Tommy Castellanos may never leave college football unless Miami shows him out the door

If it feels like Tommy Castellanos has been in college football for at least a decade, the end is near, but he might get another crack at the Miami Hurricanes on his way out.

The well-traveled Castellanos committed to Texas Tech on Wednesday and the compact quarterback is likely to be one of those players trying to get the fifth year that will actually stick since he didn't actually sign an NFL contract, but just participated in a few rookie mini-camps on an invitation.

There are a bunch of other players that DID sign NFL contracts and have tried to come back so they can play college football again, mostly for LSU, but it appears that the Power 4 conferences might be putting the kibosh on that.

Castellanos, however, is likely going to be a Red Raider, and he'll probably get some run in Lubbock because that team lacks explosive players and, say what you want about Castellanos being short and generally a terrible passing quarterback, he's slippery and can make plays with his feet.

Tommy Castellanos isn't done with college football and Miami might catch him down the road

So why does Castellanos' return and assumed roster spot with Texas Tech matter to Miami? Well, the former FSU, Boston College and UCF quarterback is actually playing for a good team now. One that has hopes of returning to the CFP for the second straight year. Last year, Texas Tech won the Big 12 and got the opening-round bye before losing 23-0 to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.

There's a good chance that the Red Raiders are the class of the Big 12 again this season and that means that they would be a potential opponent for the Hurricanes in the CFP. And that's where Castellanos has value. He adds another element to an offense that needed some speed, and he has experience playing teams like Miami.

Castellanos was 0-2 against Miami and the Hurricanes won both games comfortably, but he gave the defense some issues. In 2023, he had 130 rushing yards and a couple of scores for Boston College in a 45-20 loss to Miami and last season, Castellanos threw for 272 yards and rushed for 56 in a 26-22 loss to the Hurricanes that wasn't as close as the final score would indicate.

So should Miami be worried about Castellanos? Eh...there's no question that he's had moments against Miami's defense and the defense has had moments against him. Last year, the defense got two interceptions off Castellanos. But he was carrying some bad teams. Texas Tech is much better than those teams and the Red Raiders aren't looking for Castellanos to be the full-time quarterback. 

Given what I saw of Texas Tech's offense in the playoffs, Castellanos will make them much better just with his ability to make plays off schedule. The Red Raiders wouldn't be in this spot if they weren't denied in their efforts to get Brendan Sorsby on the field despite his admittance to gambling on games.

Sorsby is a better quarterback than Castellanos, but the latter has a lot less baggage and just a small dose of his playmaking here and there could make a difference. If Texas Tech and Miami meet in the playoffs, you better believe that Castellanos will be excited to get another shot at his old nemesis.

And he Hurricanes will be just as excited to send him home with another loss. 

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