This is the scoop on Jared Harrison-Hunte and Jayden Wayne after discussions with numerous sources:
I've always been a Jared Harrison-Hunte fan and believe he's a good player. In my opinion, he was better than Leonard Taylor last year. He was also a very personable and sharp young man from my dealings with him. His departure seems to have come down to two factors.
First, Harrison-Hunte was one of Manny's first signees as head coach (Class of 2019) and flirted with the Portal several times since he's been here. It seems he never fully bought in to the culture. Second, and more importantly, Miami believes it can upgrade in terms of size and ability in the Portal. One DT is more likely, but two DTs are possible if it's the right two. Ahmad Moten is an internal name that's being counted on to step up.
To me, this move will be judged by what Miami does in the Portal. If the staff upgrades at DT, we are a better team. If they don't, we take a step back in a must-win season. Jared Harrison-Hunte was going to help us this year.
Wayne's situation is a little different. His development was slower than you'd like for a high-value, Top 100 recruit. He was never a pure rusher and, despite a good work ethic and good size/speed traits, it hasn't clicked for him yet. The fact that Cole McConathy started in the spring game and Marquise Lightfoot flashed so much is telling. That said, I think Wayne can be a good player with a smart transfer and continued development.
As we've been saying for weeks, I expect Miami to add a veteran DE who is an immediate upgrade at the position. The goal is to win right now.
To those who have been critical of development, I get it. IMO, the transfer-heavy nature of the defense is the result of subpar recruiting at DL and DB. These are things we all discussed in realtime. DL seems to have corrected with last year's haul, which was the best in the nation. We have a new defensive back coach. In the short-term, those positions are going to lean heavily on the Portal.
