Nine Miami Hurricanes Named All-ACC Coaches Team
About a week after having players named to the All-ACC Media team, nine Miami Hurricanes have been named All-ACC by the Coaches.
After being snubbed by the Media on the first team, Corn Elder was named first team All-ACC by the Coaches. All of the Hurricanes that were named All-ACC by coaches were named to the first, second of third team. No Miami Players earned honorable mention.
Miami’s nine players named tied with Virginia Tech for third, behind Clemson’s 16 and Louisville’s 11. The Hurricanes were the only school with multiple Freshmen position players named to the team. Freshmen Wide Receiver Ahmmon Richards and Linebacker Shaquille Quarterman were selected third team All-ACC by to coaches. Wake Forest also had two named, but one was Punter Dom Maggio (yes that’s his real name).
In addition to Elder, Richards and Quarterman, Offensive Guard Danny Isidora and Punter Justin Vogel were named to the second team, Running Back Mark Walton, Wide Receiver Stacy Coley and Kicker Michael Badgley were named third team All-ACC by the coaches.
Richards finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, runner-up in the Offensive Rookie of the Year Voting, Quarterman was runner-up and Defensive Lineman Joe Jackson finished third in the Defensive Rookie of the Year Voting.
Florida State Quarterback Deondre Francois won the Rookie of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year. Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Isidora, Coley, Elder and Vogel are Seniors, Walton and Jackson are Sophomores. Notably absent from the list is Miami Junior Quarterback Brad Kaaya. This was a Quarterback rich season in the ACC. Francois didn’t make any of the first three teams.
It was also very surprising to see Hurricanes Tight End David Njoku left off the team. Njoku led ACC Tight Ends with 17.2 yards per reception. He was second among Tight Ends with 640 yards receiving. That was only 16 yards behind Louisville’s Cole Hikutini.
Richards had an incredible Freshman season. He led the nation’s freshmen in yards per reception, receiving yards and receiving yards per game. He finished the season with 866 yards on 46 receptions for an average of 18.8 yards per catch. The 866 yards broke Michael Irvin’s 1985 record of 840 yards.
Elder has posted 69 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception and 12 passes defensed this season. He finished fourth on the team in tackles and first in PD’s.
Vogel was the All-ACC’s first-team preseason punter. He has a punting average of 44.2 yards per punt, which is second in the ACC. He has 23 punts inside the 20-yard line and had 16 punts over 50 yards.
Isidora started on the offensive line for the third consecutive season. He was part of a Hurricanes offensive line that helped the running game improve from 119 yards per game in 2015 to 157 this season. His 38 consecutive starts is the current high in the program.
Walton had a breakout 2016 season after backing up Joe Yearby last season. Walton led the Hurricanes with 1,065 yards rushing, his first season over 1,000 yards on the ground. He also led the ‘Canes with 14 rushing touchdowns and 15 overall trips to the end zone. He finished 20th in the Nation in Rushing touchdowns.
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Badgley led the ACC Kickers with 9.1 points per game. He tied for the lead with 20 made field goals and was second with an 80 percent field goal percentage.