Podcast: Jake Garcia and Frank Ponce leave. How much more will Miami’s offense change?
The transfer portal officially closed Wednesday and one final Miami Hurricane sneaked through.
How much will Miami miss Jake Garcia? It’s the main topic of this new episode of the Eye on the U podcast, as David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, reflect on Garcia’s time in Coral Gables, and what his departure means for the present and future of this offense.
It was neither a massive surprise nor something either of them exactly expected, with the Hurricanes now thinner at quarterback than they’ve been in years and no obvious heir apparent to Tyler Van Dyke, given how much fellow quarterback Jacurri Brown struggled with his passing as a freshman last season.
Garcia’s transfer isn’t the only major change coming to Miami’s offense, either. Frank Ponce is headed back to Boone, North Carolina, to again become the Appalachian State Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator after just one season as the quarterbacks coach in South Florida and the move should be good for both sides. Van Dyke badly regressed in 2022 and the Hurricanes need to make some changes on offense, and Ponce will once again get a chance to be a coordinator at Appalachian State.
Could it be a sign of more to come? Speculation continues to swirl about the future of offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and a losing season like the one Miami put together last year usually leads to big changes. Coach Mario Cristobal’s biggest task this offseason remains overhauling his offseason after all the issues it faced in his debut season.
One last note: Wilson and Degnan recorded this a few hours before five-star cornerback Cormani McClain finally flipped to the Colorado Buffaloes, so there’s no recruiting talk in this episode.
As always, thanks for listening and please continue to rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
