Miami reloads with fresh talent

Surprise, surprise: “The U” is loaded with talent again.

Even after finishing third in the ACC last season, even after the departure of six Hurricanes for the NFL and even after having to replace last year’s leading passer, rusher and receiver, Miami still has enough talent to scare any team in the conference.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Wright was the top-rated passer in the country coming out of high school. Running back Tyrone Moss averaged 4.6 yards per carry backing up the NFL-bound Frank Gore last season. Backup running back Derron Thomas runs the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. The wide receiving corps is so fast that Miami coach Larry Coker describes them as a track squad. The offensive line returns four of five starters from a unit that allowed only 25 sacks last season.

And the talent, of course, extends to the defense. While the defensive front was suspect last year, allowing lightly-regarded running backs to rush for big yards in all three of their losses, the Hurricanes return six defensive linemen with starting experience. The linebackers are considered one of the strongest groups in the country. Leon Williams was a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker, in 2004, and Miami has five other top-notch linebackers. The secondary returns three starters from the nation’s ninth-best passing defense, and the newcomer, Devin Hester, was one of college football’s most explosive players last year.

All of the Hurricanes’ talent translates well to special teams. Hester used his speed—he is the fastest player on a Miami team known for its quickness—to return one kick-off and three punts for touchdowns last season. The Hurricanes’ punt coverage unit was ninth-best in the nation.

All the talent was in place last year, too, but the Hurricanes were decimated by injuries, as their starters missed 39 combined games. And at a school where an August 9th headline on their athletic department webpage asked, “Will the Hurricanes dethrone USC?,” anything short of a national championship is unacceptable.

“We’ve set the bar pretty high here, not just me, but a lot of coaches before me,” Coker said. “And we want to keep it high. I don’t have a problem with that. I’m not happy with [our record last season]. I don’t think our staff is and I don’t think our players are.”