Miami Hurricanes 2012: News, Notes and Updates from Spring Practice

The Miami Hurricanes football officially started spring practice on March 3rd at Greentree Practice Fields with numerous drills and workouts.

The Hurricanes are coming off of an 6-6 season with higher hopes of contending this year.

The offense returns just three starters while the defense is bringing back five, but don't let that fool you as Miami rotated multiple players throughout the season.  Some of the best players on this years squad were underclassman.

Miami concludes spring practices with their annual spring game at Sun Life Stadium on April 14.

Here is a breakdown on how things are going so far this spring. 

Spring Depth Chart Released

Head coach Al Golden released the depth chart on March 1st with many surprise choices.

The ones that stick out the most are Andrew Swasey above Vaughn Telemaque and Tyrone Cornileus ahead of Denzel Perryman.

It seems to be very questionable, but the reason why you see such a strange depth chart is because coach Golden bases his spring depth chart on off-season conditioning.

You can see the entire spring depth chart here.

True Freshmen Making an Impact

There are seven true freshman that enrolled early and are participating at the spring practice session, Ereck Flowers, Preston Dewey, Gray Crow, Taylor Gadbois, Ladarius Gunter, Raphael Kirby and Josh Witt.

Crow and Dewey have both looked sharp at the quarterback position while Gunter has been a surprise playmaker at cornerback picking off a pass in the third practice.

Linebackers, Kirby and Witt have also made some big time plays and performing very well in pass defense.

Other notable freshman that are not enrolled at Miami yet are five-star players Duke Johnson and Tracy Howard, both of whom are expected this summer/fall.

Ryan Williams Is Looking Extremely Sharp at Quarterback

Ryan Williams officially started his Hurricane career with three great days of practice. 

The sophomore has been listed as the starter for the spring session mainly due to the fact that Stephen Morris is recovering from back surgery.

Williams was not a very highly touted high school player and eventually chose Memphis over Eastern Michigan after his senior year of high school.

At Memphis, Williams got the starting nod in just his freshman year throwing for 2,075 yards and 13 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in 2010.

Memphis had decided to change their offense during the off-season so Williams decided to transfer to Miami.

The 6-foot-6 Williams has been the center of attention at Greentree Practice Field as there is very little depth at the quarterback position. The only other quarterbacks that are practicing this spring are two true freshmen, Preston Dewey and Gray Crow.

Williams has showed that he has the arm strength and accuracy to compete for the starting position this year throwing an 80-yard touchdown bomb to Rashawn Scott and multiple big plays to Phillip Dorsett.

Injured Hurricanes and Suspensions

There are several Hurricanes that will not be participating due to injuries, Ramon Buchanan, Nantambu-Akil Fentress, Corey King and Stephen Morris.

Buchanan is still recovery from a season-ending knee injury while Morris recently underwent back surgery but will get limited time throwing the ball this spring.

In addition to the injuries, three Hurricanes were also suspended on March 3rd through the weekend, Seantrel Henderson, Kelvin Cain and Keion Payne.

Head coach Al Golden didn't give any details on what they did wrong, just noting that the players violated team rules.