As spring practice begins, Hurricanes out to show they can build on title run
One chapter of Miami Hurricanes football came to an end on Monday as more than 100 NFL personnel members from all 32 teams descended upon UM’s campus to see 16 former Canes take part in the team’s Pro Day in what could also be seen as their final workout on the field that raised them.
The next chapter of Miami Hurricanes football started a day later as UM officially began its spring practice slate on Tuesday at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility a little more than two months after losing in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
It served as a perfect turning of the page, a sign that what’s ahead is the focus.
“2025 is over with,” senior running back Mark Fletcher Jr. said. “This is a new team, new people. It’s a better mind-set — I won’t say a new mind-set but a better mind-set — that we have to finish.”
But while the focus is on the present and future, valuable reminders of what got the Hurricanes to this point — got them to a place where they are once again nationally relevant and championship contenders — will live on in this group from its past.
The mirroring scenes between Monday and Tuesday, albeit serving different purposes, showcase that.
Carson Beck on Monday threw passes to wide receivers CJ Daniels and Keelan Marion for the final time as teammates. One day later, Duke transfer Darian Mensah was on the field throwing passes to the likes of Malachi Toney, a trio of veteran transfers (including former Duke teammate Cooper Barkate), and four uber-talented freshmen for the first time as a Hurricane as he looks to follow in Beck’s footsteps (and Cam Ward’s before Beck) as the next great quarterback transfer portal success story at Miami.
“A complete professional,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said of his new quarterback, who completed 67% of his passes for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns against six interceptions last season with Duke after starting his career at Tulane.
Added Fletcher: “He just came in here like a pro, just ready to work. Humble guy, and everybody’s just ready to roll behind him.”
Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor went through defensive line drills one final time as a ferocious one-two punch on Monday, a month before both are potentially selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. On Tuesday, Missouri transfer Damon Wilson joined returnees Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot as the main edge rushers looking to continue the legacy set by Bain and Mesidor.
Four offensive linemen — potential top-10 pick Francis Mauigoa plus fellow starters Anez Cooper, Markel Bell and James Brockermeyer — now give way go a younger group ready to prove themselves and show they can be the next great players developed by UM offensive line coach Alex Mirabal.
Zechariah Poyser will now take on the leadership role from defensive backs Jakobe Thomas and Keionte Scott. Chase Smith looks to step in to one of the starting linebacker roles left by Wesley Bissainthe’s departure.
Their newfound roles will be forged by them.
But they will be traced back to those who expedited the process in Cristobal’s first four years at the helm of the Hurricanes.
“That group is calloused,” Cristobal said of the players who represented the Hurricanes at Pro Day. “I’ve used that word a few times, but they are. They’re resilient, because they went through those that 5-7 [season in 2022 to begin Cristobal’s tenure] or at least witnessed it. I said it a few times. Those were the guys that sat outside of Hard Rock and, probably painfully, waited for me to come and see him after the game to talk to him after an awful loss, but they’re also intelligent. They’re high-IQ guys. They understand that. When you have to flip a roster and flip a program that comes with it, if you’re willing to endure and be an agent of change, that’s probably what stands out. Most of the NFL scouts talking about our guys said that these guys were all difference makers and game changers that elevate the profile of a program.
“But I think it’s important to note also, in a world where so many teams are out there just dedicate themselves to winning the off season on social media, I think that a factual, genuine Pro Day like that, naturally, is tremendous momentum, organic momentum, and also a testament and validation of all the stuff that we preach and talked about on the way in. Right now, it’s just only motivation to it better, to do it bigger, and finding ways within our processes and our people to improve.”
The players still here from last year’s roster also had plenty of motivation after the way the 2025 season finished. The Hurricanes snuck into the College Football Playoff as the No. 10 seed, the final at-large team in the 12-team field, and made a run all the way to the national championship. Miami had upset wins at No. 7 Texas A&M and against No. 2 seed Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl before falling to No. 1 Indiana in the title game.
In a season that proved many a doubter wrong, they got so close.
And yet still fell so short.
“I have a huge edge in my shoulder,” offensive lineman Matt McCoy said. “Just like the emotions I felt that game, I promised myself I would never feel that again. So I’m pushing my team and pushing my group to get back on that stage.”
And so the grind starts again.
The season doesn’t formally kick off until Sept. 4 when Miami travels to play Stanford.
But the next month of spring practice sets the tone and the standard.
“During this time,” Cristobal said, “you want to really master our systems and the technique and the fundamentals that go with it, and then be able to play snap to whistle all day. That’s critical.”
How this team shapes up will be defined by those on the roster, the ones who will take the field week in and week out.
But those who helped build it to where it is now also feel the program is in good hands.
“I feel like I left it better than I found it,” Bain said of the state of the program. “That’s how I was raised up. That’s how I feel like I approached this here. I felt like I put everything in life. I mean, I came in and worked my butt off with all my guys, and we came in and brought a new standard to the program, brought a new aura and perception about what the Miami Hurricanes is about. Nobody really thought we were going to be where we are. And I know guys coming back next year, they’ve got that taste of how it feels, and they’re definitely gonna want to come back next year and get it off.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 2:32 PM.
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