Malachi Toney wanted to ‘put on and show off’ for Hurricanes. He did that as a freshman
When Malachi Toney first introduced himself to the University of Miami’s fan base during the team’s spring game in mid-April, the wide receiver referred to himself simply as a “game-changer.”
“Just put the ball in his hands and just let him do what he do,” Toney said then. “He’s a team player. He’s gonna do whatever’s best for the University of Miami. And that’s why I feel like it was a great fit for me to stay home and do what’s best for my city, my state, and just to put on and show off.”
He certainly did all that and more during his first season with the Hurricanes.
Toney, who reclassified to join the Hurricanes a year early, shattered any expectations that might have been set for him.
And he shattered several school records, as well.
Toney finished his first season at Miami with 109 catches for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The catches? Most in a season by a UM player, breaking Xavier Restrepo’s mark of 85 set in the 2023 season, and already more than halfway to Restrepo’s career record of 200. His 109 catches are also the second most by true freshman at the FBS level since at least the 2000 season, trailing only the 114 catches by Purdue’s Rondale Moore in 2018.
The receiving yards? Most ever in a season by a UM player, breaking Charleston Rambo’s mark of 1,172 set in the 2021 season. He’s the first Hurricanes freshman and only the seventh Hurricanes player overall to have a 1,000-yard season.
The touchdown catches? Most in a season by a UM freshman and tied for fourth most overall in a season behind Leonard Hankerson’s 13 in 2010 and the 11 by Restrepo in 2024 and Michael Irvin in 1986.
“What you see,” Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said, “is what he’s been from Day 1.”
That said, the Hurricanes tried to downplay their expectations for Toney in the lead up to the season. That’s understandable. He was a 17-year-old kid who wasn’t set to turn 18 until a month into the season. Highlights on the practice field are just that — on the practice field. They wanted to see how his shiftiness, his versatility, his high football IQ, would translate in live game action against an actual opponent before anointing him the next big thing.
That took ... one game.
Toney made a grand college football entrance with six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s season-opening win against Notre Dame.
“He’s special,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said after that game. “We were trying to keep him a secret.”
The secret was out, but he still couldn’t be stopped.
And his role expanded as the season progressed.
He ran the ball out of a wildcat — or Mali cat, as Dawson called it — formation. He threw passes, including a pair of touchdowns (one of which went to quarterback Carson Beck in their blowout win over Syracuse). He returned punts. He excelled on screens and deep balls and contested catches over the middle of the field.
“Malachi is one of the best, not even just wide receivers, just players in general that I’ve ever played with,” Beck said.
Added Dawson: “He was just put on this earth to play slot receiver in our offense, and he does a damn good job of it.”
And the Hurricanes know he’s just scratching the surface.
“As the year went, it was more so me just kind of adding on to his part and just seeing how much he can handle,” Dawson said. “And ultimately I don’t know if there is much that he can’t handle. His capacity is just really high. ... His body control and his ability to understand spacial awareness and how defenders match him and just all that stuff is at a different level with him.”
Toney will once again be a focal point for Miami’s offense moving forward. The Hurricanes’ other top receivers from the 2025 season in CJ Daniels and Keelan Marion are departing. Miami is replacing them with a pair of transfer portal additions — West Virginia’s Cam Vaughn and South Carolina’s Vandrevius Jacobs have already committed to UM — and could potentially get another boost in the form of Duke’s Cooper Barkate (who entered the transfer portal Wednesday night and was the top target for Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah, who UM is trying to land as its quarterback for the 2026 season).
Miami also has promising upcoming talent in Joshua Moore, Joshisa Trader and Daylyn Upshaw among its receivers along with four incoming freshmen in Somourian Wingo, Milan Parris, Vance Spafford and Tyran Evans.
But Toney will be in the middle of it all.
“I don’t think anybody could have foreseen him being what he’s been,” Dawson said, “but I’m sure damn happy that he is.”
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