The coach who helped him learn how to cross-train effectively, agrees and is confident that whatever NFL team calls on Rivers in the draft won’t be disappointed.
“I think his film sells him and I think his versatility shows how mature he is,” Mirabal said. “I think his versatility shows how intelligent he is. I think his versatility shows how unselfish he is. He’s always a guy who’s always put the team first and he’s a guy that just wants an opportunity. … Those are the kind of kids that you want to see get drafted earlier than other people think. … He deserves that.”
For Mirabal and Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal – a former two-time national champion offensive lineman during his own playing days at Miami – cross-training all of Miami’s offensive linemen is a priority.
It’s a philosophy the coaches developed while working together at Oregon, where the Ducks became a Pac-12 power and offensive linemen Penei Sewell, T.J. Bass, Shane Lemieux, and Calvin Throckmorton earned All-American recognition before moving on to the NFL.
And it’s seemingly begun paying dividends at Miami where this season, the Hurricanes had the nation’s top-ranked offense, averaging 537.2 yards per game.
“It’s rare. I don’t think a lot of guys ask guys to do that, but here at Miami, it’s the standard,” Mirabal said. “Coach Cristobal … at Oregon and at Miami, he’s always insisted that we cross-train our players at every position. … So, let’s say we’re doing five or six individual drills, we do every drill twice. Everybody does it in a right-handed stance and then everybody does it in a left-handed stance. It’s not foreign to them.
“With someone like Jalen, everybody’s like, ‘Oh, was it hard for him to go from left tackle to left guard and then back to left tackle every other series during games this year?’ and I said no, because that’s how we did it in practice. It just becomes second nature. … We never made it a big deal. We just made it part of who we are. It’s part of our process and now, hopefully, he can benefit from it.”
Rivers concedes he was initially hesitant when asked to cross-train multiple positions, particularly when he was called on to move to center.
But the work in practice made a difference and eventually, shifting positions – and even switching sides on the line – became routine.
“Playing in a game, or in a practice, you’ve got to flip everything in your head,” Rivers said. “Even right now, with training, you’ve got to flip in your stance. It’s kind of odd to some people because they’re so used to playing that one side. When you go to the other side, it’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to go in my stance, put this right leg back.’ I mean, it’s a little bit different, but when you get the hang of it, it starts coming naturally. …
“You have to have the willingness to do it. Sometimes, a lot of guys are not willing to be a guy that plays all five positions and be versatile. I’m just going to attack it. I’m going to do it. So, you have to be open to it. I was a little bit skeptical going to center a little bit when I first started because I was not comfortable at it at all. But when you get used to it and accept that coaching and you’re willing to get better, it’s going to help you overall to learn all five positions.”