It has been nearly 15 years since Jason Taylor and Damione Lewis played their final snaps in the NFL.
It’s hard to tell that with how the two operate during Miami Hurricanes practices.
They’re aggressive with the defensive linemen, even to the point of racing the players they’re coaching to the line of scrimmage on any given drill.
“I’m 50, and I can still beat most of them and all of you guys,” Taylor said to reporters after practice Thursday.
The high-octane approach of Taylor and Lewis is one they hope pay dividends for Miami’s defensive line. They both have years of NFL experience — 15 for Taylor, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; 10 for Lewis — and a wealth of knowledge they want to impart on the Hurricanes.
Both embrace a lead-by-example approach, and they feed off each other’s high-energy persona as they go through their day-to-day responsibilities.
“We’re trying to get the absolute best out of these guys, so it’s all in love,” said Lewis, who played for Miami from 1996 to 2000 and is going into his first season as the defensive tackles coach for his alma mater. “We’re chasing them down the field, trying to coach them on the way back to the huddle. Just little details to remind them of things to look at, things to look for and just trying to help them be on the mindset of thinking about what I just saw, what I need to do, and then move on to the next play.”
Added Taylor, who is entering his third season as the Hurricanes’ defensive line coach: “I win bro. I just like to win. I know I’m supposed to push them and chase them to the drill, but leaders lead, and it’s hard to lead in the back of the pack. Coach [Mario] Cristobal always tells me if you get to the drill and your guys are still behind you, they’ve got to speed up.”
And that has Taylor and Lewis looking to set the example for a defensive line that has enough talent on paper to make a splash. Junior Rueben Bain Jr. and sixth-year senior Akheem Mesidor are the primary guys on the edge, with sophomore Armando Blount impressing early in spring practice behind them. On the inside, the trio of transfer David Blay, redshirt junior Ahmad Moten Sr. and sophomore Justin Scott are leading the way. True freshmen Hayden Lowe and Donta Simpson have impressed coaches early as well.
“Your players match your coach,” Lewis said. “If your coach is high energy, then the energy in the room should be high. It’s gonna be high in the meeting room because we both coach with a lot of intensity. You want to see their attitudes kind of mold and start to shape to be like yours, so they can be high intensity guys out on the field when it comes time to play a football game. As y’all know, in this game right here, every series you’ve got to reset your mind. You’ve got to reset your way of thinking. You’ve got to go out there and get after it.”
Taylor said he has learned during the past two seasons how to better approach being a coach. While his resume as a player speaks for itself, he gained a better understanding of how to pass information down to players while still maximizing effort.
As for Lewis’ early impact on the Hurricanes? Taylor couldn’t praise him enough.
“D Lew has been great,” Taylor said. “It always means more for guys who played at the place that they’re coaching. D Lew does not walk in with an entitlement because he played here or because he’s part of the history here. He still comes in and works, and he’s fiery, high energy. He’s always got juice. I think we do a good job of good-cop, bad-cop. Sometimes there’s times where we’re both bad cops and I’m like, ‘Ooh, that might have been a bit much,’ but they’ll be all right.”
But both Taylor and Lewis stressed what sometimes can get lost in the mix: While excitement and hype generally come with the resumption of practices, they know there’s a lot of time between now and when the Hurricanes open the 2025 season against Notre Dame on Aug. 31.
“We’re getting there,” Lewis said. “I’m not saying we’re there yet. It’s too early to determine that. As we get into training camp and we start getting some games and I start seeing the flashes when the helmet is a different color, then I’ll start trying to make that determination [of what we can be]. ... You’ve always got to be out there trying to get better and finding things to get better at.”
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Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.