If there's one team predicted to make a statement this season, it's the Miami (FL) football team. There's a real hype around Coral Gables that hasn't been seen in years.
There's always at least some bit of hype surrounding the Miami Hurricanes football program, though, right? It's just that the team never comes close to living up to it. And if we're being honest, even this year has to be met with extreme caution. After all, the Hurricanes are coming off a 7-5 season, not to mention suffering one of the biggest in-game gaffes in college football history against Georgia Tech. That's not lost on any analyst, fan or opposing fan base.
Nevertheless, the Hurricanes have done enough from recruiting over the last three seasons — since Mario Cristobal's arrival as head coach — along with some very notable transfer portal acquisitions for this season that have Miami football primed to contend for their first ACC title. That would also mean, thanks to the implementation of the new 12-team College Football Playoff expansion, that the Hurricanes would receive a playoff berth.
But not unlike any team, this 2024 Hurricanes team is far from perfect. Though it may be littered with skill position players, a highly touted quarterback, and more, every team has a fatal flaw that they must contend with, especially Miami football.
Miami football has to overcome the hype around them
Hype is something that is boastful and exciting for fans to lean their expectations on, but it can be damning, even poisonous, to a team itself. “Rat poison” is what former Alabama head coach Nick Saban called it.
The media is either a hype machine or a critic factory — there's no in-between. As of right now, it's hype overload for this year's Miami football team. But that could quickly change after just the first week of the season when the Hurricanes travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators in a must-see out-of-conference showdown between the in-state rivals.
What then? That's when the critics will waste no time in firing back, saying they knew not to believe in the hype — even though it was the hype they manufactured.
For Miami, this isn't a do-or-die season like most have perceived it to be. It's not even the “prove it” season for Cristobal, though it is one that does have to show signs of improvement. Most, like Greg McElroy, are comparing this year's Hurricanes team to last year's Texas Longhorns team that went 12-2 with a playoff berth after going 8-5 the previous season.
Comparisons like those will be endless until kickoff, and maybe even after. Regardless, this will be a team that has to overcome the perceived hype surrounding them. Yes, this is set to be the most talented team that the Hurricanes will put on the field in some time. Yes, it is one that has probably one of the best coaching staffs in years as well. However, overcoming basically two decades of ineptitude where both of those things were non-existent takes time, even if we are living in the instant gratification world influenced by NIL and the transfer portal.
Overcoming years of underachieving won't be easy. But at least for Miami this season, they have a lot going in their favor that they haven't had in years prior. Firstly, there's more than one way to the playoff, though winning the ACC would be the most ideal path. If not, they would then be at the playoff committee's mercy to be added in as one of the 12 teams. Still, that's not impossible if their resume is impressive enough.
Secondly, again, the roster is there with the talent and depth at levels it hasn't attained in years. Cam Ward, particularly, is set to be one of the main puzzle pieces Miami has been missing, and essentially if he proves he's the guy everyone thinks he is, then the results will be there.
It's then left up to Cristobal to maintain a level-headed team that doesn't buy into the high expectations and puts in the work to meet their own specific goals, not that of the media.
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