‘Getting momentum’
2021 offensive line commit Ryan Rodriguez foresees bright future for Hurricanes
Ryan Rodriguez knew where he wanted to play college football once he was offered by the Miami Hurricanes.
“Growing up in Miami, it’s always been a dream. Going to UM was always my biggest dream, my biggest goal,” said Rodriguez, a three-star offensive lineman from Miami Columbus committed to the Hurricanes’ 2021 recruiting class. “Once they offered me, I felt almost like — I’m not going to say a no-brainer — but I felt very comfortable that I would go there.”
Rodriguez, who is expected to play center at UM while he plays left tackle at Columbus after lining up at right tackle as a sophomore, sees a bright future for Miami after a disappointing 6-7 record in Manny Diaz’s first season as head coach.
Despite ending the season on a threegame losing streak to FIU, Duke and Louisiana Tech, the Hurricanes have built positive momentum in the offseason with a slew of transfers, recruiting commitments and coaching hires to revamp the offensive staff.
“I think we’re just going to be stacked, and everybody wants to join once you start getting momentum and our coaches are very good recruiters,” Rodriguez said.
“This year, we’re going to win with [Houston grad transfer quarterback D’Eriq] King, and after that, it’s up to us.”
Rodriguez has confidence in new offensive line coach Garin Justice to steer the unit in the right direction after it gave up the second-most sacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision and struggled to run block well.
“Justice is going to push me to be the best lineman I can be, which is really what I want,” Rodriguez said. “Coach Justice is a coach that’s going to win first. His main goal is to win, and that’s my main goal. We share that common interest of wanting to win, wanting to be competitive.”
That mentality comes from Rodriguez’s high school team at Columbus, which is coming off the Class 8A state championship this past fall. He sees similarities in the way the two programs practice.
With Justice leading the line, every UM lineman that played significantly last season returns.
“As the season went on, they got better and you could see it,” Rodriguez said.
He also got to watch one of the team’s four spring practices and was impressed with what he saw from redshirt sophomore John Campbell working in at left tackle.
“He’s looking like a real-deal left tackle,” Rodriguez said. “[Freshman] Jalen Rivers, when I watched him, he’s going to help. Issiah Walker [freshman transfer from Florida] now added, so the future looks bright.”
UM also has 2021 commitments from fourstar recruits in Miami Central guard Laurence Seymore and Stoneman Douglas tackle Michael McLaughlin.
“Big Baby [Seymore] is competitive. Mike’s competitive,” Rodriguez said. “Our whole O-line, and our coach is a winner. We’re just trying to go out there and win, trying to compete and win.”