’Canes are embracing high expectations
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mark Walton grew up in Miami. He played for one of the city’s premier high school football programs.
And like many of his teammates that hail from Miami, he understands the legacy of a Hurricanes jersey.
That’s why he’s so frustrated every time he leaves Coral Gables and visits the heart of the city where friends and family can’t help but ask him, repeatedly, if the Hurricanes can ever be what they once were.
To Walton, the questions are tiring. The criticism stings. And this year, he wants to make all of it stop.
“All I hear is people trashtalking the University of Miami. ‘Oh, they’re not back, we’re not back, they’re not doing this or that,’” Walton said Friday at the ACC’s annual preseason kickoff event. “It’s starting to get aggravating, and you just want to push that to the side. This is what you want? I did it for you. Let’s just make the criticism go. Let’s slow the noise down. That’s what I really want to do this for.”
With a new season on the horizon and the start of camp a little more than two weeks away, Walton believes he and his teammates have the ability to contend for the ACC’s Coastal Division crown, something Miami hasn’t won since joining the ACC in 2004.
Hurricanes linebacker Shaquille Quarterman agrees. So does Miami coach Mark Richt, who is readying for a second season leading his alma mater. Maybe more significant than that, though, is the fact that many outside the program expect the Hurricanes to be a top Coastal Division contender this year.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 9-4 season. They won five in a row to end the year, including a 31-14 win over West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl — their first bowl win in a decade. And although Miami has lost playmakers such as Brad Kaaya, David Njoku, Corn Elder and more, they return a significant amount of talent, especially on a defense that was among the league’s best.
Already, Athlon Magazine has tabbed Miami its preseason favorite to win the division title. And throughout the day Friday, Richt and his players faced multiple questions about the possibility of winning their first Coastal Division title.
It didn’t take long to see all of them are embracing the expectations in front of them.
“We expect to win every game we play. We practice to win every game we play. We prepare all season to win every game we play,” Richt said. “And for us to be thinking about winning the Coastal … in some ways, I guess some people think it’s a dream because it’s never happened in 10 years. But we don’t think it’s a dream. We think it’s a very real possibility and we control that.”
Added Quarterman: “You look at our team, and we have really good athletes, as good athletes as anybody in the conference. And with that, we have a great coaching staff. I love our coaching staff. We all do. There’s no reason we shouldn’t buy into the process. … Knowing that, knowing that we have all the pieces, knowing we can get it done after losing four games straight [last year], then winning five games straight. Without that dropoff, where would we have been? … We were literally a game away.”
Even with the high expectations, though, the Hurricanes know they’ll continue to face questions.
A quarterback battle will unfold once camp begins on Aug. 1 and Malik Rosier, Evan Shirreffs, Cade Weldon and newly arrived N’Kosi Perry begin competing for the starting job. And there are depth concerns at some positions, namely running back, where Miami is dangerously thin with just four backs – Walton, Travis Homer, Trayone Gray and Robert Burns – on scholarship.
Still, the Hurricanes believe there’s a lot to build on after last season. And they’re ready to do just that.
“We’re looking forward to this season. We’ve put a lot of work into it, just like everybody else,” Richt said. “We’re just anxious to see what we’ve got. There’s a lot of time between now and the game, but it’s getting shorter and shorter. We’ll be practicing before you know it and finding out who’s going to play where, who’s going to earn what snaps, who’s going to be the quarterback. All those things will be coming down the road.”