Miami’s offseason has been on fire. With star transfers like former Houston Cougars QB D’Eriq King and Temple Owl Quincy Roche, a blazing recruiting class, and new additions to the coaching staff, the assemblage of talent is not a problem for the Canes. The architect behind Miami’s high-anticipated offense is spread guru, Rhett Lashlee. After National Signing Day, Lashlee spoke to the media about the quarterback room, how he plans to acclimate Miami’s talent to his scheme, the quarterback room, and more.

Why Come to Miami?

“It’s the University of Miami, first of all. I’m not numb to the history and the tradition...Coach Diaz is a big reason because we went back and forth with each other back in the day in the SEC a lot...He was always, probably the toughest guy we’d face. As coordinators, you develop a lot of respect for who you go against...”

On Evaluating the Talent

“You gotta go solve issues. You can’t be naive to it.”

“The past is the past. You have to be aware of some things but really all I care about is what we’re doing going forward.”

“We have GAs and quality control coaches that go cut up specific plays of players. Here’s 10 or 15 plays of Zion. Here’s 10 or 15 plays of Pope...so I can see what their skill set is and what I think they can do...We’ve got some pieces in place to work with.”

“We’ve got some guys that played upfront that are young but there is length and athleticism...We got some experience coming back at tight end. We got two older guys at running back who’ve played a lot of ball. We got two really electric young players coming in. When you look at receiver, we got a lot of guys that haven’t really done anything. But they’ve got ability...I think it’s a matter of putting guys in place to be successful and hopefully developing their skills.”

On D’Eriq King

“We addressed probably our most immediate need on offense. To go out and find an older, probably more seasoned quarterback to come in that room and help everyone in that room.”

“First and foremost with D’Eriq...he’s an electric playmaker...you can turn on the tape and know he’s made plays at this level...and done it against really good teams...the Oklahoma one on game one this year. You gotta have a leader at that position. You gotta have a winner.”

“When he was able to sit down and see some of those guys we do have coming back...see them on tape, see them in the weight room, hang out with them for 48 hours...he felt really good about the guys that would be around him. He could make them better and they can help him reach some goals as well.”

On the Miami QB Room

“The first thing I ever told the quarterbacks here...I’m gonna be upfront with you because that’s how I roll. We’re going to try and go out and recruit a transfer quarterback. It doesn’t mean we don’t like you. It doesn’t mean you won’t be competing.”

“I sat down with all of those guys and told them they’ve got a fresh start...so far they have been great...they’re both [N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell] going to be juniors so if they don’t have some urgency then that’s probably gonna be tough on them...They’re both excited from a system standpoint.”

On on His Scheme and Philosophy

“You want to build what you do around what they do best...From a system standpoint, we want to go no-huddle, we want to be fast, we want to be physical, we want to make the defense defend the whole field...we want to dictate to the defense...as you learn your guys and as you see them fit, you’re going to build towards what they do.”

“There’s a lot of different ways to score points and stop people...When I played, we played fast, we spread the field, and it kind of leveled the playing field for us. But if you don’t execute, nobody is playing fast. You can go 3-and-out fast. That’s not what we want. That’s kind of my background.”

“I think tempo is a great equalizer. Look at the Super Bowl, look at the last 6 minutes. The San Francisco 49ers dominated that thing until they [the Kansas City Chiefs] went tempo. The pass rush wasn’t quite as effective. I just believe in that.”

“When you talk about South Florida. When you talk about the University of Miami. We do have access to a lot of speed and a lot of good athletes. So why would we not make a defense defend the whole field and tackle those guys in space? Getting our guys in space allows their speed to be used to our advantage. Let their DNA take over.”

Watch the full interview below: