30 key Miami Hurricanes for 2025 season: Matt McCoy showed he can be a starter
The Miami Hurricanes kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 31 with a marquee matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Hard Rock Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC).
With the calendar officially flipped to August, the Miami Herald is counting down 30 of the most important players on the Hurricanes’ roster, one per day leading up to the season opener, to provide a closer look at the team heading into coach Mario Cristobal’s fourth season.
Today: The No. 22 player on our list, Matt McCoy.
What to know
Position: Offensive line
Hometown: St. Johns, Florida
Year: Redshirt junior
How he got to Miami: 2022 recruiting class
Key stats: 23 games played, 12 starts
In summary: After two years of biding his time, McCoy finally entrenched himself as a starter in 2024. He played in all 13 of Miami’s games, including starting the final 12 games at left guard. He played 660 snaps on the season and allowed just two sacks and 11 total quarterback pressures. Even more: McCoy did that while playing the entire season with a torn right labrum, a injury he sustained in fall camp and didn’t get surgery to repair until after the season.
What they’re saying
“It was just my chance to play, and I just knew I couldn’t just give it away. I knew whatever it takes to block and do my job is just what it is. I get paid to do what I do, and I gotta make sure I do it. ... It didn’t limit me. I made sure it didn’t. I literally did a lot of maintenance on it. I’d make sure it was strong enough to never come out [of games] and make sure I was good enough to play. I never thought about it. I just made sure I was on top of it. Just did my job.” - Matt McCoy on playing through a torn labrum in 2024.
“Me and Matt came in together, so he’s kind of seen my whole evolution and I’ve kind of seen his. But Matt, he’s growing up. … He was banged up and all that, ut he worked hard. He played through a lot of stuff. But Matt just grew up [as a] person.” - Hurricanes right guard Anez Cooper, who was part of UM’s 2022 recruiting class with McCoy
“That’s toughness to me. Toughness is when you continue to show up, when you continue to produce, when you continue to play while your body is not feeling 100%. It’s easy to play football when your body is feeling 100%. It’s tough to play when you have the bumps and the bruises and the tears and stuff like that. He fought through it. ... What he did was he he told us, A, that I’m tough enough, and, B, you can trust me.” - Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal on Matt McCoy playing through injury.
The rest of the rankings so far
No. 23: Defensive back Keionte Scott
No. 24: Running back Jordan Lyle
No. 25: Defensive back Damari Brown
No. 26: Defensive lineman Armondo Blount
No. 27: Wide receiver Malachi Toney
No. 28: Defensive back Ethan O’Connor
No. 29: Linebacker Kamal Bonner
No. 30: Running back CharMar Brown
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