King gets a familiar face for protection
Former star Houston quarterback D’Eriq King will now have one of his linemen joining him in Miami.
Jarrid Williams announced he will transfer to the Hurricanes on Sunday night, choosing UM over the likes of Florida State, USC, Baylor and Ole Miss. Like King, Williams is immediately eligible as a graduate transfer.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to be recruited by and learn from some amazing football coaches,” Williams wrote in his Twitter announcement. “I want to thank the coaches at Baylor/Ole Miss/ FSU/USC/Miami for giving me the chance to play my last season with them. With that being said, I have decided to finish my career and earn a Masters Degree at The University of Miami.”
Williams will be entering his sixth and final season of college eligibility. He redshirted as a freshman in 2015 and also received a medical redshirt last season following a season-ending injury after four starts.
His four starts in 2019 and 13 in 2018 were all at right tackle. In 2016 and 2017, he appeared in 11 games for the Cougars, starting two at left tackle.
UM is looking to improve its offensive line play from a year ago. The Hurricanes were No. 128 out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams with 51 sacks allowed
— worst among Power-5 teams. The Hurricanes also return all of last year’s starters on the unit. New offensive line coach Garin Justice brings a change in leadership for the group.
While Miami also got its projected starting quarterback, King, from Houston, former Hurricanes kicker Bubba Baxa went to the Cougars as a transfer.
UM has been aggressive once again in the transfer portal. Along with King and Williams, Miami added Temple defensive end Quincy Roche, FIU kicker Jose Borregales and Florida offensive lineman Issiah Walker as transfers. Walker was a freshman early enrollee with the Gators out of Miami Norland before deciding to transfer after his first college semester.