OL Coach Alex Mirabal Handpicking Hurricanes’ Future Blockers
Just by listening to Miami Hurricanes offensive line coach Alex Mirabal talk about position periods during fall camp, it’s easy to decipher his enthusiasm for blocking.
Mirabal gets visibly fired up when discussing how his linemen prepare and what’s required of them.
“Not everybody can do that,” Mirabal told Canes All-Access on Monday, “Not everybody can go all the periods that we do, out in the blazing hot sun with the humidity…and lay on another 300-pound man and have that man lay on you for an hour and a half or two hours. It’s been awesome, camp’s been awesome.”
They say passion drives performance, and Mirabal has that in spades. Coming from Oregon with head coach Mario Cristobal upon his hiring gives both coaches a sense of continuity. Cristobal is a coach that firmly believes the battle is won up front, so having his trusted blocking guru on staff at Miami will be a huge advantage from a scheme installation standpoint.
From all reports, it seems the offensive linemen on the roster are fully invested in Mirabal’s techniques and strategies. Some have even taken the time to express how much different it is this camp than in years past. A new technique, multi-position training, is a new philosophy. But it takes a special kind of player to have the versatility and mental toughness needed to make it through these rigors.
That’s why Mirabal has taken it upon himself to personally give every single lineman Miami recruits the eye test. He says it’s one of the only ways to see if a guy has that “sixth sense," the ability to react to anything even if unprepared according to Mirabal.
It’s a strategy that Cristobal started as Oregon’s head coach and has made its way to Miami.
“The O-line coach, you recruit the O-linemen. In the spring, I got to go see every offensive lineman on our board,” said Mirabal after Monday's practice, “I wanted to see them for myself, wanted to get close, see how they bent their knees, sunk their hips, ankle flexibility…You can’t strikeout on these guys.”
The future seems to be in good hands already with 2023 commitments from some of the nation’s top line prospects including the No. 1 interior projection in the SI99 Francis Mauigoa, but Mirabal will likely continue to try and strengthen his stockpile of talent. For now though, he’s focused on the task at hand.
“These are our guys [in here now]. And we gotta get them to do what we feel is gonna help us win,” stated Mirabal, “That’s to be physical, to be tough, and be resilient.”
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