Mario Cristobal breaks down state of Miami quarterback room

First-year Miami football coach Mario Cristobal considers himself lucky to have inherited a loaded quarterback room. Cristobal faces a daunting task ahead of him attempting to rebuild the Hurricanes program, but it is made a bit less intimidating with the knowledge of whom he will have under center.

Miami returns last year’s starter Tyler Van Dyke, who assumed the role as a redshirt freshman after D’Eriq King went down with injury in Week 3. He went on to prove he belonged there, throwing for 2,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions to earn ACC Rookie of the Year. He enters 2022 as the unquestioned starter and a potential NFL Draft pick.

Cristobal also thinks highly of redshirt freshman Jake Garcia, who appeared in one game last year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Garcia is a former four-star recruit who ranked as the No. 52 overall player and No. 10 quarterback in the 2021 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average.

“We’re very lucky that we have a very good quarterback room,” Cristobal said in a recent interview. “In fact, one of them is already a projected NFL player if he continues to develop and have a great season. But he’s not alone. You’ve got a guy who was hurt early last season in Jake Garcia. Him and Tyler have got to make the best one-two punch of any quarterback room in the country.”

The talent in the Miami quarterback room doesn’t stop there, however. The Hurricanes signed four-star recruit Jacurri Brown, the No. 18 quarterback in the 2022 class. A dual-threat player, Brown threw for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for over 2,000 the past two years at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He was was an early enrollee this spring, where Cristobal said he was impressed with how he managed to fit in.

“They brought in Jacurri Brown, who joins us as the most prolific passer and winner in Georgia high school history,” the Hurricanes coach said. “A phenomenal athlete and human being who joins these guys. Got here as an early enrollee, which is always fun. It’s like getting dropped off in some place where you have to learn to get to know everybody and know processes. The simplicity of attaining a Cane card is as difficult as you can imagine. But Jacurri has adapted really well and he’s ready to roll, so we feel great about that room.”

Cristobal still has a long way to go in his rebuild of the program, but he at least has a solid foundation at one of the most important positions. He will get his first opportunity to put that talent to use when Miami opens the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against Bethune-Cookman.