Miami OL Justice Oluwaseun: 700-pound squatter says "We’re a bunch of tough guys that want to win"
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Take a peek inside the Miami Hurricanes offensive line meeting room, and you’re just as likely to see coach Alex Mirabal lecturing about technique as you are to see him personally demonstrating it.
“He’ll be in the meeting room showing us how to run block and doing it in the meeting room, sweating,” OL Justice Oluwaseun says. “He’s trying to demonstrate. He’s the kind of guy, `If I can’t show you how to do it then it’s not fair to make you all do it.’ He’s definitely hard on us, very good at what he does.
“He’s very technically sound, very energetic in the way he coaches.”
As it pertains to Oluwaseun, in some ways he may as well be a coach on the field. The sixth-year redshirt senior has been around the block once or twice. A three-star prospect, he signed out of high school with UNLV and spent four years there before transferring to Miami in 2021, following his former OL coach at that time, Garin Justice.
This past season he played right tackle and guard, starting three games, and in the spring he worked with the ones at both guard spots. He started 21 games in his career with the Runnin’ Rebels – six games at right tackle in 2020, 11 of 12 games as redshirt sophomore in 2019 (five at right tackle, five at left tackle and one at left guard) and four games as redshirt freshman in 2018 (three at left tackle). He redshirted in 2017.
So what does Oluwaseun mean to the Miami offense this season? Well, he’s expected to compete to start at right guard with Oregon transfer Logan Sagapolu, and today he was at left guard ahead of Jalen Rivers. There will be plenty of mixing and matching as fall drills progress, and nothing is set in stone.
Oluwaseun has even gotten some tackle reps these first few practices of the fall and even some work at center.
He hopes to factor in as a starter anywhere on the line.
“Coach Mirabal is really into cross training, so I’ve been playing pretty much everywhere,” Oluwaseun said. “You never know when your name will be called or what practice he wants you at what position. A lot of competition, good offensive linemen are here. They are pushing me, I’m pushing them.”
Last season Oluwaseun graded out at 63.1 overall with a 66.5 pass blocking grade and 62.8 run blocking grade per Pro Football Focus. Coaches would ideally want both of those at 70 or above, so he’s close.
“Coach Mirabal has been really on our behinds about setting the tone,” Oluwaseun says. “That’s his biggest thing. We have to be the tone setters for the offense. At the end of the day we start everything, have to open up holes for the run game, protect. We have to get everything rolling. We come out with physicality, tenacity and nastiness it’s going to be real good to really get the offense going.”
The offense, of course, is run by new coordinator Josh Gattis. And he showed at Michigan in his prior stop that he likes to lean on a strong, powerful line to help the run game get yards whenever needed.
“Definitely I’m excited for that, I want to have that pressure,” Oluwaseun said. “Not just me, the whole offensive line wants to have that pressure, that weight on our back. That’s what coach Mirabal has been trying to instill in us. We’re not afraid of any challenge. We’re a bunch of tough guys that want to win. We’re embracing all of that.”
When Oluwaseun lines up now, he can say something different than he has in the past: He’s a 700-pound squatter. He and Sagapolu both hit that number this off-season, setting Miami school records.
“It’s from the hard work we’ve been doing in the weight room,” Oluwaseun said. “Coach (Aaron) Feld, the rest of the strength staff have been hard on us, pushing us mentally and physically. It’s really good to see the result of all that.
Prior to hitting 700, his personal best was 675.
“I never was able to break to that 700,” he said. “That was really one of my personal goals for myself. I was like `I really want to hit it,’ and coach Feld helped me get it.”
How does the strength convert to the field?
“It’s definitely a blessing to have,” Oluwaseun said. “To be able to be strong and be able to move people and not be moved, having that anchor, especially in the lower half. We did really heavy in power clean and squat and I feel it’ll show dividends.”
While he’s strong and consistent, Oluwaseun isn’t going to wow you with his athleticism or size. He will struggle against the elite defensive linemen because of that. But given his experience and versatility having experience at guard and tackle, he’s very much in the mix to be a key piece of Miami’s line.
“(Starting) is one of my goals,” Oluwaseun said. “At the end of the day I want to play, but I have to do what’s best for the team. I’ll put myself in position to get that starting role, but if it’s not, it’s not.”
Oluwaseun sums up of the overall line that “We’re getting better each and every day. As a whole line we’re all getting better. I see it from the ones, twos and threes.”
Of the new offense under Josh Gattis, Oluwaseun said it’s “a really fantastic playbook. Coach Gattis is really versatile.”
Oluwaseun also said double under technique and gallop blocking hitting the hips are among the new additions for the O line in this offense.
“It works, so that’s a good thing,” Oluwaseun said.
He adds “Coach Gattis was screaming today `Displace your defender.'”
Yes, physicality is at a premium in this offense.
