Miami Hurricanes Football Offseason Preview

Manny Diaz was a native son of Miami. Older generations of his family are well-known and well-placed in Miami politics. When he took over from Mark Richt several years ago, everyone in Miami wanted him to succeed. He was one of their own, given the chance to restore The U to prominence. It just didn’t work out, however, and at the end of the 2021 season, Miami looked to another native son to take on the job Diaz couldn’t complete. The difference between Manny Diaz and Mario Cristobal is that Cristobal was a national championship player at Miami. He was a part of the program’s proud dynastic past, one of the foundational players who accompanied Miami’s rise to the top of the college football world. It will be fascinating to see how Cristobal responds in his first season as Miami’s head coach after leaving Oregon for his dream job. He is a proven national recruiter, and as you will see in the section below on “important incoming freshmen,” it is clear that Cristobal has very quickly made his mark in Miami. He has to translate his recruiting prowess to the field on gamedays this fall.

Key Personnel Lost

Losing Manny Diaz also means losing his offensive coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, who became the head coach at SMU. Lashlee developed quarterback Tyler Van Dyke when D’Eriq King got hurt. It will be fascinating to see if Cristobal’s new offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis, can continue to develop Van Dyke and take the Miami offense to the next level.

Important Incoming Freshmen

Cristobal’s brilliance as a recruiter is embodied in the fact that Miami has 10 four-star prospects coming into the program for 2022: Cyrus Moss is an edge rusher from Las Vegas who was willing to go across the country to play for Cristobal in Miami. That says something. The nine other four-star prospects are defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly, tight end Jaleel Skinner, running back TreVonte’ Citizen, cornerback Khamauri Rogers, athlete Chris Graves, linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, quarterback Jacurri Brown, safety Markeith Williams, and receiver Isaiah Horton. That’s a lot of incoming help for a new coach who is trying to lead a program back to greatness.  

Key Position Battles

Defensive line is where Cristobal and his new staff need to make some tough and important decisions. This is one of the weaker position groups for the Hurricanes, who have offensive skill-position talent and some elite offensive linemen plus a solid secondary. The defensive front is where Miami knows it needs to get a lot better. If it can’t, opponents will run the ball between the tackles and control the clock, keeping Van Dyke and the rest of the Miami offense off the field. If Miami can be reasonably good along the defensive line, the rest of the pieces on this team can fall together and snap into place.

Biggest Offseason Goal(s)

Cristobal is a great recruiter. The question is if he can evolve as a developer of talent, especially on offense. Many people felt that when he was at Oregon, he did not fully develop Justin Herbert. Can he get the most out of his talent in Miami? That’s where he needs to focus his energies in the offseason.