CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes were so close to so many of their goals last year; the ACC title game and the College Football Playoff were within reach. Despite having the nation’s top offense and the eventual No. 1 draft pick, quarterback Cam Ward, the team’s flaws — primarily on defense — caught up with them.

Instead of facing SMU in the ACC championship game, the Hurricanes watched from home. Instead of playing in the playoffs, Miami faced Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl — and lost to the Cyclones.

After last season’s disappointing conclusion, UM coach Mario Cristobal sought not just to maintain the team’s abilities but improve them. And after numerous transfer additions, the Hurricanes may have gotten better from last season’s 10-3 squad. In 2025, Miami seems poised to accomplish the goals they fell short of in 2024.

“We’ve been just trying to build — build with each other, and just figure out what we need to fix before we head into the season and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” linebacker Wesley Bissainthe said. “Just have a different mindset, different attitude, and everything will take care of itself.”

There is no bigger addition to the team than quarterback Carson Beck. At this time last year, the former Georgia star was planning on entering the NFL draft after the 2024 season. But after struggling at times and suffering an elbow injury in the SEC title game, Beck opted to stay in college but leave the Bulldogs.

Beck transferred to Miami, and after recovering from elbow surgery, he started throwing again after spring practices ended. He worked with his teammates in player-led practices during the summer before fall camp started at the end of July.

Beck’s health and ability will be a major determining factor in the Hurricanes’ fate this year. He is healthy now, and if he stays that way, he can be one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.

“We’re looking for the first and best version of Carson Beck,” Cristobal said at ACC media days. “Carson Beck has as good of experience as a quarterback as you can have. He’s played in monster games, and he’s played at a high level. He is ultra competitive, and his football IQ is off the charts. It didn’t take long to realize that he’s a team player and that his work ethic is also through the roof.”

Beck joins an offense that is not as complete as the one Ward had last year. Ward’s offense was ready-made with 1,000-yard running back Damien Martinez, 1,000-yard receiver Xavier Restrepo and playmakers like wide receiver Jacolby George and tight end Elijah Arroyo.

All of those players are in the NFL now, and the Hurricanes’ skill-position players are largely unproven as ACC starters. Running backs Mark Fletcher Jr. and Jordan Lyle have played well, with Fletcher serving as UM’s No. 2 running back the last two seasons, and Lyle excelling as Miami’s No. 3 running back last year.

UM has touted pass-catching prospects like former four-star recruits Jojo Trader, Ny Carr, Ray Ray Joseph and Elija Lofton, but none of them have played significant time since arriving at UM. The Hurricanes added veteran transfers like wide receivers CJ Daniels, Tony Johnson and Keelan Marion, as well as tight end Alex Bauman, to fortify their offense.

Where the Hurricanes’ offense does excel is in the trenches. Miami has returning starters at four of five spots on the line, including potential first-round pick Francis Mauigoa, and UM replaced center Zach Carpenter with former TCU starter James Brockermeyer.

“Obviously, it’s a great group,” Beck said. “You look at them (and) they pass the eye test. They’re huge. You go watch some of the clips of last year, and the way they’re able to protect Cam, it’s very impressive. Their success that they had last year is undeniable. And beyond that, you see the success, you see the film, but what a lot of people don’t see is the amount of work that they put in. And that’s what’s impressed me the most.”

But the defense is where the Hurricanes needed to improve the most, and Cristobal moved quickly to make the unit better. He fired former defensive coordinator Lance Guidry and hired Minnesota’s Corey Hetherman. Hetherman previously worked under Greg Schiano at Rutgers, and Cristobal has ties to the Scarlet Knights coach after working with him at UM and Rutgers.

Hetherman is not the only new face on defense. The Hurricanes brought in an alumnus, Damione Lewis, to coach the interior defensive line. Miami also added Zac Etheridge to coach cornerbacks and Will Harris to coach safeties. The new coaches have a brand-new defense to run, as Miami overhauled its defense after last year.

In an effort to improve a weak secondary, the Hurricanes added four new cornerbacks via the transfer portal: Charles Brantley, Xavier Lucas, Ethan O’Connor and Keionte Scott. They also brought in two new safeties: Zechariah Poyser and Jakobe Thomas. They also added linebacker transfers Kamal Bonner and Mo Toure, as well as defensive-line transfer David Blay Jr.

If the offense remains one of the nation’s best, and the defense improves, the Hurricanes should be better than last year’s team.

“We’ve all got the same goal,” defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. said, “which is winning.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/08/25/um-beck-improved/