Miami keeps plans secret with private spring game

With Miami's home stadium unavailable, head coach Mark Richt decided to make Saturday's spring game an exclusive event, helping keep the program's plans out of the public eye.

Ongoing construction at Hard Rock Stadium forced Miami to Boca for its scrimmage. The school only invited select donors, families, recruits, and reporters.

"We don't really want people knowing what we're doing," Richt told reporters Saturday. "We couldn't really have the venue we needed to bring a lot of folks and have a traditional spring game. I just said, 'Let's shut it down, let's not let anybody know what we're doing offensively or defensively.'"

While spring games are largely meant to keep a fan base engaged, the Hurricanes' inability to play at Hard Rock Stadium didn't help that aspect. Richt's decision also allowed him to maintain some secrecy in his second season with the school, a luxury other programs don't have with their scrimmages broadcast on television.

"I can promise you I've got everybody's spring game that was on TV on my computer and I'm going to watch it all summer long, whether I'm studying scheme or studying personnel," Richt said. "There are things you can learn. I just figured, why let everybody know, since we can't have a big spring game anyway?"

Miami opens the 2017 season on Sept. 2 against Bethune-Cookman, followed by a road trip to battle Arkansas State the following week.