Two more Miami Canes, including longtime starter, leave the program, likely to transfer
The Miami Hurricanes have lost two more players.
Fourth-year junior safety Gurvan Hall Jr. and fifth-year redshirt junior middle linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr. both missed the Georgia Tech game Saturday and are expected to enter the NCAA transfer portal. And as UM enters Florida State week, both have strong memories from the rivalry.
Manny Diaz revealed the news Monday afternoon on a Zoom videoconference.
“Gurvan and BJ Jennings, kind of like we’ve had other guys.,” Diaz said. “It’s really tough when you’re an older guy and your role isn’t what you think it should be. So, like some of the other ones we’ve had, they’ll both move on and will not be with us here the rest of the way. So it’s next man up in both those spots.’’
Their names were not on the depth chart released Monday afternoon for the FSU game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Tallahassee. Last week, Hall was listed as the backup to James Williams, and Jennings was listed as the backup to Corey Flagg Jr.
Hall, a consensus four-star prospect when he graduated from Palm Beach Gardens High, played in seven games this season and started four, eventually being replaced by true freshman James Williams. He finishes this season with 31 tackles and one tackle for loss.
Hall was suspended for this season’s Central Connecticut State game. But the previous week, in UM’s 38-17 loss on Sept. 18 to Michigan State, Williams saved a touchdown by furiously sprinting down the sideline to drag down Michigan State receiver Tre Mosley after a 51-yard gain. Mosley’s long gain occurred because Hall, then a starter, had mistakenly engaged the blocker on the screen pass instead of going for Mosley.
Hall’s snap counts decreased significantly and fell to 19 against North Carolina, none defensively against NC State and then 21 at Pitt.
“One thing I would never question is Gurvan’s toughness,’’ UM defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson said after Hall was criticized on national TV as well as unmercifully on social media after the Michigan State game. “Gurvan is a physical guy. He tackles. I have no issues with that. I think that play he kind of thought the guy was going to crack so he went to the crack block and he can’t do that... If the ball is being ran you gotta go make a tackle. He knows that. He accepts that. It is what it is.
“The sad part is when you’re a secondary guy you’re out in the perimeter and everybody gets to see. He addressed the problem head on and understands, ‘Hey, I gotta do a better job.’”
In 2019, Hall played in all 13 games and had 11 starts, ranking second on the team with 66 tackles and adding 5 1/2 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, three fumble recoveries and three pass breakups. The only interception of his career came at FSU that season. In celebrating the pick, Hall and former starting safety Bubba Bolden had a chest bump that finished awkwardly and left Bolden with a season-ending ankle injury that required surgery.
In 2020, Hall played in all 11 games with three starts, finishing with 43 tackles, three pass breakups and 1 1/2 tackles for loss.
Williams and fellow freshman Kam Kinchens are now entrenched as starting safeties, with second-year freshman Avantae Williams expected to increase his playing time. Second-year freshman Isaiah Dunson, a former cornerback, is listed behind James Williams on the depth chart.
Jennings
Jennings, who missed all of 2019 with a serious hip injury, was a consensus three-star linebacker who graduated from Jacksonville Sandalwood and chose Miami instead of FSU, where his father was a linebacker and won a national championship in 1999.
This season, Jennings played in eight games and had 14 tackles and two quarterback hurries. He had his best game against then-No. 1 Alabama in the season opener, with six.
Last season, Jennings started all games as a first-time starter and finished with 39 tackles, including 7 1/2 tackle for loss, three sacks and a pass breakup.
Third-year redshirt sophomore Ryan Ragone and true freshman Tyler Johnson are listed as Flagg’s backups.
Other former Hurricanes who have left the team and/or entered the portal include receivers Mark Pope and Dee Wiggins, defensive tackle Jalar Holley (now with Charlotte) and defensive ends Cameron Williams and Quentin Williams.
▪ Offensive lineman Ousman Traore, who transferred to Miami from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas in 2019. also was not seen at the Georgia Tech game. But his situation was not yet revealed.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 1:10 PM.
