Shannon Dawson Anticipates “A Lot of Guys Playing Skill” on Miami’s Offense This Season

Miami offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shannon Dawson met with the media for the first time this fall on Saturday. 

One of the topics Dawson discussed was how he approaches the offense’s depth chart throughout fall camp. He noted that these lineup adjustments are constantly altering, especially at Miami’s skill positions, which feature many personnel changes from last season.

“You have a good day, you’ll move up, and everything is judged,” Dawson said. “Effort’s judged. Knowing what you need to know is judged. I mean we got competition across the board, which we’re gonna keep it that way. I would anticipate a lot of guys playing skill here. I would anticipate a lot of rotation and just a lot of guys playing. We’re not sitting here with a guy that’s returning with 100 receptions, so let’s see who can play when they turn the lights on.”

To inject talent into a wide receiver room that is not returning a player that eclipsed 400 receiving yards last season, Miami acquired four scholarship players at the position by way of high school recruiting and the transfer portal. Dawson emphasized that Miami has to be able to rely on a two-deep rotation at the position during the season.

“I mean, [however] many of them I feel comfortable playing,” Dawson said when asked about the in-game rotation of Miami’s wide receivers. “We’ve had 12 guys touch balls in games before, which that’s everybody: tight ends, running backs. So I mean eight to ten? Two-deep across the board is typical. You got to feel good about two deep.” 

Dawson also shared a similar message about the rotation of the Hurricanes’ offensive line, which like the receivers has a lot of new players.

“You better have eight to ten. You want two-deep across the board,” Dawson said about UM’s offensive line. “We got good abled bodies … Ultimately, I think we have the bodies that at the end of camp we would feel good about two-deep or close to two-deep.”

Check out LifeWalletSports.com to get connected with all of our NIL athletes and partnered brands.