Bryant McKinnie will be inducted into Miami's Ring of Honor at halftime of Saturday's game against Stanford, joining Ken Dorsey (to be honored later), Andre Johnson and Dan Morgan in the Hurricanes' 2025 class.
A junior-college transfer from Lackawanna (Pa.), McKinnie redshirted in 1999 and then started at left tackle in 2000 and 2001 as Miami went 23–1 during that stretch and won the 2001 national championship. Across those two seasons he did not allow a single sack, an outlier level of pass protection that helped quarterback Ken Dorsey and a balanced offense roll through the Big East and the BCS title game. He became a unanimous first-team All-American in 2001, won the Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman, and finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting — an exceedingly rare top-10 Heisman finish for an offensive lineman.
I am Honored & Super Excited to announce, I am a member of the Ring of Honor Class of 2025 for the University of Miami. Happy to share this stage with 3 of my teammates Ken Dorsey, Andre Johnson & Dan Morgan. The Ring of Honor serves as the highest honor for Hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/40710CSVjj
— Bryant Mckinnie (@BryantMckinnie) April 18, 2025
In 2000, McKinnie drew national attention for blanking Florida State edge rusher Jamal Reynolds — then a future first-round pick and Lombardi Award winner — during Miami's 27–24 win. The Hurricanes allowed only three sacks in 340 regular-season pass plays that year. He backed it up in 2001 while anchoring an offense that averaged 5.3 yards per rush en route to the Rose Bowl win over Nebraska.
McKinnie has since been enshrined by the National Football Foundation, which inducted him into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Minnesota Vikings selected McKinnie seventh overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, and he became an immediate fixture, starting every game from 2003–07 and earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2009. After a move to Baltimore in 2011, he played a pivotal role in the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII run — reclaiming the left tackle job for the postseason as a late-year line shuffle helped to protect Joe Flacco's blind side. He closed his career with a 2013 stint for his hometown Miami Dolphins.
McKinnie's arc, from JUCO convert to unanimous All-American, Heisman vote-getter and NFL champion, is a great representation of Miami's ability to develop players. Saturday's induction now places his name alongside fellow anchors of that era and permanently cements his place in the program's lineage.