RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 2

OXFORD, Ohio— Last year's Miami offensive line returned zero starters from the previous season.

This year's group brings back four from the 2025 campaign: Kris Manu, Eric Smith, Greg Smith Jr. and Jacob Schorsch.

However, the key word on offensive line coach James Patton's mind remains 'competition.' Or, as he told his players in one of the first drills this morning, "Everybody's got a couple things they've got to get better at today."

Head coach Chuck Martin agreed with that sentiment. "Each individual knows their strengths and weaknesses because they've played, so they don't need me to tell you, 'Listen, you need to do this better.' Now it's them focusing on that through fall camp and saying, 'Hey, I have these strengths: We're going to keep building on those. These are my weaknesses [from] a year ago and I've got to eradicate my weaknesses," Martin summarized.

"I'm really focused on staying balanced, quick feet, always have hands on the side, and always strike first," Eric Smith said, offering one example in a MAC Media Day interview. "That's going to help me improve my game tremendously compared to last year."

"There's competition in every position," said Patton. "And it's great to have guys that played, and returning starters, but obviously we've got to be better than we were a year ago.

"So every one of those guys makes a jump. Every one of the backups that played last year makes a jump. But now we have some veteran transfers that have played, and they're going to make this next jump...

"The competition fuels it. And then how can we play together as a group? How can we play five as one? Whichever five combinations are in there."

Notable newcomers added to the mix include Evan Malcore, a multi-year all-conference selection at Northern Illinois with 32 career starts under his belt, and Brian Beidatsch, a Duquesne transfer who was recognized as FCS Offensive Lineman of the Year by Phil Steele in 2024.

In addition to being included on the Outland Trophy watch list, Malcore was named preseason First-Team All-Conference by several outlets this summer, which he admitted will motivate him heading into the fall. "Last year I was also preseason First-Team, and then I won Third Team," he said today. "I'm kind of thinking of it as unfinished business because I was never really able to have the season I wanted last year [as far as] where I was voted preseason. So I'm hoping I am able to actually get up to those awards...

"I think I can really step up my game here and level up to what I think I can be and my potential."

Miami is scheduled to practice again on Saturday morning, August 8 in Oxford.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Offensive linemen get to —have to?— use plenty of different pieces of equipment during their individual drills as they practice their footwork, drive and body positioning. We asked some of the coaches and players to explain the various 'toys' were using today and why.

Offensive — *Working with a Torque King in an OL drill*

"The two-man Rae Crowther sled is the best blocking sled; that's [for] teaching the leverage and feet on contact," Patton said.

"Sleds don't hit back. Defenders hit back, but at least we're teaching the footwork and the fundamentals of that. The Rae Crowther sled makes us keep our base and our feet underneath ourselves or it'll turn and spin on us, so that's a good teaching apparatus."

One of the last OL drills of the morning involved two players both holding on to something that almost resembled an arcade/video game's double steering wheel as they wrestled back and forth. "That's a Torque King – working on recovery and balance," Malcore said. "It's like a big metal wheel, and it's really keeping that in front of you.

"It's for pass protection, and keeping your feet under your hands, and just staying balanced."

And then there were the medicine balls, which look like oversized soccer balls but are definitely heavier than they appear to be!

"They weigh about 10 to 15 pounds...we basically just use it as stabilization," said Greg Smith Jr. "Just working on your core, keeping your core tight, keeping your body tight and strong – working on stability and fighting pressure."

COMPETITION UNDER CENTER: As Miami's quarterbacks battle for the starting job, Martin and his staff are working to make sure that the players each have plenty of chances to show what they can do. "Just trying to give them opportunities behind the 'one' o-line," the veteran head coach explained. "I'm not necessarily scripting identical, but giving similar opportunities to show their talents...trying to create as much equal competition as we can."

Today, that meant Thomas Gotkowski was with the first group for the team periods and David McComb got starter's reps during the 7-on-7 drills. Yesterday, it was McComb under center during the team periods and Gotkowski in the 7-on-7s.

ABCs: Greg Smith Jr., redshirt junior offensive lineman, jersey no. 74
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?

"Caring, passionate and loving."

Background Bio: What brought you to Miami? How did you get here?
"So, junior year Coach Patton started recruiting me. I fell in love with how he coached [and] how he treated his players. I just fell in love with the camaraderie of the team. Everybody was good to me, and that's how I got here. He recruited me my junior year, never stopped since day one and stayed consistent. Others fell off, and Coach was always here for me no matter what."

Compare/Contrast: Who do you try and model your game after? "My favorite player growing up was Trent Williams. I just liked how agile he was: Big, strong, elite at his position."
And what sets you apart from other people at your position?
"I feel like I've got good footwork and good body control. I'm athletic. I can get in compromised positions and still fight my way and be strong."

Drive and Desire: Why do you play the game? What drives you to excel?
"What drives me to play the game? I've been playing since I was five. I just fell in love with it, and I'm just super passionate about football. That's my drive."

External Evaluation: Scouting report from a Miami coach or teammate.
"Greg Smith is just a gritty guy. He's a strong guy...a great teammate, and he shows it on the field. He's got everybody's back." -Evan Malcore

Fun Facts: Share one or two interesting things about you that the average fan (or maybe even people on your team) might not know.
"I'm not that exciting. Probably a fun fact about me is that I want a monkey, actually. I want a monkey and a parrot."

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?
"Trent Williams. I'd love to be around Trent Williams. There's nobody else."

EYEBALL EMOJI: During red zone one-on-ones this morning, tight end Brendan Loftus knocked over a defender to pull in an easy touchdown pass over the middle. The 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman's physicality was impressive.

OVERHEARD: Martin was pleased with Miami's energy and focus this morning, reminding his team that not only are both qualities important, but they go hand-in-hand. He elaborated on those ideas (and the accompanying extremes to avoid) in our post-practice interview.

"[If] we're really locked in, but we're making plays and no one's excited? This is an emotional game; we've got to be excited with our teammates," Martin said. "Other days, we [might] be buck-wild with all this energy and we're not paying attention to any techniques, [just] running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

"Can you bring great energy? That's a professional player. Professional players bring the juice every day, but they also bring the focus every day. It's hard."

PATTON PIPELINE: Malcore has the rare experience of transferring to join Patton's position group at Miami after playing at NIU, where Patton's son Brayden is an offensive assistant coach. "It's kind of uncanny – seeing parts of one and then parts of the other," Malcore said. "They are two very different people, but they also have very similar overlaps."

"It's unique," Patton smiled. "Obviously Evan's a very mature, very smart, very detailed guy. He's played a lot of football; he's played in a different program. The way he did it in his program: My son and his O-line coach had their way and their mindset and how they do it, but now we're doing it here the way we want to do it. And Evan's bought into that and Evan's been a big piece of that."

PLAYS OF THE DAY: The offense made back-to-back big plays in the first team period this morning, with sophomore Lazaro Rogers (another NIU transfer) ripping off a long run, followed by Leo Scheidler (a senior transfer from Notre Dame) pulling in a tough contested reception down the left sideline from Caleb Heavner.

For more inside coverage of Miami Athletics, bookmark RedHawk Insider. Miss a fall camp report? Catch up with our daily MiamiRedHawks.com notebooks: Aug. 5

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RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 2

Related News

Players Mentioned

Brian Beidatsch

Thomas Gotkowski

Caleb Heavner

Brendan Loftus

Evan Malcore

Kris Manu

David McComb

Lazaro Rogers

Leo Scheidler

Jacob Schorsch

Eric Smith

Greg Smith Jr.

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