Why Miami's 'danger factor' is high in 2023

Miami is somewhere in the middle of the college football landscape. They have plenty at their disposal in Coral Gables to make a statement but, after going 5-7 in 2022, many are uneasy about the direction that the Hurricanes are headed in if they don’t show progress in their upcoming campaign.

Even so, On3’s JD PicKell remains high on The U heading into ’23. During a recent edition of ‘The Hard Count’, PicKell named Miami as a team that could boom this fall and started that point by continuing his faith in QB Tyler Van Dyke.

“Miami has the most important piece that you need. They’ve got the quarterback. They’ve got Tyler Van Dyke,” PicKell said. “I’m a big fan of him. There’s no secret about that. If you’ve watched this show for any length of time, you know I’m excited about Tyler Van Dyke.”

From there, PicKell discussed the root of Miami’s improvement which, in his mind, should be overall culture. After Mario Cristobal’s rough first season, he made several changes to the roster and staff in order to correct what took place. That gives PicKell reason to believe that his second season at the helm should be better, at least culturally.

“To me, the question how much does that reset button work for them? Because I think they had to get sore before they could get strong,” said PicKell. “Like, culturally? (It) wasn’t good enough last year. That’s why they lost to Middle Tennessee. Offensive line wasn’t good enough, the roster wasn’t good enough.”

“So you retool some things, right? A Top-10 portal class. You go out and you switch your offensive philosophy with Shannon Dawson, Lance Guidry is now you’re DC. They’re really hit the reset button in terms of personnel. And I think they hit the reset button last year in culture,” PicKell said. “Year two is where that kind of starts to take shape.”

With things shifting in the ACC, there’s space for another program to take a spot at the top. In the end, though, PicKell says that that space is reserved for Miami because, at some point, they’re going to breakthrough. That’s why he’s warning their competition now to not overlook the ‘Canes in 2023.

“I believe in Mario Cristobal, I believe in the way that he does things,” said PicKell. “If his culture starts to permeate this coming season? And we see a tough Miami football team? And you pair that with a revived offensive philosophy? They’re going to be a problem now.”

“Miami? I think the danger factor for them is very, very high in the ACC,” PicKell said. “I think if you’re going to overlook Miami? You do so at your own risk. Mario Cristobal has proven that he can turn these things around, he’s proven that he knows how to win. I think it’s a matter of time at Miami.”