Hurricanes and Dolphins postscripts:
• UM coach Al Golden inherits a roster with plenty of talent but also holes to fill at cornerback, linebacker and elsewhere. With Tuesday's news that Brandon Harris is turning pro, the Canes will lose their top three corners in Harris, DeMarcus Van Dyke and Ryan Hill.
Sophomore Brandon McGee, erratic as a backup, is now a likely starter, but the other spot is wide open. McGee "is our fastest corner, but it's all about confidence with him,"
Hill said.
Before being replaced by Mark D'Onofrio on Jan. 1, former defensive coordinator John Lovett said: "He's got the ability to do the things asked of him, but will you be able to consistently count on him to do it?"
Lee Chambers, moving from running back to cornerback, "is very fast, but he's always banged up,"
Lovett said.
Hill said former quarterback A.J. Highsmith, who might be better at safety but could play corner, "is strong and has the speed to keep up with receivers."
Among freshmen Devont'a Davis, Keion Payne and Kacy Rodgers, Lovett and Hill said Rodgers is the furthest ahead. "And physically, he's the biggest of those three,"
Lovett said.
UM wants to add an experienced corner, and has offered Byron Moore, who had nine interceptions at a Los Angeles-area junior college after leaving the University of Southern California. The corner/safety is the nation's top-ranked junior college defensive back and is reportedly considering UM, Tennessee and Oregon State. He will visit Jan 22.
• Highly recruited safety Latwan Anderson recently left UM. Anderson, who left the football program during the season to focus on track, is the only player to withdraw from school since the season ended.
• UM coaches also are concerned about linebacker, especially depth behind Sean Spence, Ramon Buchanan and Kelvin Cain (who likely will replace senior Colin McCarthy in the middle). Freshman Kevin Nelson, who was expected to make an impact but didn't play, chose not to participate in UM's December practices or attend the Sun Bowl but remains enrolled and will meet with coaches to discuss his future, a UM spokesman said.
Former linebacker Jordan Futch wants to stay at tight end, but coaches must decide that. There has been talk of possibly moving defensive end Marcus Robinson to linebacker, but that will not happen anytime soon because he's in a boot with a foot injury.
But there is hope that James Gaines, Travis Williams and Shayon Green will develop -- concussions have delayed Tyrone Cornelius' progress -- and linebackers coach Michael Barrow said, "We didn't realize how good Kelvin was."
• Asante Cleveland enters 2011 as the likely starting tight end. "He's done an incredible job,"
offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland said. Clive Walford, Andrew Tallman, Futch and disappointing Billy Sanders and Chase Ford are still on the roster, but UM wants to sign one or two tight ends. Top prospect Nick O'Leary has said he will choose from among FSU, UM, Alabama and LSU on Saturday.
• As the Dolphins continued exploring coaching possibilities (Bill Cowher, Jim Harbaugh, potentially Jon Gruden, etc.) while keeping Tony Sparano as a fallback, a friend of Cowher reiterated that he would have interest in the Dolphins if the job is open but only on his terms (total control of personnel staff, big money). NFL.com reported that Cowher did not like what was initially presented by the Dolphins, including a scenario with Jeff Ireland staying, and deemed it unlikely that Cowher would come here. But everything about the situation -- including Cowher -- remained fluid Tuesday.
