DE Roche to join ’Canes
AAC Defensive Player of Year leaves Temple as a graduate transfer
Those 18 days Manny Diaz spent as head coach of Temple in December 2018 may have paid off in helping him land one of college football’s top returning pass rushers for next season as a graduate transfer.
The Miami Hurricanes are getting the reigning American Athletic Conference (AAC) Defensive Player of the Year in defensive end Quincy Roche to transfer in. Roche announced his intentions to join the Hurricanes on Twitter on Monday night, not long after Miami picked up its new star quarterback transfer in D’Eriq King from Houston.
“I would like to proudly express my commitment to the University of Miami,” Roche posted on Twitter. “This was not an easy decision, but without a doubt the best decision for me and my family. I am ready to bring leadership, toughness, and hard work to the University of Miami football program as we push to win the ACC Championship. #GoCanes #theU”
Since Roche entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and visited Miami the weekend of Jan. 10, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Texas and Rutgers were considered among other potential suitors.
With Roche set to spend his redshirt senior season at UM, he and rising redshirt sophomore Greg Rousseau could form one of the most fierce defensive end tandems in college football. Between them, the two collected 281⁄2 sacks last season — Rousseau’s 151⁄2 were second to only Ohio State’s Chase Young (161⁄2) and Roche had 13 for the Owls.
The addition of Roche helps the Hurricanes reload on the edge after losing Jonathan Garvin and Trevon Hill. Garvin declared early for the NFL draft after his junior season, and Hill is heading to the pros after spending his redshirt senior season in Coral Gables after transferring from Virginia Tech.
Roche’s decision comes in time for him to enroll at Miami for the spring semester before Tuesday’s deadline, according UM’s academic calendar posted by the school’s office of the registrar. Enrolling for the semester allows Roche to participate in spring football practices.
Miami is also set to get a sixth season from Scott Patchan at defensive end. Jahfari Harvey, a freshman last season, played in the Hurricanes’ Independence Bowl loss to Louisiana Tech with both Garvin and Hill sitting the seasonending bowl game out on Dec. 26.
Jaelan Phillips, a former fivestar recruit who transferred in from UCLA last offseason, will be eligible to play as a redshirt junior in 2020 after sitting out the 2019 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Also with the team in the spring off the edge are redshirt freshman Cameron Williams, who redshirted in his first college season out of Chaminade-Madonna High for academic reasons, and true freshman early enrollee Chantz Williams, an Under Armour AllAmerican out of Oakleaf High just outside of Jacksonville who is recovering from an arm injury.
Another pair of defensive ends that are signed in Miami’s 2020 recruiting class but are set to enroll after the spring are Elijah Roberts out of Miami Columbus High who has the potential to grow into a defensive tackle, and Quentin Williams from Charlotte.
To go with his 13 sacks, Roche had 49 tackles, 19 for loss, as a redshirt junior last season at Temple. In 2018, he had 57 tackles, nine for loss, and 6.0 sacks. In 2017, he tallied 31 tackles, 111⁄2 for loss, and 7.0 sacks.
Roche’s addition to boost the UM pass rush comes after the Hurricanes also found potential solutions through the transfer portal at quarterback in King and kicker in Jose Borregales, formerly of FIU.