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Some highlights:
Shannon Dawson spoke about Beck and his integration into the locker room and the offense. He spoke about coming in behind Cam Ward.
"Even though filling Cam's shoes around here seems big, to him it's like, 'Dude, stop. I followed a guy that won two national championships and then we won the SEC. This ain't nothing for me. Y'all got beat in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.'"
"My perception outside was probably the same as a lot of people," Dawson said. " I'm not a big social media guy, but I was like, hey, let's get to know who this kid really is, and the more I got to know him, the more I found out he don't like that s--t, really, either.
"He hasn't been on social media one time. He's a very private person and you've got to get through some barriers to get to know the real him. There are no distractions now. In a lot of ways, he's a lot more relaxed. I think that did kind of bother him at times. I felt like that he felt like he had to do [social media] because when you're with somebody, it is what it is, but it really wasn't who he was. Let's focus on ball."
-Beck is heavily involved at practices, shouting audibles and repeating a play's cadence behind the offensive line as the backup quarterbacks run the offense. On Thursday last week, he phoned offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, requesting an impromptu meeting to review protection calls for the offensive line. Beck began throwing the football on Monday for the first time since his injury at the SEC Championship Game in early December.
"He's been locked in ever since he came in," said offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. "He's a leader from Georgia, and he's going to continue to lead out here and hopefully get us what we didn't get last year."
-Can Beck replicate the production of Ward, who threw for 300 yards in all but two full games he played last season? Mario has crunched the numbers - he has a printout of analytics comparing passer rating numbers and other data. On one side is Ward's career, starting at Washington State, where he carried a hamstrung offense and suffered through turnovers; on the other side is Beck's journey at Georgia, where receivers dropped passes last season after a much stronger debut in 2023. Their trajectories — and potential — are strikingly similar.
That doesn't mean Miami's analytics team projects Beck to throw for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns like Ward did a year ago. More concerning is the loss of the 1,800-plus receiving yards produced by Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George.
Miami was one of the sport's most thrilling teams last season. The Hurricanes started 9-0 with the nation's No. 1 offense led by Ward, whose duality as a runner and passer produced highlight-reel plays and several incredible comeback victories.
The defense was a mess. Communication on the backend of the defense was muddy, and players were too often in the wrong spot on the field. Miami somehow won four straight games in which opponents scored 34-plus points, but Ward and Co.'s offense could only offset so much for so long. The Hurricanes lost two of their final three games of the regular season, falling one win short of the ACC title game ... and a spot in the College Football Playoff.
-"In my 19 years coaching college, it was the most frustrating and disappointing season ever," said offensive line coach Alex Mirabal.
- After firing defensive coordinator Lance Guidry, Cristobal hired fast riser Corey Hetherman from Minnesota, a disciple of Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, to install a scheme built on a four-down front with more disguised coverages and exotic blitzes.
"We recruited this team to be a four-down front," Cristobal said. "Last year, jumping in odd, odd tight, that doesn't work. You negate the effectiveness of (defensive end) Rueben Bain, an Ahkeem Mesidor. You can't do that. Right now, they're playing fast and free upfield. It's crazy."
"Our style is launch technique," Hetherman said. "We're not a read-and-react defense. It's not even stay in your gap, it's get reach, get vertical."
-The portal does not exasperate Cristobal, nor do the endless hours combing through film and phoning recruits. He lives for this stuff. "I think it's fun" he said, his voice rising, "in its own chaotic way."
Cristobal's preparation is impressive, and his recall of names, including recruits' family members, is stunning. Staffers are on call at all hours, and he often texts his senior coaches at 2 a.m. seeking information on players or to make plans for recruiting pitches.
-"He's the best recruiter on the staff," Mirabal said. "He writes more letters than any of us. He sends more text messages than any of us. He'll meet with over 50 or 60 kids today, and when he does, it's not superficial. He's setting the tempo, he's setting the pace. To him, it's a competition; it's a game. He doesn't take the low-hanging fruit. He's going after the top of the tree. It's the hunt that drives him."
Indeed, recruiting is the lifeblood of every program. At Miami, it's an obsession.
"You can be a great coach, but if you don't have great players, you've got no shot," Mirabal said.
On his staff:
"Everyone matters in the building," Cristobal said. "Praise really, really good effort and reward performance — and don't come off that. Everyone wants to be appreciated and everyone is a part of it. Everyone has a hand in it. No one is insignificant, no one is irrelevant. Everyone in the building, every hire, whether it be a volunteer, a student worker or high-level coordinator, everyone has an impact on somebody. So you take the time to make sure you choose the right people."
. His qoute about the ball typically finding the best players is spot on too(paws deez nutz you *** *** **** boys). I actually enjoyed reading this article. Good job by the writer
