AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Miami coach Al Golden said quarterback Ryan Williams is doing "phenomenal" in his recovery from a torn ACL and anticipates getting him back at some point during the season.
Asked about the possibility of applying for a medical hardship waiver for Williams, Golden said, "That doesn’t appear to be the route right now based on how well he is recovering. We know he’ll be back. It’s just a question of how early because his recovery right now is phenomenal."
Williams, the projected starter, tore his ACL during a scrimmage last month. Golden has remained optimistic that Williams would be able to play this season, but will have a better understanding of when that might happen in July. If Williams is healthy enough to re-enter the fold, Golden will have to decide whether his injured starting quarterback automatically gets his job back.
"There’s a lot more to it than that," Golden said. "When is he cleared for participation and when is he cleared for game action? We need to distinguish that."
With Williams out of the mix for now, redshirt freshman Kevin Olsen is the favorite to win the starting quarterback job. He had an up-and-down spring, punctuated by a flat performance in the spring game, when he went 7-for-21 for 65 yards with an interception.
"He made a lot of progress. I know everybody just looks at the spring game. But, for me, the spring game ... my philosophy in the spring game is a lot different than what we were doing in the scrimmage before, where we were using everything and calling all the things we called all spring," Golden said. "So I think Kevin handled that transition well. He’s going to have to continue to grow and we have two young guys coming in this Sunday [Brad Kaaya, Malik Rosier] that are going to want to compete and battle and Ryan at the same time, he’s doing well with his recovery."
