Miami Football 2025 Preview
- Lewis Huston
- Aug 16
- 7 min read
The Hurricanes finally broke through in Mario Cristobol’s third season at his alma mater for their first 10-win season since 2017, and only their second since joining the ACC back in 2004. Cam Ward was electric leading a record setting offense on his way to being drafted 1st overall. And yet, the season feels like a failure looking back with what was left on the table. Ranked # 4 in the CFP rankings and sitting at 9-0, the Hurricanes lost at Georgia Tech when Haynes King couldn’t throw due to injury and then blew a 21-point lead at Syracuse in the final weekend to miss the ACCC game and ultimately the CFP. A spotty defense finally caught up to them and cost them a truly special season.
Cristobol hit the portal as hard as any team in the league, bringing in immediate starters at a majority of position groups headlined by Georgia star QB Carson Beck. How this reloaded roster responds feels like a program defining season considering how last year ended.
Offense
1st overall pick Cam Ward is gone and in steps Carson Beck, who actually was the projected top-5 pick heading into 2024 before a disappointing season that ended with a UCL injury in the SEC championship game. Beck’s year over year regression was pretty astounding; he threw for 500 fewer yards (on more attempts), his cmp% dropped from 72.2 to 64.6 and his INTs doubled. The Georgia receiving corps certainly did him no favors with 34 drops and lacked a go-to guy after losing Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey to the NFL. But plenty of the blame does fall on Beck who had 20 TWP and lost the locker room a bit. Hitting the refresh button in the portal was necessary, and I’d expect a bounce back with this change of scenery for a guy who is still one of the most talented passers in the country.
Mark Fletcher Jr. steps into the lead back role after two very productive seasons as the primary backup, totaling 1,122 yards (5.2 ypc) and 14 TD. He’s in for a big year behind a massive, experienced offensive line. Third leading rusher Jordan Lyle also returns after racking up 400 yards (7.4 ypc) and 4 TD as a true freshman. It’s possible he could still be third in the pecking order again though as Miami brings in another impressive true sophomore in CharMar Brown. The NDSU star went for 1,181 yards and 15 TDs, winning the Jerry Rice Award for the Top FCS Freshman. That’s a ton of talent and production that should be able to take some pressure off of Beck.
Beck will have to build trust with a new group of receivers, but so will the coaching staff. Miami loses their top 5 plus pass catching TE Elijah Arroyo. CJ Daniels (42 rec, 480 yards at LSU) is a big pick up out of the portal and he’ll be expected to see an uptick in production similar to when he had 1,064 yards and 10 TD at Liberty in ’23. Two other transfers are immediate plug and plays as well, with Keelan Marion from BYU and Tony Johnson from Cincinnati. Marion is an all-purpose threat and Johnson led Cincy with 6 TD catches.
Although they lost all of their production, there are some exciting youngsters that the staff is high on. Former top-50 recruit JoJo Trader is the top returner and has massive breakout potential as a sophomore. Another 4-star Malachi Toney has impressed those inside the program since getting on campus last December and is pushing for a starting job in fall camp. Both will have a role, and if either or both can lock down a starting spot that would go a long way towards the depth of this room. Sophomore NY Carr and true freshman Joshua Moore are further down the pecking order but could factor in at some point.
Speaking of that big bad offensive line, they return three starters for the second year in a row and are led by 2nd Tm All-ACC LT Francis Mauigoa. This is likely the junior’s final year on campus as he’s a projected first round pick, and he’ll be joined by both starting guards Anez Cooper and Matthew McCoy. You could argue they return 3.5 starters with Markel Bell who played in 12 games, starting 5 at LT. He has gotten rave reviews this offseason and the former JUCO transfer is a massive human being at 6’9” 340 lbs. Once again they add a P4 transfer starter to take over at center with James Brockermeyer who was Big 12 Honorable Mention. There is hardly any experienced depth behind these guys, which is a concern with several Fr and RS Fr expected to be on the two deep. The starting unit has the makings to be an elite group though if they can stay healthy though.
Defense
Miami’s defense was often talked about in a negative light last year, and they got into plenty of shootouts ranking 70th in scoring defense. But if you look deeper at the numbers, they were overall a fine unit that got dragged down by a really poor secondary.
Stud DE Rueben Bain battled injuries last year only playing nine games but has the talent to be a top DE nationally when healthy. His mate Akheem Mesidor (32 tkl, 5.5 sk in 13 starts) is back as well to form a top defensive end duo. There are several big losses up front but 1st Tm All-CUSA transfer David Blay is a playmaker in the middle that should alleviate that. Former 5-star top 10 recruit Justin Scott played in 12 games as a true freshman and the door is now open for him to become a star. Reports from some Miami media outlets is he may actually be DT#1 at this point of fall camp. Scott was the gem in what was an impressive ’24 recruiting haul across the D-line that will have opportunities to contribute.
Francis Mauigoa’s older brother Francisco was a 5th round draft pick after leading the team in tackles by a wide margin, but Wesley Bissainthe returns and was # 2 with 59 tkl. Jaylin Alderman (24 tkl, 2.5 TFL) made four starts after transferring over from Louisville and PoPo Aguirre (27 tkl) is in line for an expanded role as the highest graded defender that played over 100 snaps. The big X-factor here is Mohamed Toure. A Rutgers captain that spent six years there has had major injury issues and is coming off his second missed season due to an ACL surgery. When healthy he was arguably the best player on Rutgers '23 defense w/ 51 tkl, 10 TFL and 4.5 sk. Kamal Bonner was an underrated pickup from NC State where he came on strong and started the last half of ’24 with 56 tkl on the season, but will need to improve a poor 41.8 tackling grade to crack the rotation.
Miami’s pass defense was a major issue at times last year. They actually rated out decent on a down-to-down basis but were 99th in pass explosiveness allowed and 67th in coverage grade per PFF. The majority of the group is gone, which might not be a bad thing, and the best of the bunch OJ Frederique returns. This could be one of the best DB portal hauls in the country. Keionte Scott (Auburn), Charles Brantley (Michigan State), Zechariah Poyser (Jax State), Xavier Lucas (Wisconsin), Ethan O’Connor (Washington State) and Jakobe Thomas (Tennessee) will all contribute immediately. Scott will play the Nickel looking to regain his solid play from ’22-23. Poyser was 3rd Tm All-CUSA with 75 tkl, 8 PBU and 3 INT while Charles Brantley has played a ton of football at this level as these look like the potential starters at CB. If not then it’ll be Lucas who graded out really nicely as a backup last year.
Special Teams
Miami’s overall special teams game wasn’t great last year and now they have to replace all-time points leader Andreas Borregales. They do bring in a kicker with pedigree in Bert Auburn from Texas. Auburn was one of the best kickers in the country in ’22-23 before struggling last year, especially in big spots down the stretch, and will look to find his old form. Dylan Joyce is a reliable punter who returns for a third season as the starter. Ray Ray Joseph returns to handle punt return duties while another receiver, Keelan Marion, was a special teams weapon at BYU who should be the primary kick returner. Marion returned two kickoffs for TDs last season with a 26.7 average.
Schedule
Similar to a year ago when they went to The Swamp, Miami will open with a high-profile game, this time at home vs 2024 CFP runner-up Notre Dame. The Irish should be really good again, but Miami gets the luxury of a redshirt freshman making his first career start at QB. A win there would catapult them to another run at the ACC title and CFP with 6 of their first 7 games at home. The finishing stretch has some tricky road games at SMU, Virginia Tech and Pitt, although SMU is the only one of those that I’m confident will still be good at that point in the season. Getting Stanford sandwiched between Louisville and Miami is both a gift and a potential
Overall Outlook
It’s tough to call a 10-2 regular season a failure after not having that sort of success for quite some time, but that’s just the harsh reality. There is a ton of production to replace, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but Mario Cristobol reloaded through portal and does have plenty of talented returners. This has the makings of a team that could be elite in the trenches and I believe the defense as a whole will be better. Can Carson Beck have a bounce back year though? That’s the big question and ultimately the linchpin in this whole operation. I do have slight concerns with how the WR room will shake out, but they’re not lacking for playmakers there. I’m still a believer in Beck as one of the best QBs in the country but there’s just something holding me back from projecting this as a playoff team. That could all change though after Notre Dame.
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