The Miami Hurricanes season just ended a month ago, but here we are just a couple of weeks away from spring camp and the expectations are as high as they've been in two decades.Â
Mario Cristobal has a loaded roster and added some key transfers to the group. There will be position battles with in-house players, true freshmen and players joining the roster from the portal. Here are four players that will need to stand out immediately:Â
Darian Mensah, QB (Duke)
Mensah doesn't have to do much to impress Cristobal more than he already has. This is less about the coach and more about the expectations. The Hurricanes will have a high-profile transfer at quarterback for the third straight year. Cam Ward led Miami to 10 wins and almost won the Heisman Trophy. Carson Beck led the Hurricanes to 13 wins and was a possession away from winning the CFP championship. So obviously, Mensah has to lead Miami to a title AND win the Heisman! It sounds unfair, but that's the way it is and the hoops that Mensah had to jump through to get to Coral Gables tell me that he believes he can accomplish all those things with the Hurricanes.Â
Jamal Meriweather, OLÂ (Georgia)
Most of the transfers that Miami acquired this offseason had extensive starting experience, but Meriweathewr is an example of Cristobal grabbing a flyer on a high-upside player that was a reserve at another top program. Meriweather took snaps at guard and tackle for the Bulldogs over two seasons in limited playing time. The talent is there and the size (6-foot-7, 305 pounds) is promising. This is the time for Meriweather to show some major growth in the spring so he can help the Hurricanes in the fall.Â
Vandrevius Jacobs, WRÂ (South Carolina/Florida State)
Jacobs had a nice breakthrough season with South Carolina with 32 catches for 548 yards and four touchdowns. He'll jump into a loaded room that has two 1,000-yard receivers (Malachi Toney and Cooper Barkate) and some promising in-house young talent like Joshua Moore. Jacobs will be competing with Moore and West Virginia transfer Cam Vaughn to lock down that other starting spot. This could be one of the more fun position battles to watch over the spring and summer.
Conrad Hussey, DBÂ (Oregon State/Florida State)
Hussey was named FSU's Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2023 and had a pretty good two-year run with the Seminoles before things went downhill with the staff changes there. He had an altercation with a coach that led to his dismissal in August. From there, Hussey went to Oregon State and played a couple of games before deciding to sit out and take a redshirt. Without really knowing what happened at FSU, it's safe to say the Seminoles have been a mess. Hussey should enter spring camp with a chip on his shoulder and eager to take advantage of an opportunity to re-establish himself as a top player for a program ready to compete for a championship.Â