CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The COVID-19 outbreak did not come at a good time for anyone, but the timing really wasn’t good for new Miami Hurricanes receivers coach Rob Likens.
The 52-year-old veteran college assistant was in the midst of moving his wife, Soni, and their 10-year-old son, Cutter, to South Florida from Arizona right around the time everyone began to hunker down in their homes to help prevent the spread of the disease.
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The Likens wound up spending eight days in a hotel room at the Dadeland Marriott waiting for what Rob said “seemed like forever” to get into their new house in Pinecrest. Thankfully, Likens said, “everybody’s doing good.”
The only thing missing? Well, football.
The Hurricanes were supposed to wrap up spring practices with their spring game Saturday.
Instead, Likens is doing what everyone else on Manny Diaz’s coaching staff is doing right now: attending daily player and coaches meetings on Zoom; making sure his players stay on top of their academics, nutrition and health, and then it’s recruiting, recruiting and more recruiting.
“It starts early, right before lunch, and sometimes I don’t get off the phone because I’m recruiting guys out on the West Coast … sometimes ’til 11:30 at night,” said Likens, who on Feb. 7 — a week after Hall of Famer Ed Reed was hired as chief of staff — became the last of the three new offensive coaches Diaz hired.
“My wife just looks at me like I’m crazy. It’s like you’ve been on the phone since 8:30 this morning. So that’s our routine. I’ve also got a punching bag from my neighbor. I punch the punching bag every day which is kind of fun. I swim, bike and run, which I just got done doing and I’m never probably going to do again. Don’t ever go running at like 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Miami. That was stupid. The humidity, man, is no joke.”
I watched Mariano throw his Cutter to close out Game 6 of 2009 WS while I held my Cutter (2 mo) in my arms. Tonight we watched that game together again for the first time. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/POHrkFNZPA
— ROB LIKENS (@CoachRobLikens) March 27, 2020
The path to Miami
Raised in what he described as a “pretty tough area” of Youngstown, Ohio, by his mother and a variety of different family members after his parents separated before he entered elementary school, Likens said he didn’t have a positive male role model in his life and was headed down the wrong path until he moved to south Mississippi with his father when he was in high school. There, he says, he met a high school football coach who helped save his life.
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“He saved my life, man. High school football saved my life. That’s why I got into this profession,” said Likens, who played receiver in high school and graduated with a degree in math education from Mississippi State in 1990 before getting into college coaching two years later under Bobby Wallace at North Alabama.
The Lions won three consecutive Division II national titles running the triple option offense from 1993 to 1995. Then, in the mid-1990s, Wallace sent Likens to learn the Air Raid offense from Hal Mumme, who was at Valdosta State teaching it to Sonny Dykes, Tony Franklin and Mike Leach.
The trip to Georgia changed the course of Likens’ life. He’s coached either receivers or quarterbacks, or been the passing game coordinator or offensive coordinator at seven other college programs since, including Temple (1998-2003), Louisiana Tech (2010-12), Cal (2013-14), Kansas (2015-16) and Arizona State (2017-2019) over the last 22 years. Among the notable players Likens coached: first overall pick and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff and 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry.
“I’m glad I cut my teeth in the triple option because it taught me about defensive structure, how to call plays, running the football, how to run the football,” Likens said.
It’s All about the U!! pic.twitter.com/WozFnZgMpN
— ROB LIKENS (@CoachRobLikens) February 13, 2020
Look who I found @CanesBaseball pic.twitter.com/ILM6CQUxRw
— ROB LIKENS (@CoachRobLikens) February 15, 2020
It’s through Dykes that Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee made the connection to Likens. Lashlee coached under Dykes at SMU each of the past two seasons. Not long after Likens was let go as offensive coordinator at Arizona State, where he had a true freshmen starting at quarterback and true freshmen starting at left tackle and right guard, Lashlee reached out and hired a second offensive assistant with play-calling experience to his staff.
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“When Rhett got this job, I texted him,” Likens said. “I said, ‘Congratulations, that’s an awesome opportunity. I’ve been waiting to see Miami run the spread offense. I think it’s gonna be so cool.’ We just started talking and talking. Then it was ‘Hey would you be interested?’ I had some other opportunities. But I was like, ‘That sounds like kind of a fun deal there, man.’”
Likens didn’t have much fun coaching against the Hurricanes. In 1999, Miami crushed Temple 55-0. The game marked the first time in his career, Likens said, he was able to call plays.
“We got 12 first downs, and I remember those are the 12 best first downs I ever got my life,” Likens said. “That was the greatest defense I’ve ever seen. When I just hear The U, Miami, I hear the name of it, it’s a different response with me. It’s one of the handful of places across the country you go ‘Man, I would love to coach there.’”
Some early impressions
Miami was able to sneak in four spring practices before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. Likens said it’s hard to give a real evaluation of what he saw from Miami’s receivers because players were still adjusting to getting in shape and playing in Lashlee’s new up-tempo spread offense.
But Likens shared some early takeaways anyway.
“(Junior) Dee Wiggins seems to have some experience in how to run routes,” he said. “I would put (redshirt freshman) Jeremiah Payton in that same category. Those two guys look like they’re pretty route savvy. They kind of have a pretty good idea. They’re longer (than the other guys). So you like those guys on the outside. They can run some deep balls. They got the speed to do that. They also have the quickness to be able to run some decent intermediate routes. They have great ball skills. They’re long, they’re athletic, they’ve got pretty big catch radiuses. Those are kind of guys that you can project are going to be pretty good at the outside receiver.
“You also have (junior) Mark Pope. … I really liked the 6-foot’ish type guys that are similar around the 180 (pounds) realm. I’ve had a lot of success with those guys in my past because they have really good lateral movement. Even though they may not be the 6-4, 6-3 body frame, they’re able to get off press coverage, and those are the kind of guys you’ve got to (have to) be able to get off press.
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“Because as you know in Division I-A football, what people are doing on defense nowadays, they’re challenging offense. They’re no longer just sitting back letting you throw a quick game, underneath, soft, easy stuff anymore. Defenses are getting up in your face and they’re playing press coverage on the outside and they’re making you earn everything. So the guys that play on the outside, they’ve got to be able to get off press coverage. And that’s what I really liked about Mark Pope. He has freakish quick skills. I didn’t really get much of a chance (to see) … what he would do in the open field with the ball in his hands. Those situations only really kind of came up once in practice. I didn’t get a chance to see that, but I have a good idea that he’s probably gonna be pretty good at it, considering his skills that I see running a quick game and intermediate routes and getting out of breaks.
“I love Mike Harley, love his leadership when he walks into the room. He kind of was the leader when I first got in there. He was the kind of guy I went to first and talked to. So I like that out of him. He has some experience. He’s courageous across the middle. He’s not afraid. And that’s what you need with some guys that are gonna play on the inside.”
Shot some video of Miami’s receivers, in tight end and backs going through drills today. pic.twitter.com/FRjev97ndO
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) March 3, 2020
Here’s a video of #Canes freshman WR @dazalin4 Dazalin Worsham making a catch during drills Monday. pic.twitter.com/PjdHbnk1Qv
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) March 3, 2020
In addition to those four returning receivers, Miami signed four receivers in the 2020 signing class. The only four-star in the class, Michael Redding (6-1, 195), was unable to participate in contact drills because of a wrist injury. But Likens shared a couple thoughts on the other three freshmen.
“I call (Xavier Restrepo) the X man,” Likens said. “Xavier, I thought he did a really good job playing the slot. Really smart, absolutely loves football. That’s what I love about him. That’s what’s gonna make the kid successful. He absolutely just loves football.
“Keyshawn (Smith) from San Diego got in some reps. Dazalin (Worsham) had some flashes of really good athleticism. He did a great job in practice for our last practice. He caught a deep ball over on the right side. We kind of moved him a little bit trying to find his best place, which side he was going to be on and all that stuff. But he’s coming off a surgery that he had as well. So we kind of got him in in pieces there. We didn’t want to rush him. But I was pleased with some of the things I saw out of him, too, with his athleticism. He’s got some speed.”
Ultimately, Likens said, he’s going to need as many receivers healthy and ready to play when the season starts. Although he’s played and won with a true No. 1 receiver playing a lot, Miami’s up-tempo style is going to require quality depth. He said he employed 10 receivers when he was at Cal.
“If you’re going to play fast, you cannot just keep your first team in there,” Likens said. “That’s impossible to do and ask them to produce at a high level. You can’t do it. So I’ve been a part of that at two different offenses. When I was at Louisiana Tech, our 2012 squad actually was one of the top five most-efficient offenses in the history of college football. And then at Cal when we were with Jared Goff and those guys, we set some records there on offense as well. We were playing pretty fast, and we rotated almost like every two plays at receiver. We had eight guys play at both places every game. We’d just rotate in and out with guys.
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“Now, obviously, it’s gonna depend on the talent level of the guys coming in with that second group, whoever that second group is. If we have two guys at the same position and they’re kind of close to each other, you want to give them as many plays as you can to let them rotate out. No. 1, it creates great competition in practice. Now, if you have a first-round draft choice, and the guy behind him is down here, well, obviously, what’s the first-round draft choice doing on your sideline when you’re trying to win a football game, right? So, you have to kind of figure that out. So it goes case by case, position by position. But it also goes how fast are you (playing)? Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to really figure all that out. We’re going to have to make quick and fast decisions in fall camp.”
In terms of slot receivers, Likens said he believes outside receivers can always make the transition inside. But he said it requires some key skills.
“The thing that you don’t know about slot receivers until you play them is their decision-making ability inside,” Likens said. “Because they have to weave in and out of linebackers, make decisions off safeties, they have different stems, different rules, it’s a different world. So you don’t know if those guys can handle that position until you put them in there because they can be running full speed at a safety and all of a sudden the linebacker pops out and now you’ve got to use a different release to get around those guys in and out. But Marshall Few I thought did a really good job at times (in the slot) outside of Harley and Restrepo in practice. There’s some other guys that we didn’t get a chance to try there yet that maybe once we get through camp, you ask me that same question and I’ll be able to answer it a lot better.”
Recruiting philosophy
For now, Likens is zeroed in on recruiting.
According to 247Sports, Miami has offered 39 scholarships to receivers in the Class of 2021, more than any other position in the cycle. But we know the top targets include the No. 1 recruit in Miami-Dade County, 6-3, 185-pound five-star talent Jacorey Brooks of Booker T. Washington. Others include former Miami commitments Romello Brinson, a 6-2, 180-pound, four-star recruit from Miami Northwestern and Jacolby George, a 5-10½, 155-pound four-star recruit from Plantation (Fla.).
The Hurricanes are also pursuing Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater four-star slot receiver Christian Leary (5-9, 180), Miami Central four-star athlete Yulkeith Brown (5-10, 174), Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian Academy four-star outside threat Marcus Burke (6-3, 180), Coconut Creek (Fla.) Monarch three-star talent Jaden Alexis (6-1, 175) and Miami Palmetto and Florida Gators three-star commitment Brashard Smith (5-8 1/2, 177).
What does Likens look for in a receiver?
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Two qualities, he said, stand out above all else. Lateral quickness is the first.
“No. 1, you need to look for guys that can play outside,” he said. “Because if you can play outside, then theoretically you can play inside. And one of the things that you look for is guys who are able to get off press coverage like I stated before. So you look for lateral quickness, spot quickness. They don’t have to (run a) 4.3, 4.4 (in the 40-yard dash). You can get by with guys that run high 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 flattish type guys if he has great lateral movement.”
The second attribute?
“Football’s a tough game, so you look for toughness,” Likens said. “I had a great opportunity to spend a week out at the Senior Bowl, and I was just talking to a bunch of NFL scouts. One of the things they look for, (the reason) why they come to all of those practices is they don’t watch them while they play; they watch them in between plays. Those are the things when you look at practice, how does that kid respond to getting his butt-kicked on the line of scrimmage against press? Is he gonna put his head down and pout? Or is he gonna play harder the very next play because he loves it? You get to see those things when you go to practice. That’s a huge thing for me. Is the kid mentally tough? Because then he’s going to be able to overcome adversity. He’s going to attack adversity and not shy away from adversity. All the guys that I’ve known that have gone to the NFL since the 2013 draft, I’ve coached a bunch of them, they all had that same thing. They were tough. So, toughness, lateral quickness are the two things that I really look for.”
Of course, it’s hard to see that in person these days. So, as offensive line coach Garin Justice said last week, Likens is counting on the word of high school and 7-on-7 coaches to gage that as he looks at potential recruits.
“Film is great (but) film has fooled me,” Likens said. “This will be my 29th year of college coaching, my 31st in coaching, and I’ve been fooled off highlight films before. You can put together a pretty decent highlight (film). But I’m telling you guys, the intangibles, is what takes (former Arizona State receiver) Brandon Aiyuk from zero stars, nobody’s recruiting him to a possible first-round draft choice.”
Not only is he 1st round talent, but he’s a 1st round person. Love you BA! https://t.co/42eub8qTiW
— ROB LIKENS (@CoachRobLikens) March 11, 2020
Aiyuk was a player Likens recruited out of junior college. He caught 65 passes for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns last season for the Sun Devils. Miami has not had a receiver catch more than 65 passes since Leonard Hankerson in 2010. Allen Hurns was the last receiver to go over 1,000 yards in 2013.
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“I don’t care about what any recruiting service says or whatever,” Likens said. “This guy’s not on the radar, blah, blah, blah. Every now and then you’ve just got to bet on your experience and say I trust myself, I trust my eyes, I’m looking at this guy doing this and nobody else is recruiting him, why? You just got to go with your gut sometimes and we did (with Aiyuk).”
Having spent time coaching on the West Coast and more than just receivers, Likens could prove to be a valuable recruiter for Miami. He thinks there are plenty of talented players already looking for a move to the East Coast.
“I think with the world of social media, the world’s gotten a lot smaller,” Likens said. “I think there’s a lot of kids that are out in California that want to experience something different. Maybe they don’t necessarily want to go to a big brand-name school that’s over there on the left coast in Southern California. They may have been around that their whole life and say, ‘You know what, I want something different.’
“I just think there’s some kids over there that want to experience something different and you might be able to pull a gem out of there. I heard a stat that all the starting quarterbacks on the national championship teams where quarterbacks from out of state.”
They sure were.
