Jacory Harris is gone, Stephen Morris appears to be next in line and transfer Ryan Williams will get his shot this spring, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg as Miami welcomes two more quarterback to the party – Preston Dewey and Gray Crow – both of which have enrolled early and will begin their quest to make a name for themselves at a place once referred to as Quarterback U.
“I’m going to work my butt off and make the most of every single opportunity I get,” said Crow, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound incoming freshman from Palm Harbor.
Dewey also made his sentiments clear, “I just love everything about Miami”. Also 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 205-pounds, the Austin product was coached at St. Andrews Episcopal by former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Ty Detmer.
“He’s fired up and ready for this next chapter,” Detmer said of Dewey. “He’s a great kid and a football junkie.”
Both Dewey and Crow are pro-style quarterbacks, which hasn’t necessarily been the norm at ‘The U’ since the success of Ken Dorsey and failure of Kyle Wright. Anytime UM has truly been successful under center, it came when a prototypical drop-back-passer was calling plays.
Dewey brings more experience to the table, at 19 years old, while Crow enters college just shy of his 18th birthday. Miami is also in the running for Westminster Christian two-sport athlete David Thompson, who could join the Canes in fall if he doesn’t opt to go straight to professional baseball, a la Alex Rodriguez – also a Westminster quarterback who was close to playing both baseball and football at ‘The U’ entering the 1993 season.
Classes begin next week for the two quarterbacks, as will the conditioning process which will help that high school to college transition, leading up to the kickoff of spring football on March 6th.
As fans, you’re hesitant to get too over-hyped over the pair of three-star incoming prospects as it’s honestly been almost a decade of underachieving and failure at the quarterback position for the Canes.
Sure, Brock Berlin went 5-0 against Florida and Florida State, stringing together a 20-5 run over two seasons, but that was a different breed of Miami athletes at his disposal. How successful would Berlin have been over the past few seasons and conversely, how much brighter might Wright or Harris shone with that Berlin- or even Dorsey-level of talent?
In the post-Dorsey era, Miami simply hasn’t put it all together regarding offense, defense and special teams. A great quarterback would’ve obviously carried UM further, whereas a lesser quarterback isn’t expected to do as much when loaded at receiver, running back and sporting a turnover-creating, aggressive defense.
Entering this new phase of Miami football, head coach Al Golden obvious feels his team will only go as far as his quarterback takes him, hence the focus on Dewey, Crow, Thompson and any future greats coming down the pike next season.
“The Process” remains underway and two new pieces of the puzzle have been added. Welcome to The U Family, Dewey and Gray.
Now get busy. – C.B.
Umm, Wright and Harris would’ve failed with those athletes because they were TERRIBLE decision makers.
Ken Dorsey was very intelligent under center and on the field. Those two were polar opposites.
Doesn’t matter the talent around you, if you throw into triple-coverage or to a wide open linebacker, you’re likely to be intercepted.
Jorge – We’ll never know, obviously, but again, give Wright and Harris that level of talent and Rob Chudzinski calling plays and then judge.
Dorsey was a gem, but he also had the best talent the college game has ever seen whereas Wright had two head coaches, four different offensive coaches and a sliver of that talent. Harris was also a victim of lesser talent, two head coaches and a few different coordinators.
Regarding Dewey and Crow, both are entering a rejuvenated Miami program with a solid head coach, a good offensive coordinator / quarterback coach, a positive psyche (honestly, this program has been damaged mentally for years) and up and coming talent. Both guys will get a great head start from day one, which again, isn’t something Wright or Harris were afforded.
JORGE go bang your head against that wall seriously as hard as you can.
Now if Harris and Wright had that kind of talent around them completely different story. Actually i don’t want say had they had it because they did. Wright had Ryan Moore and Lance Leggit. Harris had Hank, Johnson, TB, Collier, Streeter. The difference was the work ethic of the guys berlin had and the biggest factor was Dorsey and Berlin had great OC’s and not mention the same guy alwasy being there. Harris and Wright each spent their careers under three different OC’s a peice. Stability would have played a huge difference for number three and number 12. Coker felt pressure so he fired good guys which screwed Wright. Whipple was tryin to get the UM job so he just screwed everyone. But saying they were terrible is down right stupid. Harris and Wright both wanted to win and wanted to be great. No stability no work ethic by the guys around them thats what cost them their careers.
I think i think these two guys coming in could be great but i’d like to see atleast one of them redshirt so he can learn the playbook and miami’s brass better not let Fisch get away to an nfl team. I hope that Golden and staff learn this year that we don’t have to play a ton of freshman on offense. Let the older guys work and start redshirting this is not TEMPLE and that is one thing i believe golden needs to learn.
WELCOME HOME Gray and Crow.
Rather dumb of you to make a statement that can never be proven and and then tell someone to bang their head against the wall.
Outstanding good news. Lets get some size on the offensive line for protection. Forget Morris – he’s scramble ball. SUPER NEWS.
You’re wrong on Morris. It’s his team now (assuming he wins out). He’ll be a junior with a full year under his belt in the new system. He’s completely out of JH’s shadow. He’ll be fine. His head is good and will get better. He’s got good feet and a great arm. Morris had 1 game this year v. MD. He lead to a UM to take the lead 3 times only to have the D give it up again. Also, don’t forget that weird fumble by James right before half time which gave MD a TD (and the game). Stand with Morris, he’ll be fine.
Disagree that’s it’s Morris’ team. He was watching from the bench most of 2011 and started a few games late 2010. In all honesty, the quarterback position is wide open. Morris may have a leg up, but it’s far from his team.
Morris’s head is good. The only time this year he had a chance to make a clutch play he choked. I think morris has a ten cent head and until otherwise proven that won’t change.
Admin i agree with you i don’t think this is Morris’s team. I think we will see one hell of a battle between him and Williams for the starting job. Remember Williams wanted be the next Ken Dorsey at miami as did most of young cane fans at the time (including me) I think the QB battle is far from settled.
Admin can you guys get rid of the capcha deal its highly annoying.
DSCOTT – Morris’ head is good. Need to see what he’s all about, though. Couldn’t beat out Jacory Harris and has been rather quiet. Not sure what type of leader he is.
Quarterback position is absolutely wide open. Ryan Williams. Preston Dewey. Gray Crow. Maybe even David Thompson. It’s anybody’s game.
As for CAPTCHA, sorry it’s annoying … but not as annoying as us having to manually delete thousands of pieces of SPAM every week. Sorry.
Welcome! Let the competition begin! I just hope these are guys who will put in the work and stick with the program -not transferring the first time things don’t go in their favor. QB is definately a position of need, and these two guys coming in early is great. I think Thompson may end up in baseball, but Golden can say he tried. I’m not as concerned about the stars as long as they fit what Golden wants, and that the player is in a position of need, competing from Day 1. The two most important attributes we need in a QB are decision-making and accuracy. Who cares if you can throw the ball through a wall if you can’t hit it where you need to. All positions need to be up for competition and may the best man win. We need depth all over the place with guys who are hungry. This class will address some of those issues. I can’t wait for Signing Day.
Question. Is it better to red shirt our new QB’s and let Morris and Williams duke it out or let them compete from the get go? If Thompson comes in we’d have 5 QB’s competing at the same time. Personally I think it’s better to redshirt these guys the way Morris was redshirted last year until JH got injured.
RichmondVACane – If you get all three guys – Dewey, Crow and Thompson – you end up redshirting one or two.
Does Thompson come to Miami (instead of going to MLB) if he gets redshirted? Maybe. Maybe not. So that has to play into it.
Morris is still far from proven and we know nothing about Williams, you have to believe at least one of the new guys is thrown into the mix right way, if not two.
Lets really look at the situation for what it is.
Dorsey had Andre Johnson, Shockey, Mcgahee, and Portis. Berlin had Parrish, Hester, Winslow, Jarrett Payton. Wright had Leggit, Ryan Moore, and a non existant running situation (maybe you can say Tyrone Moss). Harris had Hankerson, TB3, Streeter, and Cooper/Jones/Miller depending on the year in question.
I say all this to say, that UM’s quarterback success utimately depends on the physical nature of the running backs. I can’t really remember a defense putting constant pressure on Dorsey EVER. Portis and Mcgahee were holding their own in the trenches. ON THE OTHER HAND, I still have the image of the FSU game this year when Byrd got blasted over the middle. The FSU defensive end beat our OL and DECLEATED Miller. If you don’t believe me look at it on youtube.
Talent gets you to the game. Being physical keeps you in the game. Until UM beefs up at D-Line, O-Line, Linebacker, and importantly running back we will continue to be second rate.
I read on ESPN.com that Jed Fisch maybe jumping to the NFL. Is there any info on this? What is your guys opinion on this?
The only “info” is the fact his name is in the running for some coordinator positions. Same way Al Golden was “in the running” for the Penn State job.
Unless you are Jedd Fisch, his wife or his agent, no one knows what’s going on. No scoop here. He’ll either stay or he’ll go.
Either way, would be nice if Miami was proactive and gave the guy a pay bump in good faith.
got a feeling williams will be the starter.