Do we have enough talent to win the Coastal?

The Athletic just released a post-NSD Top 25. We were not ranked.

4. A&M
6. Clemson
11. Pitt

Plus UNC has equal talent to us. So can we win? Yes. But Pitt will be the favorite and having @Clemson as our 2nd crossover makes it much more difficult.
Why is Pitt rated that highly?
 
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Let me say this.

When asking yourself this question. You have to consider the talent the other teams have, coaches, and schedules.

A chance just of default being in the ACC sure. I’d put that around 20%. As of today. (Need help bad on D)
 
We need those one are 2 special players that other teams can't account for. We got one on offense. Now we need one on defense
 
Not sure if the All-ACC team should be the metric used to determine if Miami has more talent or not than other Coastal or ACC teams. The All-ACC team selections have always been somewhat of a head scratcher in terms of who is in or not.

Not saying there is an anti-Miami bias with the teams but some very talented Miami guys have been left off or been under-represented.

Miami is more talented than the other Coastal teams. Not a perfect roster but definitely talented in Key spots like QB.
Fixed.
 
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Why is Pitt rated that highly?

They actually return quite a bit of talent and brought over Slovis from USC.

They’re probably at least a top-25 team even with the expected drop off from losing Pickett. Maybe the third best team on the schedule after A&M and Clemson.
 
Yes to Coastal. And yes to ACC as a whole. But we do have low quality depth at OL and LB and that will come back to hurt us.
 
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Some teams can get away with winning as a unit with great play calling, but Miami has always been about talent. When we were great, we pumped out multiple first and second rounders ever year. None of us are expecting to get to the playoffs any time soon, much less in 2022, so the threshold is thankfully lower. But is it fair to say we need all 22 starters to be capable of making 3rd Team All-Conference, and at least 3-4 who should battle for the 1st-Team All ACC?

If so, here are my three requests to the board:
1. Name 4 guys you expect to get 1st Team All ACC votes
2. Name the positions where you don't we have anyone capable of making 3rd Team All ACC
3. Given your answers to 1 and 2, justify why we should win the Coastal, or not

1. TVD, Stevenson, Lou Hedley, and Zion Nelson.
2. Center... and LB (but only if Chase Smith isn't a LB next season).
3. Having a top-notch QB always gives you a fighting chance, and we have the best starting QB in the ACC. Blue chip ratio is up over 50%, which means we'll probably have the talent advantage (on paper) in all but 2 games next season. OL will be better with a healthy Rivers back on the OL. And between the change to a fundamentally sound defensive system and a coach who actually knows how to coach LBs, I expect our atrocious LB play to improve.

(Did this without reading any responses to avoid selection bias)
 
Some teams can get away with winning as a unit with great play calling, but Miami has always been about talent. When we were great, we pumped out multiple first and second rounders ever year. None of us are expecting to get to the playoffs any time soon, much less in 2022, so the threshold is thankfully lower. But is it fair to say we need all 22 starters to be capable of making 3rd Team All-Conference, and at least 3-4 who should battle for the 1st-Team All ACC?

If so, here are my three requests to the board:
1. Name 4 guys you expect to get 1st Team All ACC votes
2. Name the positions where you don't we have anyone capable of making 3rd Team All ACC
3. Given your answers to 1 and 2, justify why we should win the Coastal, or not
Simple answer is watch what coaching does for talent...
 
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I think this is easily the best talent and depth we’ve had on offense in 15 years. I expect to add one more to OL too.
The defense is where I’m concerned because of the glaring holes out in the edge and at LB. Outside of Chase, it’s really underwhelming.
It should be enough
 
Serious question. Where can I put in a futures bet on Miami winning the ACC? Im only seeing odds for the Natty.
 
Some teams can get away with winning as a unit with great play calling, but Miami has always been about talent. When we were great, we pumped out multiple first and second rounders ever year. None of us are expecting to get to the playoffs any time soon, much less in 2022, so the threshold is thankfully lower. But is it fair to say we need all 22 starters to be capable of making 3rd Team All-Conference, and at least 3-4 who should battle for the 1st-Team All ACC?

If so, here are my three requests to the board:
1. Name 4 guys you expect to get 1st Team All ACC votes
2. Name the positions where you don't we have anyone capable of making 3rd Team All ACC
3. Given your answers to 1 and 2, justify why we should win the Coastal, or not


1. TVD, Rooster (if he is not suspended to start the season), Mallory, Zion, Big Lou, Tyrique.

2. LB and POSSIBLY WR (because our top guys left and it might be hard for any one guy to stand out as much).

3. We should win the Coastal because we have more talent than anyone and we finally have the coaching to back it up. We actually beat the Coastal champ last year and they are losing the Greatest Quarterback Of All Time (to UM fans). The only Coastal team with comparable talent is UNC, who we "should have" beaten last year (and who has also lost a GOAT QB, at least in the eyes of our fans), and who we will finally be able to outcoach. It is not a question of whether Miami is infinitely better than the rest of the Coastal (and we ARE better), but also that the rest of the Coastal is in terrible shape for 2022. Plus we get both Pitt and North Carolina at home this year.
 
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Win the Coastal? Definitely . . . but needs to be done on the field - not off-season on a message board. Other programs have quality players and coaching staffs, biggest current threats being UNC & Pitt.
 
I'd also say that the ACC schedule breaks fairly well for us.

The "toughest" game on paper is Clemson on the road. But it is the second-to-last game of the season, and presents less of a "momentum-killer" if we drop that game, as we would only play Pitt after that.

The toughest Coastal games are both at home (UNC, Pitt), plus our rivalry game (F$U).

The road games are winnable in October (VaTech and UVa), and we are not going to lose at GaTech. I have already pencilled in an overcomeable loss to Clemson.

We could very realistically be heading to Clemson 6-0 in the ACC. With a win over Pitt, we would win the Coastal with a 7-1 record (loss to Atlantic Division Clemson and undefeated against the Coastal).

Nothing super-challenging. 8 games in 8 weeks, with only two away games (GaTech/Clemson) back-to-back.

Very much within our reach to go 8-0 or 7-1 in conference play.
 
huge question marks at LB, DE and WR. winning the coastal while elusive for for us is always in sight. winning the ACC going to be a little harder.

DE - lost a lot two years ago and nobody emerged.
LB - you all know the story
WR - lost two most productive WR's who accounted for a ton of our production. this is being discounted or ignored. sure we have some talented guys but not sure we have anyone as good as Rambo.
 
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We are gonna road grade the Coastal. We beat Pitt who had a NFL QB on the road. We can match up with any team in the Coastal. UNC and FSU are at home and i expect a vibe close to 2017, maybe even more energetic. Clemson is outa division and Texas A&M is outa conference.

I think we will upset one of them. We have proven coaches and multiple postions where we are really good, mainly on offense, and some questionable positions with talent.
When Richt came in, we had a proven QB and some decent pieces. He finished 9-4 with a bowl win. I would say thats our floor.
 
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