D’Eriq King’s fateful decision sparked fire that ignited Canes caravan toward Alabama
The moment for quarterback D’Eriq King came during bowl prep, he said, a couple days before announcing his decision with a Dec. 26 video to “run it back” and return to the University of Miami — the “match that set everything on fire,’’ acknowledged his close friend and top receiver Mike Harley.
“I was on Greentree Field,’’ King told the Miami Herald of the spark that ignited the match. “Then I was in the locker room and had just taken a shower and started changing. That’s when something in my gut told me to come back.’’
So, King went straight to his apartment and shared the news in a FaceTime call with his mother, Cassandra, older brother Keshon and sisters Erica and Calandria. His father and mentor, Eric, who died of a heart attack three weeks after the former record-breaking Houston Cougar transferred to UM in January 2020, was with King in spirit.
“They supported me 100 percent,’’ said King, 24, the only active college quarterback among the top-five leaders in touchdowns scored (109) since 2016, per ESPN. “I was super relieved. It was a huge decision for me in my life, my career. I told my family I could relax, play a bowl game and focus on the next year.’’
But three days after “dropping the video” that became contagious and started a caravan of Canes (starters Harley, Bubba Bolden, Jarrid Williams, Jon Ford, Cam’Ron Harris, Zach McCloud and Lou Hedley among them) announcing that instead of entering the NFL Draft they, too, would run it back, King lay in pain on the Cheez-It Bowl turf of Orlando’s Camping World Stadium with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus.
Don’t think his viral video didn’t flash through his mind.
“Yeah, I definitely think everything happens for a reason and God gave me that feeling because he knew that was going to happen in that bowl game,’’ said the sixth-year senior, who, like his returning teammates, took advantage of the extra year of eligibility afforded by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “You know, if I would have said I was turning pro and then tore my ACL, it would have kind of looked bad if I said, ‘I’m coming back now.’
He laughed.
“Instead, my next thought after tearing my ACL was, ‘OK, I have eight months to get right.’ ’’
The force
Pull off the upset, keep it close or get crushed in the Sept. 4 opener against defending national champion and 19-point-favorite Alabama, the preseason No. 14 Hurricanes cherish the man considered the driving force in their quest to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and ultimately advance to the College Football Playoff.
“Well, what was obvious was our team was begging for him,’’ said UM coach Manny Diaz, who, along with offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee were the only people King said he told definitively before UM Athletics helped him produce the video. “He was the guy we needed.
“D’Eriq’s impact isn’t just in throwing touchdowns. ... What that guy did for [young backup quarterbacks] Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia, that’s transformative. ... I don’t know if we were even aware of all the other things that came in the package. We heard great things about him, but the way he transformed our locker room, that was even a surprise to us. We knew it would be positive, but I don’t even think we realized it would be so dramatic.’’
According to ESPN’s Bill Connelly, who annually puts out a detailed preseason rankings analysis of college football returning production, the Hurricanes return 91 percent of their offensive and defensive production, 12th best in the nation and No. 4 among Power 5 programs.
The Canes (8-3 in 2020) are rated 10th nationally of 130 FBS teams in the updated computerized College Football Power Index and projected to win nine games in the regular season. They’re projected to have a 49.1 percent chance of winning the Coastal Division, an 11 percent chance of winning the ACC and a 6.9 percent chance of advancing to the playoffs.
North Carolina, expected to be UM’s biggest obstacle in the ACC’s Coastal Division, is ranked 10th in the power index, with a 28.9 percent chance of winning the Coastal and 5.4 percent chance of taking the ACC title.
The only game the computerized index projects UM to lose is Alabama, with the Canes given a 19.4 percent chance of winning.
‘Great starting point’
Chris Fallica, the popular ESPN “College GameDay” research producer and sports betting analyst who graduated from UM in 1994 and is known as “The Bear,” told the Herald in a phone conversation that having so many people and their production return to the Hurricanes is obviously “a great starting point’’ — especially “in Miami’s case, to have it at positions that are vital to the team — whether it’s Mike Harley or [safety] Bubba Bolden.”
But “most importantly,’’ Fallica said, King is what gives the Hurricanes the biggest chance to rise in the rankings and achieve the prominence that has alluded them for several years since winning their last of five national titles in 2001 and reaching the title game the next season.
“If you don’t have a quarterback, you basically have no shot,’’ Fallica said. “It’s been a while since Miami really had some positive stability at quarterback. It’s a massive deal for Miami to have one of the better quarterbacks in the country to give them a chance to get back to the ACC title game.’’
King threw for 2,686 yards with 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions in his 10 1/2 games before the injury. He also rushed for 538 yards and four scores. He completed 64.1 percent of his passes and his 3,224 total yards for the 8-3 record.
Immediately after he released the video, King said his teammates were ecstatic in team meetings, practice and the locker room.
“Everybody was happy as hell,’’ said King, expected to earn his master’s degree in entrepreneurship at the end of this semester. “Then after practice it got live for a minute. Mike Harley was blasting music in the locker room and people were dancing. Soooo happy. I had only been there one year, and to have that effect on my teammates means a whole bunch to me — more than scoring touchdowns.”
Mike Harley
Harley, a fifth-year senior, had his best season in 2020, with 799 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on a team-best 57 receptions.
Harley had been itching to turn pro in hopes of helping his family with finances.
“I had a low draft grade,’’ he conceded, “and I didn’t want to rush it and pray that I’d make a team. So we all prayed together and trusted God that I should come back and secure a spot and be legendary. It’s another opportunity, another blessing for us to take advantage of a season coming off a bumpy road.”
Harley is currently No. 8 in UM career receptions with 125 in four seasons. He needs 49 more to break UM great Reggie Wayne’s career record of 173 in his four seasons from 1997-2000. Harley’s 1,615 yards is 933 shy of Santana Moss’ school record of 2,546, also from 1997-2000.
“I know this team is going to do great things,’’ Harley said. “We’ve had guys in college for seven years, six years, five years, who have gone through so much. It’s only right we come out on top. Being unselfish and keeping the positive energy flowing will help,” he said. “Watch how the older guys face adversity.
“I’m so excited. I literally just said this morning, ‘Man, it’s about to go down.’ I have personal goals to reach, I know a lot of other people have goals to reach, and I want to help.’’
Jarrid Williams
Offensive tackle Jarrid Williams, 24, is one of a handful of college players who are seventh-year seniors, and even his position coach Garin Justice seemed doubtful toward the end of the season that he’d return.
But the Hurricanes’ 6-6, 310-pound tackle — he started at right tackle in 10 games in 2020 but practiced at both sides during fall camp — said he made his decision to return while he was driving home from Dallas with his mother, Armenita Davis, after watching his former Cedar Hill (Texas) High team play in the state championship game.
“The moment it clicked for me, my mom was driving and something came over me,’’ said Williams, who formerly played with King at Houston and now is his roommate. “I knew what I wanted to achieve and D’Eriq had already announced and it got everyone rolling. Everyone but [tight end] Brevin Jordan was returning on offense, and we all knew we’d sacrifice whatever it took.
“My mom was all for it.’’
Williams redshirted at Houston in 2015, had 61 total snaps in eight games in ‘16, made two starts in three games in ‘17, and made his biggest mark in ‘18 — King’s best year with the Cougars. That season, Williams started 13 games for a Houston offense that didn’t allow a sack in five games and finished fifth nationally in scoring offense and seventh in total offense. In ‘19, Williams played four games before taking a medical redshirt with an ankle injury.
He expects his masters of arts in liberal studies.
“It was already an accomplishment to get my undergraduate degree [from Houston],’’ he said. “This is definitely special.’’
Zach McCloud
Seems like eons ago that Zach McCloud came to the Hurricanes as a member of the trio that made headlines nationally in 2016 as the only starting linebacker corps to play together as true freshmen.
McCloud, now 6-2 and 250 pounds, gained 30 pounds and came back for his sixth year as a newly converted defensive end after 2020 stars Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche left for the NFL. He surprised many in September 2019 when he announced he would redshirt that season to return in 2020.
McCloud’s career numbers: 164 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four passes deflected.
Diaz, now the defensive coordinator who also formerly coached the linebackers, has a soft spot for McCloud, 23, who is undoubtedly a team leader and one of the most mature Canes.
“To be quite honest, he has exceeded my expectations,” Diaz said after the spring game. “Not that I didn’t think he would do well there, I just didn’t think he would look so natural there so soon. The only comparison I can think of in the time I have been here is when we first got here and we put Trent Harris at defensive end. In his two years here in 2016 and 2017, Trent [20 tackles for loss and 11 1/2 sacks] was as productive as anybody we had.”
McCloud said in August that this is “the most overall leadership’’ among players that UM has had since he’s been there — “and I’ve been here about 30 years now, so I’ve gotten to see a lot.’’
Bubba Bolden
Redshirt junior safety Bubba Bolden, a 2020 semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, announced last January that he’d be back for one more season because he’s “never been satisfied with not being the best. “My college journey has been filled with many highs and lows, yet I continue to be committed to the pursuit of greatness,’’ he said on his run-it-back video. “I am by no means a finished product.’’
Bolden played in all 11 games last season, starting nine of them and finished with a team-best 74 tackles. He also had 6 1/2 tackles for loss.
His return gives UM a stellar safety class that includes former national No. 1 recruits James Williams and Avantae Williams.
“The depth we have and the experience we have is unusual,’’ Bolden said. “The majority of our team came back and this past spring and offseason, the way we do things, I haven’t seen a team like this before. I haven’t seen players this motivated to get better, to be in the weight room, to enjoy the process.
“A lot of players in college football are focused on the draft, focused on the NFL. We’re focused on making Miami better.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 6:05 AM.
