there's some really simplistic and reductive arguments being made in this thread.
one is that running the ball is old school and passing the ball is modern. any good college coordinator will run the ball all day long if they're able to. Jeff Lebby, Kendall Briles, and Josh Heupel are the three main Briles disciples currently calling plays in the P5 and all of those teams leaned on the run very heavily. dividing college teams into "run plays" and "pass plays" is a bit deceptive because sacks are counted as QB runs in college, but go look at Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Tennessee's stats. Ole Miss had three backs over 500 yards plus its QB over 600 yards. Arkansas had three backs over 500 yards plus its QB over 600 yards. Tennessee had two backs over 500 yards plus its QB over 600 yards. by comparison, Michigan had a back over 1,300 yards and a back over 900 yards, so they got more or less the same production just less spread out.
and if you want to break down the 2021 run/pass splits of those four teams, you wouldn't know who was running what system:
Michigan: 575 runs, 395 passes
Tennessee: 577 runs, 376 passes
Arkansas: 588 runs, 314 passes
Ole Mis: 588 runs, 429 passes
Gattis and the Briles guys are running different offenses, but they got to the same place regardless. all four coordinators understand that if you can run the ball, you should run the ball. here is a quote from Rhett Lashlee when he took over the Miami job, tell me if you think it's essentially the same description that Mario gives of his "balanced" offense
“I believe in balance. You’ve got to run it and throw it. I’ve always believed that you’ve got to run the ball to win, but you’ve got to throw the ball to score. It’s a fancy way to say balanced."
so, let's get past this idea that running the ball is "smash mouth" and "old school" and passing the ball is "modern." if you can run the ball in college you're going to run the ball. Michigan, Ole Miss.... doesn't matter.
there's also this idea across this thread that the Air Raid and Briles offenses are modern or innovative. the Air Raid, at this point, is an old school offense, and systems that haven't evolved past the Air Raid are being left in the dust. Mike Leach is running the same plays he did in 2002 and as such Mississippi State is nobody's idea of a dangerous offense. the same thing is happening to Kliff Kingsbury in the NFL, and happened to a certain extent with Graham Harrell at USC, who was decent at best there.
the best offenses these days are running blends of things. neither Lincoln Riley or Ryan Day run Air Raid or Briles system offenses. they're both running spread-to-run offenses that design explosive passing plays off the run game. Josh Gattis had more or less the same philosophy at Michigan, except it was dressed up in more condensed, pro style formations. you could make the argument that Gattis' blended system is actually far more "modern" than the Briles offense, which works because it takes advantage of the college hashmarks but hasn't evolved or innovated much in the last decade, beyond an increase usage of RPOs, which basically everyone is doing.
as for running an offense that fits Miami's personnel, everyone is focusing on the OL and run game. but let's talk about the pass game. one thing that I like about Gattis' 2021 offense is that, contrary to the Briles system, he spread the ball around significantly. if you go look at Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Arkansas receiving stats, you'll notice that they lean heavily on just a few pass catchers. Lashlee did much of the same thing last year, which made sense given Rambo and Harley's experience. this year, our returning receiver (Key Smith) totaled only 405 yards. unless Jacolby George and Romello Brinson develop rapidly, we don't have obvious outside the hash receiver threats beyond Smith, which is really what the Briles offense is based on. where the current roster is strong is at TE, RB, and smallish receivers, which is far closer to how Gattis ran his offense last year. I actually think we need a coach who can design explosive passing plays instead of just relying on the QBs and WRs to win on go balls over and over the way that TVD and Rambo did last year. we have the QB to do that again, but I'm not sure we have the WRs yet. (Gattis will also throw deep plenty, just ask Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell).
