Today's college football can have a program being a doormat the previous year and the next year, become a perennial winner. The Miami Hurricanes came out of obscurity to challenge for a College Football Playoff title. Some believe the Hurricanes are back to being the elite program they once were in the 20th century.
With success poses an enormous number of challenges. Realistically, the Canes still must prove to critics that their remarkable playoff run was not a fluke. In 2026, some of the program's key contributors will no longer be available due to graduation and potentially playing in the NFL. This is a scenario that most programs must embrace.
The difficult task that success brings is trying to prolong it. Uncertainty can produce either positive or negative results. In the previous two seasons, the Miami Hurricanes have been able to thrive from an offseason of uncertainty by winning on-the-field.
What the 2026 Hurricanes must encounter is not like any other scenario the program has faced during the past two seasons. Sure, at the quarterback position, the Canes have been able to blossom with uncertainty at quarterback.
Heading into the 2026 campaign, holes on both sides of the ball must be filled by players, who may not possess the same caliber of talent as their predecessors. A team is defined by both the offensive and defensive lines and it will be extremely interesting how the new replacements will fare.
If the Miami Hurricanes are not able to duplicate the success the program experienced this previous season, will some call the program's CFP run a fluke? Perhaps, but unfortunately, it seems as though the potential for some to stand by that statement regarding the Canes championship quest could come into fruition.
Understandably, the Miami Hurricanes have no choice but to replace and rebuild. Most critics are not concerned as to whether or not a program has to plug in players with inexperience. They view the players each program has on-the-field and assess these players regardless of proficiency.
Right now, it might seem to some that the Hurricanes have the potential to come back to mediocrity when one factors in the unfortunate cards the program was dealt. Twice before, in two previous seasons, the Canes fared better than many expected. Could the 2026 season be more of the same in proving critics wrong when factoring the odds?