [freshman early enrollee] Tyler Van Dyke, who we still think the world of, I just showed up [and] I don’t know how to be a college quarterback. I know how to play quarterback.
“I know how to throw a pass, but what do I do? How do I get a wideout that’s three classes older than me to come on his free time and come catch balls with me?”
With the Hurricanes beginning workouts Tuesday and getting set to hold their first spring practice Feb. 29, King is up for the task. He’ll rely on his veteran experiences to bring what he knows works into the Miami locker room.
“For me, just playing college football for four years — my fifth year now — I’ve experienced a lot of stuff that I feel I can take my experience and my past and bring it to this team and try to help anyway possible,” King said.
In 2018 at Houston, before he cut his senior season short after playing four games to retain eligibility for the upcoming season, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound signal-caller accounted for 50 total touchdowns (36 passing, 14 rushing). He completed 63.5% of passes, throwing for 2,982 yards and rushing for 674 more in that junior campaign.
“You can turn on the tape and just know he’s made plays at this level,” said Lashlee. “It’s who he is that’s important.
“You got to have a leader at that position. You got to have a winner. He’s got to do more than just throw the football or run the football. I think that’s what drew me to him.”
King, working under then-Houston offensive coordinator Kendal Briles in 2018, is a fit for the uptempo style Lashlee wants to run at Miami.
It’s something Lashlee, whose Southern Methodist offense ran the thirdmost plays per game in college football last year, said he was going to implement regardless of quarterback. But he also has a plan for King specifically.
“If you have a quarterback like D’Eriq, you may run more zone read or run the ball more at the quarterback position than, say, a kid who doesn’t,” Lashlee said. “Those are just things that, as you learn your guys and as you see them fit, that you’re going to build toward what they do.”
In November of 2018, Lashlee and Miami grad transfer defensive end from Temple, Quincy Roche, got to go against King in back-to-back weeks.
Said Roche: “One of the most dynamic players I’ve ever played against. His ability to run the ball [is] second to none while he can still throw the ball.
“He’s really a dynamic player. I’m kind of happy I don’t have to play against him.”
King knows in order to be that feared opponent in the ACC and to accomplish his goals for his final college season, it begins with what he does now six months out.
“I pride myself on working hard,” King said. “If you look at all the great players in any sport, I always think they’re the hardest worker in their sport … whether it be weight room, mat drills that we had [Tuesday].
“When nobody’s looking, nobody’s watching, just try to do the right thing because if you try to do the right thing, it’ll pay off for you.”