Why the Hurricanes believe a by-committee approach to the run game is ‘invaluable’
Every week, Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson has a decision to make: Who will he start at running back?
When everyone is healthy, he has three prime options to choose from in junior Mark Fletcher Jr., sophomore Jordan Lyle and redshirt sophomore CharMar “Marty” Brown.
In Dawson’s mind, there’s no wrong answer.
“The three guys that we’re riding with the most, you could pick one out of a hat and put him in a game,” Dawson said ahead of No. 5 Miami’s Saturday home game against the No. 18 USF Bulls. “And I feel as comfortable with one of them as I do with all three of them.”
The Hurricanes for a while now have prioritized a by-committee approach with their running backs. Having multiple starter-caliber players at that position is pivotal over the course of a college football season. It limits the wear and tear on their bodies, keeping them relatively fresh later in games and later in the season. And if one does go down and has to miss time, as Lyle did in Miami’s season opener against Notre Dame and subsequently missed UM’s next game against Bethune-Cookman, the Hurricanes have options to work with that will minimize any drop-off in production.
“It’s definitely important for us and for the system that Dawson wants to run,” Fletcher said. “Just having some fresh, healthy legs in there gets defenses real tired. We have guys who could just go in there and produce the same results. That’s what you want. So that’s what we want to do over here.”
They have been doing it all three years Fletcher has been with Miami.
During his freshman year in 2023, the Hurricanes had a four-headed attack in Fletcher, Henry Parrish Jr., Don Chaney Jr. and Ajay Allen. All four had between 70 and 105 carries and combined for 1,978 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Fletcher had a team-high 105 carries.
As a sophomore in 2024, it was Fletcher and Damien Martinez who formed the primary one-two punch, with Lyle working as a change-of-pace back. Martinez led the group with 159 carries, 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns. Fletcher was second with 112 carries, 607 yards and nine touchdowns. Lyle added 54 carries for 400 yards and four touchdowns as the No. 3 back.
And now, Miami has the threesome of Fletcher, Lyle and Brown to rotate in the backfield when at full strength.
“I think it’s really hard to win without that,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “And I think it’s really hard to have a team that can understand the value above that. There’s no such thing as having first-stringers and then a couple of backups. It’s hard to win at high levels and sustain winning without having a complete first and second deep and having threes that are as good or even better, in time, than the guys that you have going with the ones and twos. You have to roll guys in football. The football season is long, right? These games are really, really physical. ... It’s invaluable.”
Each has his own strength in the run game.
Brown, a transfer from FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, is a bruiser and is able to break through first contact. Of his 104 rushing yards entering Saturday’s game against USF, 73 have come after contact. So while he isn’t always breaking off massive runs — his longest carry in the first two weeks of the season was just 11 yards and his longest at North Dakota State last year was 48 yards — he’s finding ways to extend plays and wear down multiple defenders at a time.
Lyle, meanwhile, has arguably the best breakaway speed of the bunch and has the best chance for explosive plays. Of his 54 carries as a freshman, nine went for at least 10 yards. He ripped off a pair of runs over 60 yards in 2024 — 61 against Wake Forest and 91 against USF.
And Fletcher is sort of a happy medium between the two. He has size at 6-2, the speed and shiftiness to break long runs and the endurance to be the lead back if needed to take over a game. He enters Saturday’s game against USF with 1,274 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in his career. Through two games in 2025, he has 152 rushing yards, a 5.8 yards-per-carry average and has forced eight missed tackles.
“They all root for each other,” Dawson said. “It’s a good room. It’s a room that needs to be deep because of the nature in which we play.”
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