Spoke to sources about everything around the team and recruiting. Some quick notes:

- The mood around the team is angry. No excuse-making or rationalization, even though they have a lot of respect for Wake Forest. Everybody knows the second half sucked and they need to get a lot better.

- The best way to describe the OL situation is "fluid." They need to find the best 5, and what we've seen so far isn't it. Based on what Mario said on WQAM, and what I've heard independently, the focus seems to be more on the guards than center or tackle. I would expect to see some different combinations this weekend. I've talked a lot about Ben Congdon and Jackson Cantwell, because they split the first-team RG reps all camp. But one young name to watch is Rhys Woodrow. He already has a ton of responsibility in punt protection and has C/G versatility. Canon Pickett is another guy who can get in the mix with the other three.

The concern with most freshmen (especially the big guys) is they may dominate on two reps and whiff badly on a third. And the that whiff could change the season. With that said, we aren't getting consistency from the older players, and they're only second-year guys themselves. Bottom line- this is a work in progress and I expect to see tinkering until it's playoff caliber.

- They're being extremely tight-lipped about injuries, although I don't sense a ton of concern aside from Marty Brown and Josh Moore. Those two are heartbreakers. Two names Miami wants to see step up in their place: Jordan Lyle and Somourian Wingo.

- Ezekiel Marcelin's injury was ill-timed because we need more at LB. I don't think those two starting spots are set in stone all year.

- In terms of recruiting, Miami is very purposeful in terms of watching senior film and grading their own prospects. Some guys who have really impressed: QB Israel Abrams, RB Ty Keys, WRs Nick Lennear and Eli Woodard, ATH A'mir Sears, DE Jaiden Bryant, DL Josh Johnson, LB Noah Glover and CB Sherrod Gourdine.

- There is no secret that the staff still wants to make another big splash in 2027. Three names stand above the rest: OT Mark Matthews, DE DJ Jacobs and TE Jaxon Dollar. Miami finished second for all three and will continue to push aggressively until the final whistle.

 

The whole situation with mccoy going to guard is interesting because, before we even get to if he wants to or not we don’t even know if cantwell is good there

What im confused by is multiple reports late in camp that congdon was ahead of cantwell at guard. Games start and cantwell gets guard reps before congdon

The discussions about us not playing the right guys is giving me pre mario eras ptsd. There shouldn’t be discussions about if the right guys are playing for a championship level team

 

Whiffing more than Rob Deer in his prime...

What a freakin call

 

How about some Press Man Coverage?

 

Isn't it time we start to call out something that seems obvious...

Heatherman doesn't develop LBs well, at all. That's his unit and no one is stepping up.

 

Why would woodrow be ready at center which is a position much more important to have experience at...

If woodrow was ready to contribute ahead of Cantwell, Congdon, (and/or Buchanan) I'd be ******* stunned

Of course you'd be stunned.

Your brain function is too narrow to realize that Rhys Woodrow may be able to play the guard position better than Cantwell/Congdon do. For instance, I know that Woodrow's footwork is far better than Congdon's at this current time, and footwork is very important at the guard position.

But, yeah, just be "******* stunned". It's all you're good at.

 

Kinsler wanted assurances he would start

He would have started.

 

Isn't it time we start to call out something that seems obvious...

Heatherman doesn't develop LBs well, at all. That's his unit and no one is stepping up.

We just saw Ezekiel look like he was emerging as an equally capable member of the ‘22 Miami Central defense that headlined w/ Rueben Bain and Stanquan Clark. Looked developed to me. Kid was playing fast.

Wiley looks good when he is out there. Bonner looks better than he did last year but I prefer Pruitt’s skillset. I know Mario isn’t happy about Pruitt’s penalty on special teams.

 

He would have started.

Sure but then does McCoy transfer because I’m sure he wants to show off he can be a tackle at the next level. I just don’t understand how they didn’t bring in a guard with some size to take one of the spots.

 

Whiffing more than Rob Deer in his prime...

 

I’m rewatching the Stanford game when we went to a new 6 man platoon in the second half:

Samson—Max/SJ—RR—Cantwell—McCoy

What jumps out to me is how fatigued RR looks. He is not moving well AT ALL, and his lack of engagement on defenders foreshadows issues that happened against Wake Forest in the second half.

I’m far more concerned about RR. James Brockmeyer is a practice squad player and he felt like a massive downgrade from Zach Carpenter and Matt Lee the two years prior. RR isn’t on James’ level.

slightly interesting sidebar was that Briggs was in on Nickel’s first snap. Wanna see if he gets an opportunity against CMU as we need to build depth.

I know there was talk on Rhys Woodrow at guard, but we need Rhys Woodrow at center lol. There’s only one guy who misses their block and causes this to be a TFL: RR.

Mfs hating on Pringle and talking about arm tackles bringing him down: behold my wrath! Clearly eludes this arm tackle however literally what is he supposed to do here? RR left him out for dead, doesn’t even slow him down enough for Giard to be able to avoid the edge on the backside who didn’t bite on Spafford’s motion.

TLDR: RR makes our guards worse, and he may very well be worse than our guards. Haven’t watched all three games back but McCoy doesn’t even deserve to be lumped in with the other 3. He is doing his job, withstanding an illegal hand to his face-mask. SJ does better than Cantwell this snap; yet both are adequate enough Pringle had space to do his thing; UNTILL RR ruined the rush.

 

Sure but then does McCoy transfer because I’m sure he wants to show off he can be a tackle at the next level. I just don’t understand how they didn’t bring in a guard with some size to take one of the spots.

It didn’t work, still:

Jamal Meriweather - Football 2026-27

Jamal Meriweather - Football 2026-27

miamihurricanes.com

 

54 yards to be exact

Yeah, we don't exactly have geniuses on this board, just guys who pontificate on how easy it should be to kick a 54 yarder.

 

The last paragraph. Football coaches are a special breed of stubborn which is why most fail. These two hombres think they are gods gift to OL coaching. Don’t get me wrong they are very good. But they tried to convince themselves they could rewrite the laws of physics… hoping the rumors I’ve heard are true about LG experiment largely being phased out. But I will believe it when I see it

Rumors? Pray do tell…