Miami Hurricanes will have football. I apologize to everyone, joyfully.
How often can you say you are totally thrilled to be wrong? Well, I was dead wrong and we are going to be watching some Miami Hurricanes football.
The discipline the Miami Hurricanes have shown is impressive. The ability to come together as a team and do what was required to make this dream a reality. The leadership by players in conjunction with the coaches is a really encouraging sign.
Looking backward the Miami Hurricanes couldn’t win without a punter. Last season Manny Diaz went out and got the kind of punter Miami needed in Lou Headley. Field position is critical to winning close games and a reliable punter is often unappreciated and unnoticed unless they shank punts and put the team in a hard place.
Miami couldn’t win without a kicker. Let’s face it, Miami lost games over missed chip shots field goals and even PATs. Even joking, on the sidelines, there were alumni Canes players that could have gone in and made some of these kicks. The coaching staff delivered with the addition graduate transfer Jose Borreagales from FIU.
On defense, I was pushing so hard to show some love for Jaelan Phillips and see him transfer to Miami. He did and when you see the amount of size and pure muscle he put on that year off did wonders for him. I can’t wait to see him get his first of many sacks and hopefully the turnover chain.
Getting redshirt junior safety Bubba Bolden back is a huge addition to this already talented defense. Picking up graduate transfer Quincy Roche from Temple is a huge score. When a Philly sports reporter friend told me he was coming I could sense he felt this guy was special.
Not having watched Roche before I didn’t realize he is more than special. He is a rock star. Roche had 19 tackles for loss and 13 sacks last season at Temple to earn the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
The final issue plaguing the Hurricanes was inconsistent play at QB. We didn’t have a set leader and that hurt us. That now is not an issue. D’Eriq King who is a proven winner coming from Houston is the kind of QB Miami is used to having. In practice, he has been great and this was the last piece of the puzzle Miami needed.
Now the offseason is over. It’s time to put these players to the test. The Miami Hurricanes need to function as a team. Miami has all the pieces. Many years fans feel burned as the Hurricanes just fall short and disappointment sets in. This is going to be a little cliche but this year should be different.
For the many great fans who will be watching this on TV maybe tweet along during the game. It’s fun. #GoCanes