Miami Hurricanes DL Akheem Mesidor at ACC Media Day says team's conditioning is massive key for season success

The Miami Hurricanes have a fearsome end tandem this year in Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain … plus plenty of young talent behind them including the likes of Armondo Blount and Hayden Lowe.

And the overall defense has been upgraded with returning players and several portal additions.

Today at the ACC’s Media day, Mesidor said “I look around and it’s `Wow, we have a completely new team’ because we have a bunch of new faces. After spring, summer workouts we are really confident about what we have.”

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As for Mesidor? Well, he has the strength to play inside and the quickness to line up at end, and his primary role this year is to be disruptive from the outside. Last year he started out at tackle but didn’t have much success, then fared well later in the season after moving outside.

As a refresher on Mesidor, in 2022 at UM he had seven sacks, then missed almost all of 2023 injured. Last season he started out at tackle and struggled a bit before moving to end and faring well. He finished with nine TFL and 5.5 sacks.

Per Pro Football Focus this past season Mesidor played 520 reps and had a 74.2 overall grade, 73.7 run defense grade, 71.1 tackle grade and 71.5 pass rush grade. He was noted with 18 QB hurries.

In new coordinator Corey Hetherman’s system, Mesidor believes his side of the ball is poised for a big year.

“Hetherman is a great guy, great coach,” Mesidor said, calling the new DC a great technician. “He has an aggressive approach. We’re trying to learn his defense, trust each other and play the best defense we can. … coach Hetherman is a very smart DC. It’s different every week (with his game plan). He’s an aggressive person, trusts us to get after it.

“I’ve adjusted to (the new defense) … I’ve been around three different defensive coordinator. I like to think of myself as a smart football player, so getting in the (new defensive play) book doesn’t come hard to me.”

A focus from Hetherman? That’s been on better communication throughout all defensive levels. That plagued this side of the ball a year ago.

“This offseason coach Hetherman has been emphasizing communication,” Mesidor said. “That’s pre-alerting to motions, just seeing things before they actually happen so when they do happen you know exactly what to do. That’s what guys are most confident in. When one team does something we know what play to go to. This offseason we emphasized that a lot. I can’t wait to show it.

As for the message from Mario Crisobal to Mesidor and this team?

“Coach Cristobal is a powerful leader,doesn’t stop working, works day and night,” Mesidor said. “The biggest thing he tells us is elite teams are in elite shape. So we run like crazy. After that you have to play fast, play hard, dominate every snap of the game.”

Inside on the line? Miami brought in DT David Blay as a highly regarded portal piece and returns former 5-star Justin Scott and primary backup Ahmad Moten.

“We have a deep room, a bunch of guys who can play (and be difference-makers),” Mesidor said.

The tackles complement a really talented group of ends. And Mesidor singled out one younger end for praise.

“Guys like Armondo Blount – Armondo is about to be a sophomore and if you want a guy who runs to that ball and has maximum effort, he’ll pop out on film,” Mesidor said.

He adds that “I love the defense, love what we’ve got, show the world what we’ve got.”

A final thought from Mesidor?

That’s on the coming season.

“As a D line we’ve watched film, the playoff game (of season opening opponent Notre Dame), but the main focus is fall camp,” Mesidor said. “I feel confident about what we have

“Everyone has to do their job. Get guys to communicate, line up and go.”

*Mesidor gave a shout out to one particular CB portal arrival. “Ethan O’Connor makes plays and lets you know he makes the play,” Mesidor said.

AKHEEM MESIDOR PRESS CONFERENCE Q&A

Q. Akheem, you guys struggled defensively down the stretch last year. What do you think you can improve on this year to not have that happen again?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: Well, the biggest thing we’ve been emphasizing this off-season is communication. If you don’t communicate, your defense is going to get just torched, right? Obviously we have a bunch of new additions, but communication is the biggest thing for us.

Q. You guys have a new defensive coordinator this year. What have you seen from Coach Hetherman so far and how do you like his new defense?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: I love Coach Hetherman. He’s a great teacher. He’s just an aggressive guy, as you guys can see in his interviews. But he really just gets it down to the point. He’s a technician; anything you have, he’ll probably answer your question before you ask it. But he’s an amazing person, a great coach, and he just lets us play free, play fast, and I can’t wait to play football.

Q. Coach Cristobal, what it is about his leadership, his leadership style that speaks to not only you personally but to the Hurricanes and why it works in Miami?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: Well, Coach Cristobal is a powerful leader and he doesn’t stop working. He works day and night. The biggest thing for him that he tells us is elite teams are in elite shape, so what we do this off-season is we run, we run like crazy. We’re trying to get in — just having amazing conditioning. After that, you have to play hard. Play fast, play hard, and just dominate every snap of the game.

Just Coach Cristobal is an amazing coach, best I’ve been around, and I love being a part of this team.

Q. You are in a very talented and deep defensive line room, and yet two out of the last three years you’ve led Miami in sacks. As the elder statesman and as a guy that’s been hyper productive from the pass rushing standpoint, how do you set the tone vocally and be a leader in a room where multiple guys are expected to play on Sundays, including yourself, but multiple guys expecting to play on Sundays and maybe even a few going in the first round?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: A big step I’ve been trying to take this off-season is obviously the leadership role. I think I’m the oldest guy in the room, but just I want to lead by example but also I want to be more vocal. This off-season I’ve been bringing guys along with extra work. I just want to get to know everybody, and I want everybody else to get to know me, know my story, know my why. We have a deep room, and we have a bunch of guys who can play. We need to work together as we’ve been. We need to get together and just establish our identity in that room and just dominate.

Q. You speak about your why, your story. Given your background culturally growing up in Canada, how has that affected how you’ve matured as an individual and as a football player?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: Growing up in Canada, it’s difficult to get recruited out here in the States. Nothing is given to you. You have to go out and grab everybody. I grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, in a five-children household, and then my mom took care of all of us on her own. My dad comes from a Haitian background, so I speak English and French, so I grew up in a diverse community, diverse place.

But football-wise, nothing was given. I had to work for everything. I had to travel back and forth to Ohio, back and forth to Indiana, Michigan, a bunch of different spots in order to gain recognition because just traditionally people looked down against Canadian competition, Canadian talent. I really had to prove myself more than I feel like many or most, and I always carry that mentality even now. Nothing is going to be given to me. I need to go out and take everything. That’s why I work as hard as I do, because I really need the game of football to bless me and my family.

Q. You left the door open. You said you speak French, so please answer this question in French. What’s your favorite thing to do in your downtime?

AKHEEM MESIDOR: I like fishing. I don’t know how to say it in French. I forgot. (Speaking French.)