What has led to UM turnaround besides talent? Allow the players to tell you
As anyone can see, an influx of talented players has fueled UM’s ascent from a 5-7 team in 2022 to the precipice of a national championship game appearance. That’s the byproduct of exceptional recruiting (in both the prep and portal ranks) and sharp player evaluation.
And this new college football world — where players are free agents every year — has dramatically benefitted Miami because of the Canes’ knack for luring top players (Cam Ward, Carson Beck, many others) and their financial wherewithal to offer them competitive NIL deals.
But reasons for the Canes’ renaissance extend beyond that, players say.
Several of them offered thoughts when asked what specifically — besides the significantly upgraded talent — has contributed to this turnaround from a team that was humiliated by Middle Tennessee State at home three years ago to a team now favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to beat Mississippi on Thursday and advance to the Jan. 19 national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium:
▪ The coaching staff: Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe says beyond talent, credit the “coaching” for UM’s revival. “There was a big coaching shift in the way we do things here.”
With Corey Hetherman replacing Lance Guidry as defensive coordinator last January, Canes defenders say Hetherman lived up to his promise that players would be “able to play more free and more fast,” as Bissainthe put it. “If you’re able to play more free and fast, you’re not really thinking as much, and you’re able to make more plays.”
Not only has Hetherman’s approach worked (UM has gone from one of the nation’s worst defensive teams to one of the best), but safety Keionte Scott said his system “is appealing to players. That was something that was super big to me — just being able to go play fast.”
Some UM people believe this is the best group of assistant coaches that UM has had in many years.
Zac Ethridge and Will Harris “are two of the best defensive back coaches in the country,” Scott said, noting that Harris has made “small tweaks in all of our games [and] you’re seeing it translate on the field.”
Safety Jakobe Thomas, who transferred to Miami from Tennessee last offseason, said: “I got to Miami [and] my intelligence changed. The coaches sat me down and explained the why to me on everything.”
The work of the coaches has been particularly evident in improved player development. But defensive strategic decisions seem far better under Hetherman, and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson called a very good game against Ohio State.
Receiver CJ Daniels was asked to discuss the difference in being coached last year at LSU (under since-dismissed Brian Kelly) and this season at UM.
“Being at both places, the biggest difference here is the interactions I have with the coaches,” Daniels said. “It’s kind of like a contagious energy around the building. I can have personal one-on-one conversations with any coach in the building. Everybody is on the same page: one team, one goal. Everyone here is just dialed in and more engaged.”
▪ Thick skin: Mario Cristobal likes to say that he’s “transparent” and “doesn’t sugercoat” with his players. This team has responded well to that bluntness.
“All the coaches on this staff keep it real,” guard Anez Cooper said. “If [Cristobal] blasts you in front of the whole team, you have to be willing to accept that.”
Thomas said Cristobal is “not going to BS you. What he tells you is what’s going to happen.”
▪ Improved communication on defense: Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. marvels at the improvement from last year, when there were repeated mistakes.
“The way they communicate on every level, even before the play, is beautiful to watch,’ Fletcher said.
▪ Player buy-in: Cooper said Cristobal “makes everyone around the program have faith and buy into the culture.”
Thomas, who was part of the Middle Tennessee State team that embarrassed Miami, 45-31, during Cristobal’s first season at UM (2022), put it this way: “Coach Cristobal changed the culture of this place. Every player from top to bottom has the same mentality when it comes to this team. When it comes to practice, everyone is approaching it like a business. .. [Cristobal] will make you want to run through a brick wall.”
▪ Diet and strength and conditioning: Cooper credits Cristobal’s hiring of Ervin Young as strength and conditioning coach after Aaron Feld mysteriously stepped down in June.
Young, who had been at UM in 2022 and 2023 before spending one year at Tennessee, “did a good job keeping us tough and healthy and in shape,” Cooper said, also praising the team’s revamped nutrition program.
▪ Good rapport among players: While it might not seem to matter if teammates get along, Bissainthe made clear that it does — and that has been a factor in UM’s renaissance.
“Just getting the brotherhood right” was critical, Bissainthe said. “Everybody in that locker room is playing for each other. The brotherhood I feel like is one of the most important things in a team’s culture. You’ve got to play for the person beside of you. The type of people we brought in [are able to] come together.”
▪ A mentality of physicality: “Coach Cristobal harps on that every week,” Daniels said. “We’ve got to be the most physical, and we’ve got to impose our will on people.”
Fletcher said Cristobal “always wanted us to believe we’re the alphas and continue to be the most violent team. That’s how we approach practice, how we approach the weight room, how we approach everything we do. We want to be the most violent team in everything we do.”
Bissainthe said Hetherman also has been preaching that on-field violence “since the offseason. That’s why everybody is out there hitting like that. It’s our identity.”
▪ Player leadership and accountability: Quarterback Carson Beck said “this team, like a lot of the national championship teams at Georgia were, is player-led. [That] is a real thing.”
Beck said the other element that he believes is necessary to win big is an ability to handle adversity. “This team has those two things.”
So the reasons behind UM’s 12-2 season start with augmented talent and the school’s deft navigation of the transfer portal. But don’t overlook these eight other factors, players say.
Here is UM’s first injury report heading into the game. Here’s a look at Marty Brown’s big contribution late against Ohio State.
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 1:39 PM.
