Bandy on what it means to be a Hurricane, Willis receives advice to save himself for NFL | CanesInSight
Despite a three game losing streak, sophomore CB Trajan Bandy says the team’s mentality is still the same.
“Our mentality is to just go out there and keep playing,” Bandy said. “Obviously, things are not going our way, but all we can do is keep working hard, keep having fun and keep practicing hard. That's all we can do.”
"Well, not really. Those guys know what they need to do,” Bandy said. “They're just going to keep getting better. I feel like they're getting better, I feel like we're getting better and hopefully we can get a W this weekend."
This week, the Canes will head on the road to face the tricky Georgia Tech triple option offense that is ranked first in the country in rushing yards per game at 377.
“We just have to be disciplined, go down there and make those tackles,” Bandy said of stopping the Yellow Jackets. “Those guys are going to be cutting this week. We know that, so we just have to get our hands on them and then make a tackle.
"They do a lot of option. They do a lot of cutting and everything happens so fast. You have to keep your eye on your man because you never know when they might do a trick play, he might spit it out or he might have the ball. You never know, so we just have to have eye discipline on everything."
Every year, Miami spends their week of practice a little differently to prepare for GT’s specialized offense, but Bandy said it’s not just a one week deal.
"Well we work on them in the off season, too. We do a lot of bag drills where they throw the bags at us and we push it back down to the ground,” Bandy said. “We've been preparing for them throughout the season, but it's definitely unique. It's an option team. They run with their quarterback, they give the ball to the fullback, sometimes they pitch it to the wingman and he might go out there and throw the ball, so it's just so much that can happen. So we have to adjust everything, be on discipline and just play fast."
A true Hurricane at heart, Bandy grew up rooting for and loving the Canes, and it was his dream school. That’s why wearing the U is a just a little bit more special to him.
"Well I'm from here, I'm from Miami. This has always been a dream come true for me to play here, no matter what,” Bandy said. “If we're winning or losing; I love Miami, I love the place, I love the coaches, I love the atmosphere, I love everything about it."
**With the team in a funk, senior DT Gerald Willis said he’s begun receiving advice from some to quit playing in games and save himself for the NFL. Even so, Willis has already taken time away from the field in the past and doesn’t want to lose the passion he’s rediscovered this season.
"I've been hearing that a lot, even from some guys that I know in the NFL, saying I shouldn't play in the bowl game, or shouldn't being doing this or that, but I'm playing for my brothers,” Willis said. “I'm playing for them. I'm going to chase every opportunity I have to put on a Miami uniform and I'm going to go hard."
UM will match up with a Georgia Tech team in Atlanta this week that is 5-4 and coming in on a 2 game winning streak and Willis feels the team is up to the task of stopping the Yellow Jackets triple option.
"We're up for the challenge like every other week,” Willis said. “We just have to get ready for the cut blocks and these double teams, but we're ready."
“Just knowing your assignment, just knowing what you have to do each and every play,” Willis said. “If you do not know your assignment the ball could break for a touchdown. So just really knowing your assignment and just playing fast.
"In the summer time and we had a bye week and we practiced on Georgia Tech,” Willis said. “Coach Diaz, he's always on Georgia Tech. Every little break we get, he's takes advantage of it and we're running plays."
On the recent decommitments: “At the end of the day, it is their own choice,” Willis said. “They have to deal with their family and stuff like that. Miami is a great program. Miami changed my life in many ways that I will always be thankful for. Miami is the "U". If you want to be great, come the The U. Things are not going the way we wanted it to this year, but things can change around in a year. It is a great place, if you want to come, you come, if you don’t, you don’t. If you want to be great and coached by the best coaches, come.
"I was a recruit at one time, too. When I saw top players leave and do their own thing, I wanted to leave too and see what the problem is. I understand it that the guys are going to be guys. We're not living up to the expectation that Miami speaks of, but like I said, if you want to come, come. If you want to be coached by a top defensive coach and you're a defensive recruit, come. Coach Diaz will change your life and make you a great player."
**The team has been holding player-only meetings to figure out what it will take to get the season back on track but sophomore DE Jon Garvin said he is still striving to do more than just talk about being better.
“There is more we have to do, because we still have to bring everybody together and be together as a collective,” Garvin said. “So, more of that has to go on, more of that is going on. So, we are taking a step into the right direction.”
In terms of continuing to bring in more talent to the program, Garvin feels the greatness being shown by the defense speaks for itself.
“It’s just what you are willing to do and what you are looking to achieve, because for us, you have seen it happen,” Garvin said. “We are achieving greatness in some aspects, we are dominating in some aspects, and we are trying to do better. If you are coming here to look and be around great people and become great, that is what you have to do; be around other great people.”
UM has lost some commitments the past few days, and many believe the current losing streak has played a big role in that. Back when Garvin was in high school, how a team fared on the field wasn’t really a factor to land his commitment.
“Wins and losses didn’t determine my decision as a recruit, so I don’t understand,” Garvin said. “Maybe they didn’t like the win-loss record, but that’s their deal. Last year we won 10 games in a row.”
**At 5-4, the Canes have still not secured a bowl berth, but senior CB Michael Jackson says he hasn’t even thought about possibly missing the postseason.
“Just have fun, like what they are doing right now, stay after practice and catch passes, just have fun,” Jackson said. “Don’t get so caught up in ‘oh this is happening, we aren’t putting points up, playing bad’, no that doesn’t matter, it was three games. This is a 12-game season, so out of those three games, they played bad. This Saturday we have another opportunity to go out there and put as much points on the board as we possibly can and have fun.”
As a senior, Jackson is well-versed in facing the triple option offense that GT brings to the field and knows physicality is one way to slow the Yellow Jackets down.
“Just the mentality that you have to be physical, especially at corner,” Jackson said. “Us corners have to be physical and tackle. It’s not a cute game. You’re going to be dirty. You’re going to be sore after the game. You’re going to be banging all game and look up and it’s only the third quarter and you have to keep banging. It’s just a physical mindset.
“I’m a football player. They’re going to test and see if you tackle. They’re going to see if you’re scared to get cut. You can get cut 10 plays in a row and you still have to come back and be as physical as possible on that 11th play because that one could change the game.”
On the recent decommits: “If you want to come, come. If you don’t, don’t,” Jackson said. “What people don’t realize is you come to Miami, fine, cool. You have to be built different. If you’re mad we took a couple of losses then that lets me know you’re trying to ride the wave of other teams. Because when we were winning everyone wanted to be part of us, now that we’re losing people want to decommit. So to be honest it’s like you weren’t built for that. Because you can decommit and go to another team and they’re losing. So then what are you going to do? Transfer when your team loses two or three games? It doesn’t work like that.”
I respect It Willis! However Richt doesn’t. He keeps putting you guys in awful positions and leaving you and your teammates out to dry. I truly Hope your rewarded for your continued play. Nobody could blame you for shutting it down
"Well I'm from here, I'm from Miami. This has always been a dream come true for me to play here, no matter what,” Bandy said. “If we're winning or losing; I love Miami, I love the place, I love the coaches, I love the atmosphere, I love everything about it.
I cant help but think that many of the issues are caused by a total lack of leadership at the most important position on the field. One is low energy and incapable of inspiring his teammates. And the other, if the reports are true, appears uninterested in the sacrifices it takes to succeed at this level. Love him or hate him, but Kaaya brought leadership to that position and I'm hoping Jarren is the one that steps up. I think Brevin is going to be a great leader in the locker room, but he's not the one talking in the huddle. And Jaquan, Trajan, and Gerald can only do so much from the sideline.
Played some option teams in HS. They go for your legs, it's not really feasible to shed a block like you do when a blocker is coming at you straight up. When they are down low going for your knees, you use their momentum to shove them into the ground and step over them (or onto them just for fun). Once they are face down they are basically out of the play as they can only leg whip or try to pull you down from that position, so there isn't anything between you and the ball carrier (as opposed to a normal blocker who can still try to turn a shoulder or impede you in some way). I think the bag drills is just practicing shoving their faces into the ground.
Played some option teams in HS. They go for your legs, it's not really feasible to shed a block like you do when a blocker is coming at you straight up. When they are down low going for your knees, you use their momentum to shove them into the ground and step over them (or onto them just for fun). Once they are down, they can only leg whip or grab you, so there isn't anything between you and the ball carrier (as opposed to a blocker who can still try to turn a shoulder or impede you in some way). I think the bag drills is just practicing shoving their faces into the ground.
Willis needs to play. He has undeniable raw ability but a lot of scouts are going to use his lack of game film against him. He needs to play in every game that he can and he needs to dominate. Also needs to demonstrate that he can play an entire season, which he has never done before. NFL season is 16 games + playoffs potentially. He needs to show he can handle that kind of load.
"The team has been holding player-only meetings to figure out what it will take to get the season back on track but sophomore DE Jon Garvin said he is still striving to do more than just talk about being better. "
Willis is my favorite cane and best DT we've had in the past 15 years. Thank god Golden brought him in but didn't fatten him up and 2-gapped his career to death.
I respect how shtty it is playing right now and I know it's all a "business" these days, but I'm old fashioned. I expect guys on a team to play like they're on a team. You have a responsibility, and without that the team doesn't work. Put it this way: what if we were 8-1 and he was talking about not playing in a bowl if we didn't beat Clemson, would you respect that? Where do we draw the line? Everybody with NFL potential could have just packed it in after LSU. That may sound silly, but it's where this is all heading. First it's bowl games, but why not the last game of the season? Second to last maybe?
Thank God Willis isn't listening to that ****. I hope that it isn't any former Canes telling him that crap.
New Jersey added a new herb to its state garden last Tuesday when Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Acton his last day in office.
Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried of Manhattan, the Health Committee chairman and a nearly annual sponsor of medical marijuana legislation, said that he hoped this year’s bill would reach the floor in the next few weeks and that both houses would pass it by March, before they get tied up with the state budget.
An almost identical bill has been proposed in the Senate, sponsored byThomas K. Duane, the Senate Health Committee chairman. Each bill would allow the use of marijuana to “treat a serious illness under medical supervision,” such as cancer, arthritis or H.I.V./AIDS.
“I think that the main obstacle over the years has been the fear of many in public life to touch anything with drugs,” Mr. Gottfried said. “But I think the climate around the states has changed.” He referred to the new laws in a handful of states, as well as to the reversal in longstanding federal policy in October, when the Justice Department stopped pursuing and prosecuting users or providers of medical marijuana who were complying with state laws.
“What is often surprising is that people tend to assume it’s a controversial bill, and that’s been an obstacle,” Mr. Gottfried said. “But other than the state Conservative Party, there has been little to no resistance. Even public opinion polls show overwhelming support.”
Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, said that the issue had not come up recently and had not on been on the Senate’s radar. Several Republican senators have quietly expressed support for medical marijuana, said Gabriel Sayegh, a project director for the Drug Policy Alliance Network, which works to promote medical marijuana laws.
Michael R. Long, the chairman of New York State’s Conservative Party, said that while he was not currently working with any organizations to block the bill, he firmly believed that passing the legislation would send the wrong signal to young people, especially in the face of the antismoking campaigns and taxes on sugared drinks.
“And especially when there is no medical proof that marijuana assists anyone anyway,” Mr. Long said. “It would open the floodgates for misuse.”
In 1980, the Legislature and Gov. Hugh L. Carey enacted a medical marijuana law in New York. But the law required that a state review board be set up to rule on doctors’ requests to prescribe marijuana, and one was never appointed.
In this century, medical marijuana bills have been introduced several times. Two passed the Assembly with bipartisan support, but stalled in the Senate. Last year’s version was derailed during the Senate stalemate in Albany in June.
Some Republicans who favor legalizing marijuana for medical purposes areagainst the idea of allowing patients and caregivers to grow their own, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
Others have looked with concern at California, where the state has had difficulties restricting the sale and cultivation of marijuana after its law was passed in 1996. There, local governments have had to step in because of public safety issues, as well as unintended effects that some say have a provided legal shield for commercial growers. Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council moved to shutter most of the city’s thousand-plus marijuana dispensaries.
To make the law more palatable to skeptics, Mr. Gottfried said, this year’s legislation allows registered patients to obtain at most only most 2.5 ounces of the drug from state-licensed entities, which would be overseen by the state’s Department of Health.
While Gov. David A. Paterson has not announced his position on the bill, he made his views on the issue known in a Rolling Stone article last year. “Our society is odd because we have this contempt for marijuana smoking,” he said. “Meanwhile, people have access to pharmaceutical products that are just destroying them.”
Other supporters of medical marijuana in New York include the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York State Nurse’s Association, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York, the StateWide Senior Action Council and Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
“If New York doesn’t pass medical marijuana legislation,” said Mr. Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, “it has everything to do with the dysfunction in Albany.”
New Yorkers, please dont be fooled by the bullshit going on in albany. They are trying to pass a restrictive bill that shows absolutly no compassion for the patients whom its designed to help. The powers that be understand public opion is changing drastically in NY on medical marijuana(70%) So they are trying to pass a HIGHLEY restrictive bill. Please dont be fooled by NJ’s bill as its being sold to the public. It is not the “model bill” for states looking to adpot compasionate use laws. This law is a special interest, LEO invested, state run monopoly on medical, and criminal marijuana. They tell us in NY that they need to take patients right to their own medication, and knowing whats in it, all to gain support from republicans. I have news for you, Its all bullshit. The dems had control of the senate for the first 6 monthes until a power struggle broke out, now once again the control the state senate. They dont need republicans to pass the bill. It basically comes down to law enforcement giving politicians millions of dollars in campaign funds just so long as they stay tuff on drugs, and keep making new laws. Restricting the growing of MMJ is just a small part of that. Now what can you do? If your in NY get over to the NYNormal website, and download the petition and start getting signatures. Its directly to Gov Patterson, and hes made his views clear in the past. He thinks alcohol is much worse that marijuana, and judging by his past im sure hes had a smoke or two. Please get as many signatures signed and returned, and well have a just, fair mmj law in the empire state, which is LONG overdue for MMJ law reform. Is there anything that can be done to revive the law past in 1980? NY is too libral and progressive to be lagging so far behind on this one.
you get a reaction. you get high. it feels better than being sick. it helps in that way and alone that should even be enough.
it reduces nausea, aid wasting syndrome. gives chemo patiients an appetite so they can eat and begin to nourish their bodies so they have some chance…
people that go around saying cannabis has no medical use should quickly be grilled publicly because it is lies and it helps people to make a badly informed opinion.
on top of that it will mean that some that may benefit will not go down that pathway for thinking it does not work. when your terminally ill this becomes a big problem when some people choose to lie.
Marc sells stuff because he is a businessman who has employees, taxes, utility bills and rent to pay. Probably just like your sorry ass! You shouldn’t write anything if you’re just planning on advertising how stupid and idiotic you are.
Thats why also ALL clinls are MOVING OUTSIDE L.A. City and COUNTY BY 2011. The city people just had to lay off 1,000 workers in this city, but the sale tax alone whould have payed for not 1,000 workers, but, 12,000 city workers!!But we are leaving and L.A. just like the new york can turn into a ghost towns for all we care. Just like Vancouver will be! BOYCOTT!! Corp. WORLD GAMES!!! Take that monies and help the cause loacly for you your children and friends!! Besides where MARC going he wont need money, so why sell stuff marc? Is it the GREED coming to the surface??
Where does ANYONE whos a reporter for the NEW YORK TIMES!, …Know anything about Canabis?? Fuck this writer and THE NEW YORK TIMES!! Mouth of the MAYORS PAPER!! This rag def.!! needs to be added to the BOYCOTT LIST and soon!
Ridiculous how the text takes NIMBY attitudes in California and turns them into verified problems: “…the state has had difficulties restricting the sale and cultivation of marijuana…” and “local governments have had to step in because of public safety issues.” Had to step in, huh?
It’s official. Tax Cannabis 2010, the most far-reaching state effort ever, would legalize the consumption of cannabis for all adult over 21 — and would finally take the industry that serves those consumers out of a legal gray area — will qualify for the November mid-term ballot later today.
The Tax Cannabis campaign gathered just under 700,000 signatures, well over the 434,000 needed to qualify for the ballot.
Interestingly, the ballot initiative refers to local control, meaning that cities and counties can decide whether to allow regulated marijuana sales at all, and if so, how that would work. Tax Cannabis allows for the personal consumption, possession and cultivation of cannabis by any adult over 21 throughout the state, but the business of it would be left to local jurisdictions. (A few people suggested Lee was inspired by his home state of Texas’dry-county, wet-county policy regarding alcohol sales.)
I still stand behind what I wrote back in January: This is the best chance for marijuana legalization on a state-level yet.
many, many people already are making plans to come celebrate with us, from every corner of the country, there will not be a shortage of good non toxic all natural, safer than H2O, herb. Be here to count the votes and may I suggest you get a smoking room. we have to stop the madness, it is insane that the feds and local authorities are still going after law abiding medical cannabis patients, and local officials, closing dispensaries.
so would washington and all those other presidents…they all smoked too. modern times has brought marijuana down. its not them…its the others…
so i’m thinking this is the right way….not legalization, but decriminalization… this is so awesome. Now all the cops can go shove it…at least this makes it a little more safer for us now… yay!
It doesn’t matter what the feds want we have 10th amendment. Anything not decided in the constitution for the feds to be in charge of they aren’t. It’s left to the people and the states. If they come in to California then the local sheriff will just have to tell them if they don’t leave they will be arrested for kidnapping and robbery.
At least that will be a step towards freedom for people , especially people who want to grow there own personal ( which is pretty much everyone able that smokes). The main reason people are opposed to the change is because they make money by taking advantage of prohibition in one way or another.
It may not completely legalize it, but if passed it would be the best and least restrictive cannabis law in the United States. There’s no reason to complain because we’ve been waiting for a change like this for over 70 years, even longer in some states. This could start a land mark shift in marijuana policy across the world.
Only problem is, what county is going to allow marijuana sales with a federal law that over rides state law? The feds have made it very clear that they will not support this, and unfortunately, the DEA will probably start making busts all over the state. They may even make the police in Cali enforce federal law on everyone but the medical patients (although the decriminalization law currently in effect may make that impossible.) If no county authorizes sales, then what exactly is going to change?
I wish they would just back off and let states make their own decisions. Lets just hope this passes and they find it too overwhelming to chase down every recreational user and commercial/personal grower.
Our time is now, it’s only a matter of time before the first state controls, regulates and taxes marijuana, and other states are surely to follow suit.
and the medicinal patients still have all their legal rights to cannabis in the amounts they can grow and possess.
Hopefully everyone reads and registers the ever-so-important first seven words from the Richard Lee quote above…”The measure does not actually legalize pot…” If you’re from California and are going to vote in November, be careful how you vote for Tax Cannabis 2010. This is hardly legalization.
Cant wait till November, Good luck putting Emery in jail in California for seeds when its legal there!!
Yes! Finally..I don’t even live in Cali and I’m so excited for you guys!Take that Mr.Obama,maybe next time you’ll think before you laugh at the cannabis community.
The global war on drugs has failed – that’s according to a commission that includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz. A report released by the Global Commission on Drug Policy on Thursday calls for the legalization of marijuana and other controlled substances.
POT TV – TheWeedGuy, aka Mark Klokeid, is founder of Kush.ca and the iMedikate medical marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver. Watch his smoke-fests on Pot TV. In this episode: TheWeedGuy is in Toronto, Vancouver checking out the 2014 Champs Expo.