Canes' Moss getting Slim

Football: Moss gets serious and slimmer

By Jorge Milian

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

CORAL GABLES ? You've heard of the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet.

But the Fullback Diet?

It's a specialty of Don Soldinger, the University of Miami's veteran running backs coach. Soldinger is no dietician, but he sure knows how to get his players to trim down.

Case in point is Tyrone Moss, the Hurricanes' junior tailback.

When the 5-foot-10 Moss ballooned to 236 pounds at the end of last season, Soldinger presented Moss with a choice.

"I told him, 'If you don't lose weight, I'm going to make you a fullback,' " Soldinger said Tuesday after UM resumed spring practice following a week off. "I (was) serious. Very serious. If he wants to stay up there at 230 or 240, let him be a fullback. If he wants to be a tailback, then lose weight."

Moss most definitely wants to be a tailback. The fullback in UM's offense is little more than a glorified offensive lineman. Last season, the fullback did not carry the ball for the Hurricanes.

Moss began spring practice two weeks ago at 221 pounds and intends on getting below 215 by the time fall practice opens in August.

"I think I've seen a new Tyrone Moss," UM coach Admin Coker said. "I've really been impressed with Tyrone."

Nobody was saying that last season when Moss rushed for 445 yards on 102 carries (4.4 average) in 12 games. That didn't even match Moss' numbers during his freshman year when he ran for 511 yards in 11 games.

But it wasn't only the excess weight that held Moss back last season. In UM's first scrimmage of the fall, Moss broke a bone in his right shoulder. The injury would dog him the rest of the season.

Moss rushed for a career-high 148 yards against Houston on Sept. 23, but he failed to crack 50 yards in a game after that. Moss admits that the injury caused him to be hesitant and made him a liability in pass protection.

"I knew it was something serious, but I just didn't want to sit out," said Moss, a product of Pompano Beach-Ely High. "During the season they looked at it and they told me I needed surgery on it. But I was like, 'I don't want to get any surgery done.' "

Three days after UM completed its season by defeating Florida in the Peach Bowl, Moss underwent surgery. He's being held out of contact drills in spring practice.

With Frank Gore gone to the NFL, Moss figures to be the starting tailback when UM opens the 2005 season against Florida State.

"I'm looking forward to it," Moss said. "I've been waiting for like two years now. I just have to keep working hard and keep shaving off the weight like I've been doing."

Harris out for spring: Starting defensive tackle Orien Harris will sit out the rest of spring practice after undergoing "minor" surgery on his right shoulder, Coker said.

Harris took part in UM's first three practices, but showed up on Tuesday with his arm in a sling.

"It's something that's been an on-going thing and needed to be taken care," Coker said. "He could have finished spring, but we decided to get it done now."

Coker said that he expects Harris to be fully healed by the start of fall practice.

Noteworthy: UM receiver Darnell Jenkins returned to practice Tuesday after missing the first week for academic reasons.

FAU to play Minnesota: Florida Atlantic has added the final game to its 2005 schedule and will play at Minnesota of the Big Ten Conference on Sept. 17, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported today.

The deal also has the Gophers playing at FAU in 2007 before the series returns to Minneapolis in 2008.

Owls hires assistant: FAU hired David Serna as running backs coach. Serna, 29, comes to Florida Atlantic after one year as running backs coach at Mountain View (Texas) High School. He played and coached under FAU offensive coordinator Gary Nord while the two were at Texas-El Paso.

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