Series:
Miami breaks the seal off the 2022 season (and the Mario Cristobal era) on Saturday, after what has felt like the longest offseason ever. Probably because we are all genuinely looking forward to it, instead of shoveling caffeine pills like Jessie Spano and pretending that everything is okay. "The New Miami," became a meme for all the wrong reasons quickly when Diaz was here. Cristobal has astutely pointed out, repeatedly, that building a winning culture takes more than a hashtag or a t-shirt. It takes hard work. Since he was hired, Mario has been hard at work fixing everything, big and small, that is wrong with this program. He basically erased from history all the aesthetics he hasn't liked about the program since he left.
What's also exciting is all the transfers that came in, particularly on defense, to plug holes on the roster under Manny. Jackson, Agude, Lichtenstein, and Moultrie make our D-Line room legit. Porter came in with 3 true freshmen and added even more competition. Caleb Johnson brings some much needed talent to a position that had become glaringly bad under Diaz. There's also Sagapolu and Denis to bolster the O-Line, and Ladson and Young to bring size and competition at receiver. Finally, Henry Parrish and Lucious Stanley provided some much needed depth and experience to an injury plagued position.
Another reason not to be scared is we have actual legit coaches who know what they are doing. Crazy, right? Mirabal is one of the best OL coaches in college football. Gattis just won the freakin Broyles Award as the best assistant coach in college. Kevin Steele is the grey beard of the staff. He happens to know a thing or two, about a thing or two, about defense. Charlie Strong is our LBs coach. The guy who won two national titles as a DC, won the Sugar Bowl at Louisville, and dragged his balls on Al Golden's forehead...is our linebackers coach. Jahmile Addae won a national title at Georgia (where a CB clinched the title with a pick 6), loaded his Nordictrack into his Rav-4, and drove down to Coral Gables to coach the secondary at Miami. NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor is an on the field assistant with no official title. He's just happy to be here. This is real life. There are more but you get the point. It's an embarrassment of riches.
1. Where they finished in the standings/rankings:
Some easy to spot signs you are a bad football team are; your winning percentage is below the Mendoza Line, you finish at the bottom of your division, and you do it while being an FCS school. At least that's my wrinkly-brained take from that. Still, they've got a handful of okay players on their team and if you are interested in anything besides praying no one else on the team gets injured, there are some people to keep an eye on.
2. What happened the last time Miami played Bethune-Cookman?
Oh boy. Manny's first win during his first season. Where do I begin? There's touchdown rings, Jarren at QB, Enos as OC, and Patchan starting over Greg Rousseau. It's a smorgasbord of R-word going on in that video.
From After the Storm:
Stefan said:
Being terrible at running the ball in short yardage is a problem at Miami that transcends coaching staffs and players. I expect it to be noticeably better, because it has to given the scheme we run.
3. Who to be scared of:
Kemari Averett
Averett started his college career playing TE at Louisville, choosing them over multiple other P5 offers. He was there when Lamar Jackson was still qb. He even caught a TD pass from him in 2017. Then he caught a domestic violence charge, which got him kicked off the team. Fortunately for him, he still had another chance at football. He's getting noticed by scouts already after hauling in 10 TDs and over 800 yards receiving last year.
Here is what he's capable of:
4. Player that will score against us:
Daryl Powell, Jr.
Pretty good receiver from Deerfield Beach who played HS ball at Pompano Ely. He averaged over 20 yards a catch last year so he's likely going to be a deep threat for them like he did against FAMU last year.
He can also fight for the ball to make plays when he's covered, like when he Mossed some guy for UCF last year.
Since this is a tuneup game, it'll be good to see how our db's can jam this guy off the line in this new system under Kevin Steele and Jahmile Addae.
5. Person that will **** you off:
Omari Hill-Robinson
Omari is a local kid from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard). He finished second in the SWAC for interceptions and is one of the best CB in that conference. Given the pearl-clutching about the abilities of receivers, this guy will be doing his best to clamp down on them. If our guys can't get open with him in coverage, we're in for a long season.
6. Some other guy
Darnell Deas
Another CB, who is also a return specialist, from Pompano Beach (Ely). He's not as good in coverage as Hill-Robinson, but if this 5-8 dude is clamping down Ladson and our other receivers...yikes.
7. Favorite Bethune-Cookman related Image, Photoshop, Video, or Gif:
This is from 2012, where Deon Bush, Shayon Greene, Kelvin Cain, Corey King, and Tyrone Cornelius are made to look like fools. It's been a long 15 years.
8. Game Day Mascot:
Gizmo
