New Miami Hurricanes weapons emerge! Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson reveals unprecedented depth, from quarterback to tight end, fueling championship aspirations.
As spring training officially opens, the Miami Hurricanes will have further opportunities to evaluate the revamped roster. They acquired several key players through the transfer portal, including a couple of All-ACC caliber talents in quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate. Coming off a National Championship, the team looks to take care of unfinished business.
However, as chemistry continues to build, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson is excited about all the new talent.
“If you look at running back room, tight end room, and receiver room, we’re deeper this year than we’ve been since I’ve been here in three years,” he said on Thursday. “If I look back on certain times last year, and even the year before last, if we’ve got a receiver hurt, we’d been in a bind. You look out there and you’re like, ‘We got some talented dudes, but if one guy goes down, we’re going to be in a little bit of an issue.’ I think we’ll have five or six outside receivers that can play, which is huge because those are the guys [that] run the most because they stretch the field. You’d like to have more of those guys playing. At outside receiver, it’s important to have guys that can roll in and you trust, that’s a big thing. We’ve had situations in the last few years where, like, we want certain guys on third down. Now, I feel like and I hope that we have a handful of guys that we don’t care who’s in the game. Third-and-four, critical time in the game, if the second guy’s in, that’s okay. We want to get the talent to where the difference between one and two isn’t as much.”
As CJ Daniels and Keelan Marion departed for the upcoming NFL Draft, the Hurricanes revamped the wide receiver core around star Malachi Toney, bringing in Barkate, Vandrevius Jacobs from the South Carolina Gamecocks, and Cam Vaughn from the West Virginia Mountaineers. Also, Daylyn Upshaw and Joshua Moore are poised for expanded roles after limited field action as freshmen.
Dawson highlighted the tight end core, despite the lack of experience.
“You got [Elija] Lofton coming back, who I think is on the verge of really finding his own in that position,” he added. “Gavin [Mueller] was a great addition, [Israel Biggs] was a great [addition], Luka’s [Gilbert] playing. You got a lot of people in that room, too. If you look at the skill, there’s a lot of depth in that room that will sort itself out through spring practice, summer, and fall.”
Last season, the Hurricanes split snaps between Lofton and Alex Bauman, who’s no longer on the roster, at the tight end position. They will have more flexibility and options moving forward, especially after moving Cole McConathy to the group after joining the program as an edge rusher.
Mensah will be surrounded by several weapons on the field, but the chemistry as a whole will be a work in progress throughout each practice, which will likely translate to Dawson’s offensive schemes.
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