It didn't take long for Javarris James' dad to figure out what was wrong with his son.
The Miami running back was sitting with a blank stare on the couch at his father's house in the rural town of Immokalee after a game last season where he rushed for 46 yards.
"I told him he wasn't doing so good, running and all,"
John Javarris said. "He didn't say anything, so I knew something was wrong."
It's typical for John James to be a pain in the neck when it comes to getting on his son. But last year, Javarris had a real pain in his neck that hampered him all season. He didn't want Miami coach Randy Shannon to know. And Shannon didn't until John James called him, much to his son's dismay.
"He didn't want to lose his spot. But I told him he wasn't doing so good. He was hurting himself. His performance wasn't up to par and he was asking to come out a lot of games,"
the elder James said. "I told him, man, you can't play like that."
Javarris James had stingers and throbbing pain that would come and go in his neck stemming from an injury he suffered in the season opener. Tests didn't reveal anything serious, so he continued playing. His season wasn't very productive. James finished with four touchdowns on 582 yards rushing and was spelled during games because of that injury.
"It prevented me from doing some of the things that got me here,"
the running back said.
The injury wasn't the first time John James intervened in his son's life.
In elementary school when James was acting like a "class clown,"
his dad came and sat in the classroom with him until school got out.
"When I got home, he didn't play,"
the younger James said.
Last season, father wouldn't say hello to son after James rushed for 28 yards in a 51-13 loss to Oklahoma.
"He was just like, 'Man, what you doing?"
' James said.
Miami's running back doesn't mind the meddling.
"Being here, you're going to get some people that say you're overrated and all this. It can't get no worse than what I heard from my daddy,"
he said.
"He's always going to get on me. I'm always going to do something wrong to my daddy. I remember in high school, I rushed for 300 yards, he came to me and said, 'man, you ain't running the ball."
'
This year, Javarris doesn't expect to hear much. He's gotten bigger -- he put on 11 pounds this offseason -- and said he hasn't felt any lingering neck pain.
He also said he's matured, partly because he has a 20-month-old daughter, Javaria.
"It's a big difference -- he's more serious about what he does now,"
the elder James said. "He gets a chance to unwind with her because she is a mess, she is an absolute handful."
It doesn't hurt that Javarris has sophomore Graig Cooper with him in the backfield. Miami is expected to rely heavily on the two, considering that the starting quarterback chosen will be a freshman.
Senior receiver Kayne Farquharson compares James' running style to a Bentley and Cooper's to a Ferrari.
"It's good to know they'll be running the ball,"
Farquharson said.
Cooper was also battling injuries last year, but finished with 682 yards rushing. As a freshman, James ran for 802 yards while being the lone consistent performer in the Hurricanes' backfield.
Coaches are excited about having both healthy.
"Both could be top backs in the country,"
running backs coach Tommie Robinson said. "If I can keep them healthy, we can have a productive year."
Since coming to Miami as a highly touted back with a famous cousin -- Arizona Cardinals running back Edgerrin James -- Javarris James hasn't lived up to those expectations.
He wants a national championship this year. But it's not something Miami, coming off a 5-7 season, is expected to contend for.
"I want to win. Even if I have to have two yards in order for us to get that W, that's what it's all about,"
James said.
It helps to have his dad in his corner.
"My daddy grew up in hard times,"
he said. "One thing he always taught me was to be humble. If I was to ever celebrate after a touchdown, he would kill me."
