There is often consensus among college football’s faithful when discussing the sport’s biggest teams, coaches, and players. Ask any CFB faithful to compile a list of Top 5 teams going into the 2024 season and virtually all of them will include Georgia, Ohio State and some combination of Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas or Alabama. Top coaches? Won’t be long before you hear the likes of Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, Dabo Swinney, Mike Norvell, and Kyle Whittingham. Even the most dedicated fans probably can’t name you half of Oklahoma’s starting 11 on defense and yet they will say they expect them to be one of the nation’s better units next season.
This isn’t the case when you talk about the Miami Hurricanes. The major betting sites, such as Draft Kings and FanDuel, are aligned with their over/under win totals odds being at 9.5 wins for the 2024 campaign. The Canes are also even money across many of them when it comes to odds for making the now 12-team College Football Playoff. From that viewpoint it may seem that CFB viewers don’t feel strongly enough about Miami to move the needle on those odds but as you listen to the dialogue, the picture changes as many have plenty to say. What are the doubts? For those who are high on the Hurricanes, what’s causing it? Let’s dive into those conversations.
Doubt
It does not take long to find someone who does not believe Miami will accomplish much this year. Athlon Sports recently published their annual article where they get coaches to speak under anonymity about the other programs in their conference. In the ACC version, each team received either positive sentiment, hope about what they can be or pity for their circumstances – except the Canes. Three of four quotes were direct jabs at Mario Cristobal and his coaching staff. The first statement begins, “It’s a situation where the sum is not greater than the parts, and that falls directly on the head coach.” This is the first reason for the doubt surrounding the 2024 rendition of UM – Mario Cristobal. Heralded for his recruiting prowess, Coach Cristobal is not highly regarded as a gameday head coach by a swath of people. Having gone 12-13 in his first two seasons in Coral Gables doesn’t warrant praise and the snafu that was the end of the Georgia Tech game doesn’t help either. For a coach that doesn’t call plays, there is much chatter about what he does or does not do between the whistles.
There are also questions about the roster despite the elite level of talent acquisition that has taken place via High School recruiting and the Transfer Portal. The safety room just lost multi-year starters Kamren Kinchens and James Williams to the NFL. The players expected to take the reign have ability but it’s certainly unproven from a week-to-week outlook.
Lastly, “it’s Miami”. A lot of what we tend to think about teams, coaches, players is based on a trend of performance that creates a perception of who/what they are and until they change that, we’ll keep feeling as we do. I spoke about the perception on Cristobal but it isn’t much different about the program overall. On3’s J.D. PicKell gives tons of credit to the team but also recently said “it’s time to show return on investment (winning).” Two plus decades of underperforming relative to what people think or want Miami to do on the field has baked in a sentiment that whatever the Hurricanes do in talent accumulation, they’re still going to lose games they should win come the fall.
Hope
Ironically, the reasons for hope are woven through the talking points of the doubts. Mario has had a tumultuous, at best, start to his Miami tenure should we disregard this is the same man who took Oregon from 6-6 to three consecutive Pac-12 championship game appearances, winning two of them along the way. As a Power 5 (4) conference head coach Cristobal has a record of 47-26 which shows he has what it takes to win games.
Then there is his ability to attract talent. Miami is one of a handful of teams to put together Top 10 High School and Transfer Portal recruiting classes the past two cycles. Most of the HS kids aren’t ready to contribute big minutes but the portal additions are. That group is led by much-hyped quarterback Cameron Ward (who chose Miami over going pro), running back Damien Martinez, defensive end Tyler Baron and defensive tackle Simeon Barrow. If Miami can hit the over in wins, it’ll be in large part to what these players were able to do. The rest of the roster includes talented returners like All-ACC selections in wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, defensive end Reuben Bain and linebacker Francisco Mauigoa.
Then there is the schedule, one nobody would call a gauntlet either. A trip to Gainesville in Week 1, a visit from Florida State, and a trip to Louisville are the marquee games on the docket. The Canes will start the year favored in every game except maybe against FSU which says they are expected to win 11 of 12 games.
That’s the ultimate question…can the Miami Hurricanes finally live up to the hype or will they be the “same ole Maimi”? We’ve talked through the doubts like Mario as a gameday coach, roster holes and fixing whatever internal struggles have kept them from reaching their full potential in prior years. At the same time, what’s needed to win is also present. The parts are Porsche, but will it drive like a Saturn when the ball gets snapped?
Hit the comments and let me know where you land on the Miami debate.
Thank you to Danielle "Doc" Bradley for her collaboration on this article.
Comments