Al Golden cancelled practice on Friday, CanesFest was a rousing success on Saturday and as of Sunday morning the Miami Hurricanes have their quarterback—true freshman Brad Kaaya.
While Golden didn’t elaborate much on the decision (“He’s not a freshman quarterback. He’s the University of Miami quarterback,”) offensive coordinator James Coley was more forthcoming on Sunday.
“Separation came about a few days ago, about eight days ago,” said Coley. “I thought Jake did a great job this camp and I just thought that Kaaya, towards the end here, really pulled away and started getting really comfortable. Like I’ve been saying, he’s not your regular freshman anymore. He’s the starting quarterback for the University of Miami.”
All reports out of camp had Kaaya neck-and-neck with senior transfer Jake Heaps—who coaches raved about for weeks, especially regarding maturity and poise. Heaps was then held out of practice earlier this week with a “sore elbow”, leaving some to question the degree of the injury.
Kaaya has proven over the past few weeks that he certainly has an “it” factor and would be Miami’s quarterback of the future, though few expected that journey to begin on September 1st.
An obvious upside to Kaaya taking the reigns—the process starts now. The true freshman will get a baptism by fire and another elite Golden / Coley recruit is on the field, kicking off his legacy.
There will also be no wasting of a redshirt, letting Kaaya see the field in mop-up duty a few times this season. While No. 15 has only been named the starter for Louisville, barring disaster there’s no reason to believe he’s anything but “the guy” moving forward.
Where this is certainly a negative—the fact that Miami is forced to depend on a true freshman under center, instead of redshirting him and bring him along slowly, much like Florida State’s Jameis Winston or Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, who took home the last two Heisman Trophies.
No program ever wants to be a in a position where it has to turn over the keys to a kid who attended his prom a few months ago. The Canes should be in better position at quarterback depth-wise, but unfortunately, aren’t.
Miami’s path to the door being opened for Kaaya began in spring football when senior transfer Ryan Williams tore his ACL. That setback was the big reason coaches went after Heaps this off-season—the 23-year old Kansas transfer who began his career at BYU.
Another factor in the equation—the lack of development with redshirt freshman Kevin Olsen. In and out of trouble this past year—a potential drunk driving incident soon after graduating high school, as well as two marijuana-related suspensions—the job was there for the taking, but the 4-star never stepped up.
Williams out, Olsen down and Heaps nicked-up on some level are all factors, but none of that should take anything away from Kaaya—who arguably wouldn’t have earned the starting job under different circumstances, but has proven on the practice field that he showed up at Miami ready to compete. The kid has delivered and credit to him for doing so.
Conventional wisdom might’ve had Heaps starting at Louisville, with Kaaya waiting in the wings—both game one, as well as the rest of the season, should the senior falter along the way.
The fact that coaches bucked this way of thinking immediately, going all-in on the freshman—it says a ton about Kaaya’s maturity and ability, as well as what the Canes are working with talent-wise at quarterback—two journeymen seniors and an immature redshirt freshman.
Peter Ariz of CanesInSight.com has gone on record via social media, dispelling any rumors that a Heaps injury led to Kaaya starting.
“The decision to start Brad Kaaya has absolutely nothing to do with Heaps’ injury. Kaaya won the job,” tweeted Aziz—a reliable voice regarding the reporting of Hurricanes football.
If that’s indeed fact, than kudos to Golden and staff for truly an authentic best-man-win competition and not being afraid to choose youth over experience.
Heading into a hostile environment at Louisville for the season opener, the easy play would’ve been to go with Heaps and should the senior falter, give Kaaya his shot. Instead, a bold statement and show of faith in the true freshman—proving that it’s his job to lose.
While optimism is certainly running high amongst the pro-Kaaya crowd, for the sake of the newbie’s development, best to temper expectations and to be realistic as the new season approaches. Kaaya will certainly have his highs and has all the makings of a great one for the Canes—but there will be some lows, as well. Accept that now and judge accordingly.
For those who don’t want to admit that, pop in a copy of Miami’s 1999 showdown at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and look at a wide-eyed Ken Dorsey, who entered the game late when starter Kenny Kelly was injured.
Dorsey was harassed by a top-notch Hokies’ defense, en route to a 6-of-17, 45-yard, one interception performance.
To Dorsey’s credit, a three-game home stretch against the likes of Rutgers, Syracuse and Temple helped the true freshman find a groove and from there, a 35-2 run as a starter, a national championship, back-to-back title-game appearances and a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Still, as a true freshman against good competition, he looked green as he was, developing his poise year two, and so on.
Kaaya is Miami’s first starting freshman quarterback since the 2008 season when Jacory Harris started for the suspended Robert Marve. Two years later, Harris was suspended for the opener at Maryland, yielding to true freshman Stephen Morris the Hurricanes’ loss to the Terrapins.
I actually love the choice of Kaaya over a two-time transfer. I assumed Heaps would get the job since he was the transfer against a true freshman. I’m glad whomever is playing better at any position is getting the nod. If Heaps won the job, we’d be right back here next year with zero experience. Who’s to say Heaps would do anything more than what Kaaya can do anyway? There will be ups and downs, but we’ve had plenty of downs for the last decade already. If we can get out of L’Ville with a W somehow, Kaaya has the next two games to get in a groove in virtual scrimmages. I applaud the decision.