Mario Cristobal confirms Henry Parrish departure, updates running back depth

The Miami Hurricanes lost one of their top running backs on Tuesday when it was reported that Henry Parrish would enter the Transfer Portal. Since then, head coach Mario Cristobal confirmed that Parrish has departed the program.

Cristobal, while speaking to reporters, explained that Parrish is going to enter the portal and that he wishes him luck. He also went on to speak to the current depth of the Hurricanes’ running back room.

“It’s always been a very competitive room. We start a lot of guys,” Mario Cristobal said. “Henry will not be with the program anymore. He’ll go in the portal and, look, we wish him the best. It’s best for him and it’s best for the University of Miami for him to move on. Again, thankful for his contribution here and wish him the very, very best.”

Parrish rushed for 1,241 yards and 10 touchdowns during his two seasons with Miami. He also had a pair of receiving touchdowns.

Despite that loss, Mario Cristobal is confident in Miami’s depth moving forward. That includes players who have already been with the program, as well as incoming freshmen like Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, who was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2024.

“TreVonte’ [Citizen] is certainly a guy that is getting better, coming off a major injury. Chris Johnson has had a great spring. Ajay Allen is on the mend, he’ll be back. Chris Wheatley-Humphrey looks really good, and we signed up a guy who is a top back in the country on paper, but he was on our board as a top guy in the country as well, and he has run a system that is similar to ours,” Cristobal said.

“So, we feel really good about the competitive nature of that room, the caliber of coaching that they’re getting, and what we have hitting the season.”

Mario Cristobal also touched on Mark Fletcher, who is recovering from a non-contact foot injury.

“He’s doing well. He’s a big guy. Every time they get an apparatus on they have to like super-size it. Make sure you get around okay. Mark’s itching, chomping at the bit, to get out there again. We expect him back probably two months, two and a half months, and we expect to be full speed by early summer.”

In 2023, Miami rushed for 173.5 yards per game for a total of 2,251 yards on the season, which was 45th in rushing offense last season. Now, first-year running backs coach Matt Merritt will look to take the team’s running back room and build on that performance ahead of 2024.