OXFORD, Ohio— "You've got to love this! I've got chills right now!"
 
When Miami Football opened fall camp this morning on the turf at Yager Stadium, the vibes were sky-high. And understandably so. After plenty of offseason lifting and conditioning, it was finally time to practice.
 
In the offensive line drills, associate head coach James Patton exuded energy. "Where else would you rather be? Right here, right now: Miami Football!," Patton yelled as his unit went through reps in the southwest corner of the field.
 
Although the RedHawk offensive line lost a number of contributors from the 2024 roster, that just means more opportunities in 2025 for the next guys up.
 
"It's a new group, but every year's a new group, whether you've got returning starters or new starters," Patton said. He'll look to lean on familiar faces like Greg Smith Jr. and Drew Terrill, who have each earned starts in the past, and is excited to see how some of the players who have been in the program for four years (such as Gavin Rohrs, Brandon Lawhorn Moore and Eric Smith) step up with open jobs available.
 
"They've been here. They've developed," Patton said of his returning veterans before also rattling off a number of younger names who should be in the mix for playing time this fall. "It's the first day: You want to see energy. You want to see competition. You want to see guys excited about what we're doing…and we saw a lot of that today…
 
"Battles are battles, and let's see who wants to win those spots!"
 
When the whistle blew to end practice, head coach Chuck Martin was upbeat and enthusiastic as he addressed his team.
 
"Great action in third down and red zone," said Martin. With the RedHawks only wearing spider pads (which means a minimum of real hitting), the coaching staff wanted to focus on installing schemes on both sides of the ball for the crucial situations the Red and White will undoubtedly face in key moments this fall.
 
"Everybody knows how important those are," Martin said afterward. "And we did some good stuff…we got a ton of install in today that probably a lot of [other] teams didn't."
 
Miami is scheduled to practice again on Wednesday morning, July 30 in Oxford.
 
 
INSIDE SLANT: On multiple occasions as he watched his offensive line, Patton brought up the same teaching point: "Stepping on his toes!" So is 'stepping on his toes' a good thing or bad thing? Well, we asked Patton that exact question later.
 
"It's all about stepping on the defender's toes and driving them off the ball. We don't want to be just sitting there…'pitter-patter'. We're driving through the defenders," Patton explained.
 
So, apparently, it's a good thing!
 
Fundamentals were a key part of each OL rep. "Toes on the white!" "Wider base!" "Faster feet!" "Tighter hands!" "Trust your footwork and your eyes!" "Stay in balance!"
 
 
PLAY OF THE DAY: Quarterback Dequan Finn is every bit as elusive as advertised, sprinting toward the right sideline on consecutive snaps in one team period to escape from the defensive pass rush (and then —perhaps even more impressively— stopping short to avoid an all-out collision with the fence in front of the Yager bleachers.)
 
 
EYEBALL EMOJI: Redshirt freshman safety Koy Beasley, a Purdue transfer, stood out with multiple pass breakups this morning. Beasley used two hands to knock away a pass intended for tight end Eric Karner over the middle in a one-on-one red zone drill and also produced a deflection on a corner route in a battle with Kam Perry.
 
 
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