Another loaded UM freshman WR class? Canes giddy about it. And personnel items
You think UM’s Malachi Toney-led freshman wide receiver class was great?
Receivers coach Kevin Beard said he feels strongly that this incoming class could be every bit as good.
“They’re just as athletic,” Beard said.
It will be difficult — if not impossible — for any freshman receiver to produce the type of season Toney did (a nation-leading 106 receptions). Toney, Joshua Moore and Daylyn Upshaw gave UM its best receiving class in years.
But the Canes are similarly bullish on this incoming group of Somourian Wingo, Vance Spafford, Milan Parris and Tyran Evans. All four are enrolled, and early feedback is positive.
247 Sports ranks Wingo (from St. Augustine) as the No. 7 receiver nationally in the 2026 class, Ohio-based Parris ninth, California-based Spafford 42nd and Charlotte-based Evans 123rd.
The question is whether any will crack a loaded rotation featuring Toney, Upshaw, Moore and veteran additions Cooper Barkate (the Duke transfer was ninth in the nation in receiving yards and is a cinch starter), Cam Vaughn (West Virginia) and Vandrevius Jacobs (South Carolina).
Beard is excited to see more of Upshaw, who missed the playoffs with an injury but had seven catches for 105 yards in 120 offensive snaps.
“His mind-set, approach, consistency of being who he is every day is what stood out and gave him an opportunity to earn trust,” Beard said. “I’m good with the talent but the mind-set and consistency” is what earned him more playing time late in the season.
UM is thrilled to pair Barkate with his new UM and former Duke teammate Darian Mensah, the Canes’ 2026 starting quarterback. “Explosive,” Mario Cristobal calls Barkate.
As for the freshmen... Cristobal said Wingo was probably “the biggest riser in the entire country, worked himself into a top-25 player”; Spafford “was the top-ranked slot receiver in the country. One of the fastest receivers in the country”; said Parris “is exactly what you want in an outside receiver: Fast, explosive, makes the contested catch” and Evans is “big, strong, physical.”
▪ Beard expects a jump from Moore, who played 235 offensive snaps and had 16 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
Beard sees a very high ceiling for Moore because he’s “6-4, 205, has a catch radius through the roof. Everybody has a process. Everybody is in a different place in their process. If you become the best version of Josh Moore, then Toney might not have anything on you. Don’t compare. Just master you.”
Though Keelan Marion and CJ Daniels will be missed, this Canes’ receiver room has a chance to be better than last year’s, with Toney, Upshaw, Moore, the three freshmen and veterans Barkate, Vaughn and Jacobs (who has impressed everyone with his speed).
This and that
▪ Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. admitted recently that some associates encouraged him to turn pro. He would have none of it.
“I just love this program,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was finished yet. A lot of people [were] telling me I should leave. But I feel like I got more to do here. I want to do more here for the University of Miami.
“And I know there’s some risks that come with that, especially being a running back, but I feel like God got me. God got me through anything. He hasn’t left me yet. So I don’t think he going to leave me now so I’m going to be straight whatever I do.”
▪ UM is excited about what Zecheriah Poyser can do in Year 2 of this defense, playing alongside Bryce Fitzgerald and/or Omar Thornton.
Poyser did good work alongside Jakobe Thomas, who is out of eligibility after making himself a top-10 safety prospect (according to Mel Kiper Jr.). Fitzgerald (who led FBS freshmen with six interceptions) and Thornton, a former standout at Boston College, can each play nickel and safety.
To defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, Poyser is the blueprint for a safety:
“He covers very well. He tackles very well. He makes plays in space. He’s physical. He can do a lot of different things. You can blitz him and play him in man, play him in D path. We’ve moved him around to different positions. There’s times he’s been the boundary safety, there’s times he’s been the field safety. There’s times we’ve rotated him down, he played the nickel spot.
“He has so much versatility. He has experience. He has an awareness to him where it happens once in practice, and now he’s kind of very comfortable, where a lot of guys you’ve got to give them the look on the screen and give them the look in a meeting, you have to hit them with walk-through and a practice rep. He’s a guy that can handle those things.”
Dylan Day is the front-runner for the No. 3 safety spot.
Here’s my Monday six-pack of Canes notes, including details on a position switch.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 2:01 PM.
