Candid, eyebrow-raising comments by Canes QB. And UM loses running backs coach Harris

1/25/2024
Jacurri Brown has watched the Hurricanes add two quarterbacks in the past month — presumptive 2024 starter Cam Ward and Albany’s Reese Poffenbarger, who led FBS in passing touchdowns (36) and passing yards (3,603) last season.
But Brown — whose future has been the subject of speculation for months — reiterated this week that he has no intentions of leaving Miami in 2024.
“If I leave, stay, I have to compete wherever I go,” Brown said on the Momentum Podcast with former Southern Cal and Tennessee Titans quarterback Mo Hasan.
“I’m definitely going to come back for another year. … I’m about loyalty and relationships….Anybody who asks me ‘How you feel about Cam coming in?’ [I respond] `We’re just going to get better.’”
Brown — who threw for 181 yards (20 for 31 passing), one touchdown and one interception in the Pinstripe Bowl loss to Rutgers, his only appearance of the season — was not Tyler Van Dyke’s backup last season partly because Emory Williams impressed throughout the summer and partly because Brown requested a redshirt after concluding Miami intended to use his running skills more than his passing skills in games.
“I was thinking bigger picture,” he said. “This past year I dove into myself, asked ‘Can I go scout team?’ I’m not going to sit there and get a tan all day. So I went scout team. It was fun. On scout team you have to be exactly accurate or those boys aren’t going to catch the ball.”
He will now compete with Poffenbarger and Williams — whom he praised — for the No. 2 job behind Ward. Freshman Judd Anderson is the team’s fifth scholarship quarterback.
“Me personally, I just have to get better,” Brown said. “I have to work on accuracy. That comes with time, live reps.”
Brown said second-year offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson is more a teacher than yeller: “Inside the meeting room he isn’t doing all that screaming. We watch our film; he’s very anal about overthrowing deep balls, not throwing posts across the field. Just give the guy a chance [to grab it]. That’s what I like.”
On the podcast, Brown was critical of two coaches on Mario Cristobal’s offensive staff in Cristobal’s first season — offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce.
Gattis’ angry tone angered some players, and Brown said: “I can take coaching … but if you are coming at me as a person instead of player… The relationship just shattered.”
Gattis, dismissed after one season, was offensive coordinator at Maryland last season.
Meanwhile, Brown suggested Ponce was a handful: “It got to the point it was how I stand before I take a snap. I’ve been playing, you recruited me, so why are we talking about my stance?”
Ponce left UM after a year to become Appalachian State’s offensive coordinator.
Brown said he expects UM to add another wide receiver and described his long-term life goals this way:
“I want to retire, move to Texas, have a ranch, a big-ass ranch. To get there, the card is football.”
HARRIS JR. LEAVES
On Thursday, UM lost running backs coach Tim Harris Jr., who left to become UCF’s offensive coordinator.
Harris was a four-time NCAA All-American and ACC champion for the University of Miami’s track and field team. He previously was an offensive coordinator at FIU and co-offensive coordinator at UCF.
“I’m excited to welcome Tim back to our staff,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said in a statement. “He’s one of the best coaches and teachers of the game that I’ve worked with. Tim was a huge part of building our foundation in our first two years here and he’s a rising star in our profession.”
In their one season with Harris on staff, the Canes averaged 173 yards rushing per game (44th in the country) and 5.12 yards per carry, which ranked 16th.
Harris’ departure is the first change on UM’s coaching staff this offseason. Cristobal will need a third running backs coach in three years at UM. Kevin Smith, who was Harris’ predecessor, returned to Mississippi last offseason after spending one year on Miami’s staff.
BURROUGHS ENTERS PORTAL
UM defensive tackle Jamil Burroughs, who transfered from Alabama to the Canes last summer, has left the program and entered the transfer portal without ever playing a snap at Miami, per 247 Sports.