Everything Miami Defensive Coordinator Corey Hetherman Said Ahead of CFP

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes have one of the best defenses in the country, and now they have the chance to flex their might against No. 7 Texas A&M. Not only do the Hurricanes have the personnel to do it, but they have the coach as well.

The Canes and Corey Hetherman have revamped the entire defense in one year, and now they are preparing to face one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

Hetherman spoke to the media and highlighted the things that worked well and didn't throughout the season as they prepare for the Aggies.

On Marcel Reed...

I think he's a very talented. He's a guy, you know, every situation with the counten men, you know, early in down, the run game, later in the down, his ability to escape the pocket, his ability to extend the play, he does a really good job of moving the pocket, still seeing downfield and, finding guys that have addressed their roads or open windows, but, you know, as a playmaker, you know, you can see it in the LSU game.  You can see it in other games as they get into different run games and different ways to attack the defense. His ability to extend plays and force the plus-one count in that system. He does a very good job with that.

On getting Keionte Scott Back...

You know, it definitely helps, but I think our guys have done a very good job. You know, I think guys have stepped up in different situations and different games and different packages and, you know, I'm excited about the growth and development that our guys have had.  You know obviously, you get a guy back like that, that's a huge boost in all areas, but we'll continuing to push our guys and continue to work that development every day in practice. And I think that's when the major push for us in the last couple of weeks is continuing our development and tackling and block destruction, our communication, and getting everyone on the defense to improve there as we go.

The Growth In One Year From Miami's Defense

Yeah, I think we're always pushing to get better every single pet, you know, the number one thing in the spring was, okay, identify the areas that we need to get better, and everything for us was just the base technique, the base fundamentals.  You know, and then it became, we needed to make sure all 11 guys that working together better. It was all communication, and I think we're never going to be satisfied. It's always every day we got to get better.  And it's in every aspect, it's, you know, our tackling in Virginia attack, we need to get better there.

Our communication, you know, maybe in some of those earlier games, we need to get better there. Our fundamentals, our eye discipline.  So every day, that that's the number one thing we push, and that's the number one thing we're handling of meetings on the field, is trying to elevate, you know, the standard and and trying to make sure we're getting better with our fundamentals, our technique, our communication, all loving guys playing together, our swarm, you know, how physical we play on defense. And, you know, it's, you know, every day, it's tomorrow, it's going to be better than it was today. Today's going to be better than it was yesterday.  We continue to build on that every day

On Players Taking Ownership on Defense...

I think when the players have ownership, I think we guys step up as leaders, you, Keith, Mesidor, different players, Bain, different guys came in. You watch the way Rueben Bain practices, and that was a guy every day.  I could show, you know watch this guy, put his foot on the ground and run to the ball. Watch the details that this guy practices with. You know, it was Mesidor polling teammates up with him. he was guy deciding, you know, this is exactly what it's going to be here.  You know, really, all three phases of the team, but defensively, there were different guys that stepped up and pulled their teammates up with them.

And I think when it became more player led, you know, his teammates getting on top of each other, not just a coach. I think that's what really helped change, exactly, you, the way that we ran to the ball, how physical we played, how we communicated, is the defense.  And, you know, that's gonna continue to be what it is, it's gonna be the players, you know, constantly walking together, communicating together, running through the ball together, trying to out physical the other team, and, you know, it's different guys in every position groups, and sp different guys at all three levels, but, you know, [Mesidor] was the first guy that I thought really stepped up, and then, you know, there's always been examples of guys, you know, that, you know, Bain was one of the first ones. I needed a physical rep, go watch him, or go watch Armando Blount or, you know, those different guys, watch certain guys, how they run the ball every single play. And I think that's pulled everyone else off, because that's set the standard, and now there was a path, and there was on video, okay, that's what it looks like, that's what I needed to be.  And I think our coaching staff has done a really good job of holding our guys to that standard every single day at all different position groups, you, making sure, hey, this is what it looks like, we need our position group to look like this every day in practice, and it's carried over to the field.

On How They Matchup With the Aggies Receivers...

They do a really good job.  You know, they get those guys the ball and RPOs, on screens, out in space, they try to ID one-on-ones. and try to get you into certain partridges. You know, I think our guys match up well, but I think, you know, that we win our one-on-ones. They're already talented. Even on special teams, you watch the way, you know, those guys changed the game in those different areas, you know, we go to make sure technique.  We're very sound to change up some pictures and do some different things, but, you know, they get some very talented guys in perimeter.

On their Offensive Line...

And there are lots of land that's stand out about them. Yeah, I think there are physical football team.  You know, I think the way their offensive line blocks they're very athletic, you can see that, the way they run the stretch of play, I think they're physical at the point of attack. I think they're tight ends blocking very well. They add different guys into the core to get the extra hat in the run game.  But they run the ball for almost 200 yards a game. Very few teams have had success shutting down the run game, and I think that gets the quarterback going.

You, gets him on track, give them short step, you know short situations on third down, and then, you, all of a sudden, backs break a tackle, and now, you, that's where they've had so many explosives this year.  They have a lot of plays over 10 yards, they have a lot of explosives, big plays in their drives, and that's what we got to do a really good job being physical at the point of attack. You know, we don't win on the line of scrimmage, that's one place that they've had a lot of success all year. I think South Carolina is the one game where they didn't run for 100 yards.  So we have to attack the line of scrimmage and control the game.

On Jakobe Thomas's Impact This Season...

his position versatility, I think one thing that was huge is, you, he's played a lot of college football, you know, and he had played different positions, had his previous schools, and then, you know, I think one thing that was huge was the defense coming together, and, you, guys that have played here, guys that had transferred in, maybe last year or two years ago, freshmen that have stepped up. But the Walker inc coming together and accepting fititz, who was, you know, in high school in the spring, Jakobe, who, you know, wasn't on the roster for spring football, Derent guys stepping up and, you know, and then now having a lot of accumulated reps, you, at previous stops, I think that was now you had a guy that understood situational football.  You had a guy who had been in different spots before, and he's learned from them, and now he accepted, he came in, he took the playbook, and he learned very quickly there.

And he played well with his teammates,'s understanding how to work with EP, how to work, how to work with the corners, how to work with the linebackers. And you know, I think that's a guy that's, you know, he's constantly helps elevate the defense every week.  His physical style of play, how fast he plays, he communicates better every single week. And I think as the season's gone on, you see him play faster and faster in different situations, you know, sometimes in different positions. And, you know, that's one thing that helped things really help the defense bomb step up throughout the season.

On Rueben Bain Jr. and his "Notebook" Material...

I think he's a guy. It could be April 15th and it's the third practice of spring ball, and it's, you know, this weekend. I think it's he works the same.  He has a plan, he goes through his notes, he attacks a practice. If you watch him practice, you, last Thursday or this Saturday, they were on a screen, he puts his foot on the ground, three foot dry foot, straight line through the hip. It looked like a game run.  And you, that's how he goes about it every single day, and I think that's why he is the player that he is. He's constantly working on, his technique, he's constantly working on his get off for his pad level, his hand placement, constantly working on pass, and, you know, one thing about him is he's a complete player, he plays in the wrong.

He doesn't a really good job at the line scrimmage, stopping the run, does a really good job of, you know, he technique and doing his job every part. sometimes that's occupying a combo or taking on a double team or set in the edge and allowing someone else to make the tackle, and that's where he's such, you know, such a great player in this defense.cause, you know, you always know he's going to be exactly where he's supposed to be doing his job, 100 miles an hour, physical, but that's, you know, I think you take everything else out of it, it tune to be the same thing on Tuesday practice film that you're going to see on a Saturday game film

On Going Back to Evaluate Film on the Season...

Yeah, it's, you know, it's definitely been good to go back through the season. You know, our tendencies. What have we shown different things that we need to, you know, maybe we've gone through too many times or different things that you can anticipate.  We're going to be in certain situations, how different teams have attacked us both in the run game, in the past game, you know, routewise, and protectionally, differenterent things that we need to clean up, you know, whether it's certain areas of tackling, block destruction, set in the edge, you know, more ways to try to pay the ball away, but every aspect we've kind of gone through and okay, how do we clean this up, okay? What's maybe another answer in this situation? How do we, you know, have another call or another answer, and also not trying to do too much.  

Our guys are very comfortable playing fast the way that we do it within instruction or within the system, and, you, gonna continue to keep the confidence high and play fast within our structure and our defense. But no, it's been very similar to a bi-week early in the season where we go through, and the first thing we evaluate is ourselves. Okay, what do we need to get fixed?  What are the areas that we need to clean up, and then, you know, go into a little bit more film on A&M. What are they doing? How are they attacking people? Where are their strengths and know, how do we take that away?

On the Recruiting Class for Defense...

First, you know, people a lot of guys home in the state of Florida, really excited about the guys that stay at home, that you, chose to be here at the University of Miami. And then I think, you know, the speed and the length that we have, I think up front on the defensive line, I think we we signed some players that I think would be very good def makers. You never know where it is in the class.  Some guys possibly this year, some guys down the line. You know, I caught that corner, some guys that could cover, some guys that arranged you in the back end of safety and then linebackers that can run, you could rush, but really all three levels, we're really excited about the class and guys that love football. You know, that's one thing that stood out to us on unofficial visits, are when we went and visited, and when they came back down for games, guys, they were constantly asking about, you know, the game plan or what we were doing or how we were trying to coach certain things up, and guys that are constantly love football, and you, you get off the field and the first text see is about something that happened that weekend on the field.  That's what gets us excited about, you guys that love football and they're gonna come down and be able to get coached and continue to develop and get better

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.