WR Isaiah Horton signs papers to enter Portal

[OrangeBowlMagic]

Thread 'Kevin Beard appreciation thread'

Sep 21, 2024

I’ll admit it. I thought it was a “nepotism” hire. I was wrong and I’m here to capitulate.

The receivers are REALLY well-coached. Polished, patient, excellent feel for the game, hands catchers, blockers, and very productive.

The improvement from Horton is jarring. We have 3 kids on the Biletnikoff list, and #2 might be the best of the bunch.

I really can’t say enough about how good the receivers look. It’s such a professional looking organization and so great to see. You can tell these kids are so well schooled, every snap, everyone is on the same page.

My flowers tonight go to Coach...

• OrangeBowlMagic

• 
• 
• 

What a difference 6 months makes. Or maybe it is less a factor of time, and more a factor of the colors on the uniform.

I never said I didn’t like him nor that he wasn’t a good player. I also never said didn’t wish he had stayed. If I had my pick, he’d still be on the team.

What i did say is we should have no issues replacing him. He’s not Jeremiah Smith.

And actually, the post you quoted makes me even more confident. It was about our WR coach, and him getting the most out of his players. He has several talented ones to mold.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

I never said I didn’t like him nor that he wasn’t a good player. I also said I didn’t wish he had stayed.

What i did say is we should have no issues replacing him. He’s not Jeremiah Smith.

And yet, we haven't done so.

Post in thread 'Syracuse transfer WR Trebor Pena to visit Miami this week'

Apr 23, 2025

We have a vet wr in daniels. Let psu over pay. This dude isn’t winning you any games

Special folks here.

Are the 2025 Miami Hurricanes better with Trebor Pena on the roster? Yes. The ******* answer is yes. It’s not “well, he got a lot of volume” or “yeah but Syracuse threw the ball a lot”.

It’s ******* yes. Why do yall have to make everything so complicated? How much better? I don’t know. But better. Are yall not interested in being a better football team? I genuinely don’t get it.

• OrangeBowlMagic

• 
• 
• 

Apply your own logic here. Just substitute Horton for Pena.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

And yet, we haven't done so.

Post in thread 'Syracuse transfer WR Trebor Pena to visit Miami this week'

Apr 23, 2025

We have a vet wr in daniels. Let psu over pay. This dude isn’t winning you any games

Special folks here.

Are the 2025 Miami Hurricanes better with Trebor Pena on the roster? Yes. The ******* answer is yes. It’s not “well, he got a lot of volume” or “yeah but Syracuse threw the ball a lot”.

It’s ******* yes. Why do yall have to make everything so complicated? How much better? I don’t know. But better. Are yall not interested in being a better football team? I genuinely don’t get it.

• OrangeBowlMagic

• 
• 
• 

Apply your own logic here. Just substitute Horton for Pena.

I wanted Pena. They play different positions.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

*** bump of the year so far

I'm sure you'd know.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

I wanted Pena. They play different positions.

Slot, X, Z... we need WRs. Are the 2025 Miami Hurricanes better with Horton? If so, why isn't he on the roster? And if that answer is $$$, what have we done with that $$$?

We assumed (in fairness, we were told) this staff had a portal plan for the spring. Unfortunately, it has not materialized.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

Slot, X, Z... we need WRs. Are the 2025 Miami Hurricanes better with Horton? If so, why isn't he on the roster? And if that answer is $$$, what have we done with that $$$?

We assumed (in fairness, we were told) this staff had a portal plan for the spring. Unfortunately, it has not materialized.

Yeah for sure we are. My original post probably came off too harsh. I’m not meaning to **** on the kid. He’s a good player. But IMO he’s very replaceable. If we’re gonna bump threads, bump all the Restrepo ones. He’s the kid we’re gonna struggle replacing (hence me really wanting Pena).

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

Yeah for sure we are. My original post probably came off too harsh. I’m not meaning to **** on the kid. He’s a good player. But IMO he’s very replaceable. If we’re gonna bump threads, bump all the Restrepo ones. He’s the kid we’re gonna struggle replacing (hence me really wanting Pena).

I hear you and appreciate the response.

On Restrepo, he is (sadly) out of eligibility. Wish we still had him, for sure. But it's (somewhat) tougher blaming the staff on the failure to replace him. Though I do agree Pena would have helped.

Horton is, admittedly, easier to cover. But I don't think we have. We were told it was in the bag, but here we are.

Edited: I had a phone typo saying "don't agree" instead of "do agree" on Pena. He would have definitely helped replace X.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

I hear you and appreciate the response.

On Restrepo, he is (sadly) out of eligibility. Wish we still had him, for sure. But it's (somewhat) tougher blaming the staff on the failure to replace him. Though I don't agree Pena would have helped.

Horton is, admittedly, easier to cover. But I don't think we have. We were told it was in the bag, but here we are.

I’ve said it in other threads the past few days, but we have I believe 6 blue-chip receivers, 7 if you count chance Robinson, which I don’t because I’m not sure he exists. I don’t know how many teams in America can say that. Sure, I’d love a team full of ready-made receivers too. But we’ve recruited the position pretty well. Daniels and the BYU kid have played football. Coach the kids up and let them make plays. Jojo Trader could’ve went to any school he wanted. It’s not like we have a bunch of walk-ons here. Next man up.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

I’ve said it in other threads the past few days, but we have I believe 6 blue-chip receivers, 7 if you count chance Robinson, which I don’t because I’m not sure he exists. I don’t know how many teams in America can say that. Sure, I’d love a team full of ready-made receivers too. But we’ve recruited the position pretty well. Daniels and the BYU kid have played football. Coach the kids up and let them make plays. Jojo Trader could’ve went to any school he wanted. It’s not like we have a bunch of walk-ons here. Next man up.

Sure, but recognize that's a shift in the "plan." We went from watch the portal to next man up in one spring. I strongly suspect that's results oriented spin.

 

[cway313]

Sure, but recognize that's a shift in the "plan." We went from watch the portal to next man up in one spring. I strongly suspect that's results oriented spin.

That's only because you have been paying attention.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

Sure, but recognize that's a shift in the "plan." We went from watch the portal to next man up in one spring. I strongly suspect that's results oriented spin.

Whose plan though? This board’s?

At the end of the day, I really don’t care about plans, or visits, or “back-channeling”. None of that means a thing in August. The roster does. Is the roster good enough to finally win this stupid ******* league? That’s all I care about. If our QB is healthy, I believe it is. We obviously need some young kids to come of age and step up and develop into competent football players. But literally every team does as well.

Who are the kids running though the smoke against Notre Dame in 4 months and are they good enough to win that game and about 9-10 more?

Reading this board, it sure seems like the sentiment is “no”, because we didn’t get enough portal kids? We’ll all find out together.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

Whose plan though? This board’s?

At the end of the day, I really don’t care about plans, or visits, or “back-channeling”. None of that means a thing in August. The roster does. Is the roster good enough to finally win this stupid ******* league? That’s all I care about. If our QB is healthy, I believe it is. We obviously need some young kids to come of age and step up and develop into competent football players. But literally every team does as well.

Who are the kids running though the smoke against Notre Dame in 4 months and are they good enough to win that game and about 9-10 more?

Reading this board, it sure seems like the sentiment is “no”, because we didn’t get enough portal kids? We’ll all find out together.

When you say "this board," recognize that in this particular instance, you aren't just talking about us clowns. You're talking about the owners and insiders. That distinction matters because that information is disseminated by the team.

As far as this roster winning the ACC, I'm also going to need to see it. But from my vantage point today, there are holes. And some of those seem self-inflicted.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

When you say "this board," recognize that in this particular instance, you aren't just talking about us clowns. You're talking about the owners and insiders. That distinction matters because that information is disseminated by the team.

As far as this roster winning the ACC, I'm also going to need to see it. But from my vantage point today, there are holes. And some of those seem self-inflicted.

Yeah, we threw a **** load of money at Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. So did 10 other teams. It didn’t work for any of us. No harm in swinging for the fences. Mario has said almost daily he will do anything he can to upgrade the roster in any way possible.

So we’re back here to the roster. Is it good enough to win the league? If it’s not, and it’s because we’re not good enough at WR, or basically any position, it’s because we failed mostly in HS recruiting, and the coaches deserve all the blame for that obviously. ****** HS recruiting at DB and our DC being unable to coach up the stiffs we had back there last year cost us a playoff spot. According to Nick Saban, it might have cost us a Natty. I’ll never forgive Mario and Guidry for wasting that 2024 offense. But the calendar never stops flipping, so that’s in the past. Have we done enough to win this league and make the playoff in 2025? At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Not what the owners and insiders say we supposedly did (or didn’t do) in a spring portal window.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

Yeah, we threw a **** load of money at Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. So did 10 other teams. It didn’t work for any of us. No harm in swinging for the fences. Mario has said almost daily he will do anything he can to upgrade the roster in any way possible.

So we’re back here to the roster. Is it good enough to win the league? If it’s not, and it’s because we’re not good enough at WR, or basically any position, it’s because we failed mostly in HS recruiting, and the coaches deserve all the blame for that obviously. ****** HS recruiting at DB and our DC being unable to coach up the stiffs we had back there last year cost us a playoff spot. According to Nick Saban, it might have cost us a Natty. I’ll never forgive Mario and Guidry for wasting that 2024 offense. But the calendar never stops flipping, so that’s in the past. Have we done enough to win this league and make the playoff in 2025? At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Not what the owners and insiders say we supposedly did (or didn’t do) in a spring portal window.

We agree on last year. And I think we agree that the plan at WR (and probably a couple other position... DT, LB, maybe S) did not materialize.

If you are asking my opinion, on whether we have done enough to make the playoffs from a talent acquisition perspective, I don't think we have. Albeit part of that is my general distrust of the coaching staff's ability to maximize talent. Could be that our new DC provides a big boost on that side of the ball. A boy can dream...

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

We agree on last year. And I think we agree that the plan at WR (and probably a couple other position... DT, LB, maybe S) did not materialize.

If you are asking my opinion, on whether we have done enough to make the playoffs from a talent acquisition perspective, I don't think we have. Albeit part of that is my general distrust of the coaching staff's ability to maximize talent. Could be that our new DC provides a big boost on that side of the ball. A boy can dream...

Fair post. I will add though that if we sign Haulcy, it’s about as big a turnaround (ON PAPER) in the secondary that we could have possibly dreamed for.

I still have PTSD from last year. Badly. I want to admit the secondary is flipped and is now a strength, but I can’t. If I see Carr drop back on 3rd and 7 in the first quarter of the ND game and we have a DB in the same vicinity of his first read, maybe I’ll admit it. But that was such a complete cluster**** of almost indescribable proportion back there last year, I’m very much “I’ll believe it when I see it”. In a totally perfect world, we get another WR, DT, and LB. The staff tried. They failed. Whether or not that means the season is a failure is whether or not they can win with the kids they do have.

 

[Angry Ibis]

That's only because you have been paying attention.

For 4 years…

Mario hunting WR#1s

Bugs Bunny as Jeremiah Smith

 

[cway313]

For 4 years…

View attachment 324226

Mario hunting WR#1s

Bugs Bunny as Jeremiah Smith

Who can photoshop a butter knife over that shotgun?

 

[Angry Ibis]

Who can photoshop a butter knife over that shotgun?

Those wascally wide weceiversss

 

[GojiraCane]

This will be one of the youngest on average Canes teams in recent memory.

The recent changes brought by the portal are interesting. We’re going from a model based exclusively on HS recruiting to a hybrid with some teams making more emphasis on the portal.

My thought is this…if we recruits highly rated players out of HS but then keep recruiting portal players to play over them because they are “not ready”, when will the HS players ever become ready? Let’s say we got another one or two wide receivers who were pencilled in as starters, what development do we get from the former HS recruits? To put it another way, what would have happened if Restrepro and George had to sit for two or three years because we kept plugging in portal players due to their lack of experience.

At some point they leave in the portal themselves.

It’s a delicate balancing act for Mario and most other head coaches.

 

[cway313]

This will be one of the youngest on average Canes teams in recent memory.

The recent changes brought by the portal are interesting. We’re going from a model based exclusively on HS recruiting to a hybrid with some teams making more emphasis on the portal.

My thought is this…if we recruits highly rated players out of HS but then keep recruiting portal players to play over them because they are “not ready”, when will the HS players ever become ready? Let’s say we got another one or two wide receivers who were pencilled in as starters, what development do we get from the former HS recruits? To put it another way, what would have happened if Restrepro and George had to sit for two or three years because we kept plugging in portal players due to their lack of experience.

At some point they leave in the portal themselves.

It’s a delicate balancing act for Mario and most other head coaches.

Ideally we would have been using younger players in year 2 and year 3. Unfortunately bringing in tier 3 portal players has been the plan for 3 years now. Expecting development in year 4 with no proof of concept has many less than optimistic.