Hurricanes' Shannon Dawson's Biggest Problem Is He Only Has One Football To Go Around

With so many talented players on offense, and so many weapons at his disposal, Shannon Dawson said variety is the spice of life.

Oct 28, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson coaches from the sideline prior to the game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson likes the fact he can have a balanced attack. He has a talented offensive backfield that centers around quarterback Cam Ward.

Dawson knows there is only one football to go around on every play. He wants to get as many people involved in the offense as possible. He is a big believer in dividing and sharing the wealth of the football.

Players must understand they all have to share the football, but they are all going to eat.

"Distribution of the ball is important to me," Dawson said. "I like when a lot of guys touch the ball. It doesn't really happen, but right now we have a lot of skill guys. There is a reason why the ball finds them—it is because they are open. I like distribution the way it is. I don't know if one guy will catch 100 balls this year. I'd rather have six guys catch 50."

It is also evident certain players are going to be covered differently in different games. Sometimes it might be Xavier Restrepo who is open sometimes it may be Jacolby George. The beauty of Dawson's Air Raid offense is chances are someone will always be uncovered or have soft one-on-one coverage they can beat.

"The sun isn't going to shine on you every week, so when you get opportunities, make plays because we are going to roll other guys in there and the ball is going to get distributed a little bit different than it did last year, so people have to be comfortable with that," Dawson said.

Dawson said he was not squeamish at all when he saw Ward running with the ball and scoring a touchdown with his legs. He dove head-first to make sure the ball crossed the goal line.

"Hold onto the ball…I don't worry about him. He takes hits," Dawson said. "He has pads on. He is a football player. He did what he had to do because nobody was open and I like that about him."

The Hurricanes are also privileged to have a running back room featuring Damien Martinez, Mark Fletcher, Jordan Lyle, and Chris Johnson Jr.

"We are going to stay balanced. That is who we are. We can run the football and push people around. We are ultimately going to mix that with attacking in the air," Dawson said Monday. "To me, the beauty of who we are is our balance because we can beat you either way."

Just as the wide receivers have to share the football, so do the running backs. The Hurricanes rotated Martinez, Fletcher, Lyle, and Chris Johnson Jr. The rotation seemed to work well and all of the backs were content with the division of labor. He liked what he saw out of Johnson, who is perhaps the fastest of the Hurricanes running backs.

"I think it went well. That running back room is talented, so the challenge at times is to keep people engaged," Dawson said. "He [Johnson] is a talented kid that can do a lot of things. He is not just a guy that I put in there to do things with. He can run every run game scheme and pass protect.

"He has grown as a running back leaps and bounds. He is doing a tremendous job and I am trying to reward him with some things because he deserves it. He is a really good player and he has the ability to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. We are going to find ways to get good players involved."

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