Transfer DB splits from Miami after failing to break into loaded depth chart

Well so much for surprises.

Defensive back Conrad Hussey, who joined the Miami Hurricanes from the transfer portal after a season with Oregon State, is no longer with the program according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Hussey, who committed to Florida State in the 2023 recruiting class, was a top-20 recruit out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.

It's a disappointing end for Hussey, who was trying to recapture the buzz he had as a freshman when the Seminoles named him their rookie of the year on defense. He struggled in 2024, but FSU was a dumpster fire that year and everyone seemed to check out. Things got worse for Hussey and the Seminoles when he was dismissed from the program after reports of a physical altercation with an unnamed assistant coach.

(Side rant: It always bothered me that FSU protected the name of the assistant coach, but was far less concerned about Hussey's name and the incident reaching the media. That says about Mike Norvell and how much he supposedly cares about his players.)

There's no explanation for why Hussey has decided to leave on his own or whether the decision was a mutual one. By all accounts Hussey was had a decent spring and was meeting the projection of being a rotational piece. If Hussey were to continue playing college football it would likely be at the FCS level or lower. After being dismissed from FSU, Hussey landed with the Beavers and appeared in three games, but a hand injury kept him out for most of the season. 

Transfer DB Conrad Hussey is no longer with the Miami Hurricanes

Hussey came into the program on a flyer. As Jackson points out in his story, Miami is pretty stacked at defensive back already and Hussey was being given an opportunity to provide additional depth and possibly carve out a role on special teams. He wasn't going to get much of an opportunity to slide into a starting role because Bryce Fitzgerald and Zechariah Poyser had locked those positions down. The best bet for Hussey would've been a second-team role, but the emergence of true freshman JJ Dunnigan during the spring put a wrench in that plan. 

The more you think about it, this move probably makes sense for both sides if it was voluntary. Hussey can find somewhere else to finish his college football career and the Hurricanes can fully focus on some of the younger guys that have worked their way into the secondary depth chart this spring. 

READ MORE: Zechariah Poyser is already working hard to keep up with speedy freshman

The other bright side of this is that it's good to hear that Dunnigan is generating the sort of waves that may have chased an experienced player off. The freshman from Manhattan, Kansas was a top-100 player in the 2026 class and, by all accounts, seems to be as good as advertised. 

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