OXFORD, Ohio— It's not easy to replace an experienced all-conference safety.
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Miami Football needs to replace two of them.
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With Eli Blakey (First-Team All-MAC) and Silas Walters (Second-Team All-MAC) out of eligibility after nearly 100 appearances between them, the RedHawks are looking forward to seeing who will step up at that position this fall.
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Redshirt senior Eli Coppess will certainly be a key piece of the equation.
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"Coppess has been here and Coppess has played a lot," said head coach Chuck Martin after practice today. "Coppess has started on defense, so he's got to be the start of it...
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"I have a ton of confidence he can run the show back there and do a good job for us."
Coppess
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"Most of my career, I was a role player and behind Silas and Eli," Coppess said. "Watching those guys come to practice and compete and just focus on the process every day is something that I'm trying to carry on and show the guys that have transferred in (and the younger guys as well): That's how we practice here. Just focusing on the details and working every day to become the best version of ourselves...
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"Those guys built that foundation...I just try my best to fill that role and make sure that everyone knows what we do: Running to the ball every play, communicating at a high level and knowing our assignment every day."
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"This year, we do have a lot of talent, but we lack that experience," said position coach Zane Ries. "That's why I'm always harping on, 'Day by day, we have to get better.' We have to take advantage of the reps we're getting, because quite honestly, we don't have a ton of guys that have played in a game like Pitt and the atmosphere that's going to be...
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"Take advantage of every meeting, every walk-through, every practice rep, every drill...and [our] guys have done a great job with that."
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"Having Eli Coppess has been awesome, and he's been waiting on this moment for a long time obviously, having Silas and Eli in front of him," Ries continued. "He's taking it bull-by-the-horns.
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"He's more of a lead-by-example guy, which is awesome because he shows up the right way every single day with the right mindset and takes advantage of every opportunity and does everything the right way. Our younger guys and new guys seeing the way he works and the way he carries himself is exactly what Miami Football is and what we want it to be. I'd say his best trait right now is [that] he's doing things at a high level consistently and leading the way in terms of how we want things done for the rest of the game."
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Miami is scheduled to practice again on Thursday morning, August 20 in Oxford.
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 NEED FOR SPEED:Ben Minich, a transfer safety from Notre Dame, is known for his blazing speed on the back end of the defense. In fact, Minich has one of the highest speed ratings of any player in the nation on the EA Sports College Football 27 video game with a '97'.
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Minich (in red)
"That's pretty fun – all my friends sending me videos [of them] playing with me in the game," Minich laughed this morning. "I ran track in high school, so I had some good 100-meter speed: I [ran] a 10.4 or something like that. I think that's where they got it from."
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Minich has enjoyed getting acclimated to the RedHawks' program and is looking forward to the fall. "It's been good to grow with a new group of guys and a different scheme," he said. "Getting a lot more opportunity out there [by] coming here...and I think we're really coming together and getting better each day."
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 COMMUNICATION BY COMMITTEE: With how new Miami's safeties are, Martin emphasized the importance of overall defensive communication in our pre-practice interview today. "With Toney [Coleman Jr.] and Kaleb [Martin] and Mychal [Yharbrough] returning at corner – last year, they were the new guys, and you had those senior safeties to help their young corners," Martin pointed out. "Now those guys can help the safeties, even though they're not the chief communicators at corner...
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"It helps to have Malcolm [McCain] at linebacker to help with all the communication pre-snap, and [Brock] Uihlein at linebacker to help with all the communication too...
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"So we have some good experience around them."
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"I think we just feed off each other," Minich agreed. "If I have a question, I can ask Malcolm, I can ask Coppess – there's so many guys that have been here for a while.
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"So they're giving out information, and [it's about] just watching and learning from them."
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 EYEBALL EMOJI: Senior wideout Leo Scheidler made some nice receptions and moves this morning, including a catch over the middle in a team period and then a couple of scores in the red-zone one-on-one drills – the first one while going to the ground near McCain on the left side of the field, and the second one a sharp out route near the right pylon.
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Safeties' drill INSIDE SLANT: One of the drills for Miami's safeties today involved working to get off a block and then wrapping up a 'roll tackle ring', a large tire-shaped pad that simulated the body of a ballcarrier.
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"It's a drill that emphasizes block destruction and stacking a block to go get involved in the play," Ries explained.
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"Our defense is built on edges," he elaborated. "As a perimeter player in our defense, you have to reroute the seam, obviously, to protect the corner. But also, you can't get blocked...so get outside the block, stack the block, and then go fold in and try to make a play if it is a run play that's bouncing out to you."
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 ABCs: Dillon Tatum, redshirt senior defensive back, jersey no. 1 Get to know a player on the 2026 Miami Football team in their own words.
 Attributes and Adjectives: What are three words that describe you as a player or a person?
"Energetic, supportive and loving."
 Background Bio: What brought you to Miami? How did you get here?
"Graduated from Michigan State, played a season at Northwestern, and now I'm at Miami...What brought me here? Really just the history of wins...and the competition level. Ready to go out there and compete. And other guys that have been here said a lot of good things about Miami. [Now I'm] ready to go win some games."
 Compare/Contrast: Who do you try and model your game after? "When Tyrann Mathieu was still playing, I used to model it after him. [The] Honey Badger: he played a lot of different positions. I played games at corner, safety, nickel. So just being able to be flexible and be versatile is a big part of my game, I think. And what sets you apart from other people at your position?
"Yeah, I started games at corner in the Big Ten and at safety in the Big Ten, then transitioned over to nickel. So just playing nickel and just bringing everything together, while also being aggressive and being able to use my speed in the right way."
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TatumDrive and Desire: Why do you play the game? What drives you to excel?
"I love to compete. I compete in everything. Playing for the name on my back is a big part of what I do – my family has put a lot into me being successful, and I don't want to mess that up. I just want to go out there for the guys and be the best person I can be."
 External Evaluation: Scouting report from a Miami coach or teammate.
"Physical and aggressive: that describes him to a T. It's why we took him. His tape from Michigan State and Northwestern – he gets guys on the ground. He plays extremely hard, and he would do anything for his teammates." -Zane Ries
"He's just energetic. I mean, he's flying to the ball. A lot of football IQ and been around for a while. He's a super-energetic guy I want to be on the field with." -Ben Minich
 Fun Facts: Share one or two interesting things about you that the average fan (or maybe even people on your team) might not know.
"When we're not in fall camp, I go bowling once or sometimes twice a week. My high score is 264. I've got my own bowling shoes. Other than that, I love to travel...[if] you look at my Instagram, I go a lot of places. I've been to Australia – that was a 17.5-hour flight out of L.A. But that was a great time and a very different experience; I enjoyed it."
 Golf Group: If you could assemble your dream foursome for a day at the golf course (anyone in the world past or present), who would you choose and why?
I don't really play golf, but...LeBron James, one of the GOATs. Drake. And honestly, I would bring one of my best friends. It doesn't really matter who; I would bring one of them with me. And then I would probably bring my dad too.
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Ries RIES RECOGNIZED: Ries found out this week that he was included in 247 Sports' 30Under30 list of the top young coaches in the country. "Very excited, very blessed," the 27-year-old assistant commented when asked about the honor. "Obviously, as a younger coach, it's something you strive to do. But I wouldn't have gotten there, obviously, without Coach Martin taking me in as a GA and then giving me the opportunity to be a full-time position coach. Coach Brechin has done a ton for me. Coach White has been a great mentor to me, working hand-in-hand with him. So, a lot of credit to those guys as well.
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"But definitely a surreal feeling, and I was excited when I saw it."
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OVERHEARD: "I can't wait for the season – to hit somebody other than my teammates!", said Brach Rice on the sideline during one team period. Then he immediately got back to work, getting in the backfield a few plays later to record a 'sack.'
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 PLAY(S) OF THE DAY: The Miami offense scored long touchdowns on back-to-back plays in the first team period of the morning, as David McComb found Maleek Huggins in stride down the right sideline and Caleb Heavner connected with Quintin Simmons on a post route the very next snap.
McComb
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"David [to] Maleek is the second time in two days they've hooked up on a big play for us," Martin said later. "You've got a new quarterback and you've got a new receiver, and you're starting to see some timing and rhythm...guys that are figuring out where to throw the ball to all the different receivers.
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"It just takes tons of reps...it takes time. But you're starting to see it these last couple days for sure."
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 For more inside coverage of Miami Athletics, bookmark RedHawk Insider. Miss a fall camp report? Catch up with our daily MiamiRedHawks.com notebooks:Aug. 18 | Aug. 13 | Aug. 12 | Aug. 11 | Aug. 8 | Aug. 6 | Aug. 5
 Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2026 Miami Football season are on sale now! Call (513) 529-4295 for more information. Get your first look at the RedHawks on Saturday, Aug. 22 during Miami's annual Kickoff with the Community' event at Yager Stadium. The event is free and open to the public, with gates opening at 10 a.m. and practice scheduled to start at approximately 11:10 a.m.
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