Seniors savor No. 3 status
Four years have brought big changes
CORAL GABLES They have, in their four years at Miami, experienced a whirlwind.
There was the initial excitement of signing with one of college football’s most recognizable programs and the optimism of being among the players that could help the Hurricanes regain their form.
Then there were heartbreaking losses, banner planes circling overhead calling for the ouster of the coach who recruited them, games played in nearempty stadiums and opponents reveling in Miami’s struggles. Two years ago, those struggles culminated with the worst loss in program history and finally, a coaching change that sent Al Golden out of Coral Gables and brought former Hurricanes quarterback Mark Richt to campus.
Since, Miami’s seniors — who will take the field Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium for their home finale against Virginia — have endured more highs than lows. They enter Saturday’s game having won 14 in a row. They’re the third-ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings and are in the national championship conversation. Last week, Miami (9-0, 6-0) clinched its first Coastal Division championship and locked up its first berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game.
It has been a heady stretch, dating back to the tail end of last season and now, for most of the Hurricanes seniors, there is gratitude.
“I think about it every day,” said defensive end Chad Thomas, a Miami native who played at powerhouse Booker T. Washington High School before joining the Hurricanes. “You know, when I got to ‘The U,’ it wasn’t so good, still under probation and everything. Now where we’re at, I’ve just got to thank God for it.”
Added senior kicker Michael Badgley, who last week became the all-time career leader in field goals at Miami, “It’s crazy that it’s already been four years. Just talking to all the seniors, it’s been a wild ride and it’s great to kind of give us a note to kind of end on. We just want to keep rolling and have some more fun.”
Richt and the rest of Miami’s coaching staff — as well as the Hurricanes’ younger players — say they intend to make the seniors’ regular-season finale at Hard Rock a game worth remembering.
Four seniors — Thomas, wide receiver Braxton Berrios, offensive lineman Kc McDermott and defensive lineman Trent Harris — will all serve as captains against the Cavaliers (6-4, 3-3). But Richt said that all of the eligible seniors on Miami’s roster — a group that includes 11 players — will all wear the captain’s “C” on their jerseys, a nod to their commitment to the program when things didn’t always go well. More than a few of their former teammates chose different routes, transferring during some of the tumult.
“Usually, if you stay to the end, you get blessed. The first thing you do is get your degree,” Richt said. “There’s nothing that can replace that senior season, where you are the leadership of the team. That’s part of growing as a man, learning how to become a leader. Sometimes guys leave before that moment hits, for different reasons, and they miss out on a great opportunity to be that guy.”
For the seniors, as much they’ve enjoyed this ninewin season and the Hurricanes’ ascent in all of college football’s major rankings, there is still work to be done, starting Saturday against the Cavaliers.
After that, there is one final regular-season game at Pittsburgh, then the ACC Championship Game against Clemson, the same team that handed Miami its worst loss just two years ago.
Wins over the next three weeks will put the Hurricanes in the playoffs — and give the Hurricanes seniors one more accomplishment to mark their memorable four years.
“I came here with a goal and I don’t want to leave without it. One of those goals is getting to the ACC championship game and another one of those goals was beating Florida State,” said Berrios, the Hurricanes’ leading receiver with 38 catches for 484 yards and eight touchdowns. “Obviously the other goal is to return Miami to where it should be and internally, that’s why I am here and that’s why I’ve always been here and why I always wanted to come to Miami.”