Miami Football: 3 Upperclassmen who need to step up in 2022

Miami football needs these three upperclassmen to step up this fall. 

The Miami football program is in a period of transition. Miami fired head coach Manny Diaz after a 7-5 season in 2021 and a 21-15 record in three seasons in Coral Gables. Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich went big game hunting and landed Miami alum and former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal.

Cristobal takes over a program that looks little like the one he played for from 1988 to 1992. The Hurricanes have yet to win an ACC Championship, playing in only two conference title games. Miami has won a National Championship since 2001,  not finished inside the top ten since 2003 (they finished fifth that season) and haven’t won ten games since 2017.

The hope for the Hurricanes is that Cristobal can “fence” south Florida and recruit the best talent to Miami football as they did in the heyday of “The U.” While Cristobal works to rebuild the recruiting at Miami, he’ll need some of the current upperclassmen to step up and play well as the program begins rebuilding to return to college football’s elite.

Cristobal and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis already have their quarterback in rising sophomore Tyler Van Dyke. They’ll need more upperclassmen to step up and play well. Here is a closer look at three upperclassmen who need to step up in 2022.