Everybody had the same question on the first day of spring practice- who is #2? Isaiah Horton changed his number, remade his body and upped his game as he replaced Colby Young as the starting X-receiver. Horton joined the CanesInSight Podcast to discuss his progress and his relationship with Canes Connection.

A summary of Horton’s interview is below:

On his offseason: I've definitely been putting the work in ever since I've got here. [At practice], you saw a little glimpse of what I can do. I trust in my ability. I trust in myself. But it's new to you guys because you haven't really seen it. I'm excited to show you guys what I can bring and what I can contribute to this team this year.

On his latest measurements: I'm 6'3.5, and my weight is 208 pounds.

On his biggest focus this offseason: Taking that next step is just being accountable, being consistently consistent, making those plays every day. I can't just make it here and there and then I'll fall off. I need to stay consistent so my coaches, my teammates, the whole community, the whole organization can trust me and count on me.

On growing up in a military household: It was really good. My dad, he stayed on me. My mother did as well, but my dad was the one who was in the military. He instilled discipline in me. He instilled hard work because if you don't work for anything, you're not going to get anything out of it. So you've got to put the work in. Just having that background and having my parents, they weren't on my back, but they were there. Every time I messed up, they corrected me, they handled me in their way. I appreciate them to this day for it, and they still continue to do it.

On Cam Ward: Cam's amazing. He's just a natural quarterback. He's a great leader, has great leadership skills on the field. He orchestrates our offense amazingly. You can understand what he's doing. That's a big part of offense. If you can understand what you're doing before you do it, then you'll really find success.

On his hoops game: I would consider myself a shooter. The corner is my special spot. I like to facilitate, I like to dribble and create open shots for my guys. I’ll score when I feel like I need to score. I'll just go get the ball and I'll just go do my thing go to work.



On the best basketball players on the team: Anez Cooper, me. Number three, I'm going to give it to I'm going to give it to Jacurri Brown.

[Anez Cooper is] is dead eye from the three. Oh, it's dead. And then it's that big body. You got him in the post. But that three ball is different.

On the receivers he studies: Ceedee Lamb. I also compare myself to Calvin Ridley with his route running. And then with contested catches, I would say Julio Jones.

On the city of Miami: I like the culture here. It's different. It's a mixture of a lot of different ethnicities here. And time goes by really fast in Miami. That was a big adjustment I had to make from coming from Nashville to here. It's like you look up, time's just gone. You gotta prioritize your time more and you just gotta learn how to handle it more.

On his personality outside of football: I'm very laid back. I'm chill. Whatever I'm invested in at that point in time, that's what I'm invested in. Right now, it's school and football. So outside of football, I mean, I'm really not doing anything. I'm always doing football because that's what I'm invested in. That's what I want.

But outside, I'm chill. Great vibes, great energy. I will never bring your energy down. I'm always trying to pick you up. I'm good at seeing people's energy, especially my teammates. A big indicator is a little head down when you're walking around. I’m like, “Bro, you're blessed, you're living, you're here in Miami.” I'm the type of guy who's always gonna try to encourage you to look at the good, because it's always good in every situation. Even if it's bad, I'm gonna just try to show you the good. That's the type of person I am.

On his touchdown against Texas A&M: It was all the work I'd been putting in offseason all this time. And it's like, “Zay, you're finally in the moment. This is your moment, this is your opportunity, don't let it pass you by.” My number was called, the play was called for me. Tyler says, “Hey, I'm coming to you.” I was like, “Whatever happens, I'm gonna come down with this ball and I'm gonna score.” Because that's what the team needed. I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do for my team.

On the opportunities provided by Canes Connection: I'm from Nashville, and they created opportunities for me to get involved in the community more. Just going to different schools, hanging out with kids, that's one thing I wanna do more. I wanna get involved in the community, because like I said, I'm not from Florida. That's one thing Canes Connection provides for me is the opportunity to connect with the community.

On his plans after football: I'm a sports admin major right now with a minor in communications. So I just wanna stay around the game. It's a game I love, a game I've been playing all my life. I'll just probably just stay around the football area if it's a coach, broadcasting, whatever it has to be. I just wanna stay around the game.

On his music tastes: My music taste is kind of all over the place. [Artists] I listen to a lot before the games are Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely. These two artists, they're very different. It's just something about their music that clicks with me, especially before a game because we play a physical game. You want to get yourself in a mindset where it's like, “Okay, I'm ready to go.” It just gets me going.

But then also I like to ease myself and mellow down. So like Ocean Eyes [by Billie Ellish]. I listen to something like that, real smooth, real calm, real laid back. I throw some R&B on. I'll switch it up. So on the bus over to the game, I'll have something calm, smooth, you know, relax my head, get my mind right. Then as soon as we get off the bus, I'll probably put on the song of the week. Everybody had a song of the week, you know, so walking, walking through the Canes walk, then we get on and get in the locker room. That's probably when like, that's when Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely comes on. And I'm like, “Yeah, it's time to go. Let's go mode. Let's do it.”