Miami Hurricanes running back expectations under Josh Gattis

Expect the Miami Hurricanes to be more committed to a balanced and physical offense in 2022. A major part of that will be a greater commitment to the run in 2022. In each of his two full seasons at Michigan new Miami offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis coached two running backs who each had over 600 yards.

In 2021 Michigan had two RBs top 900 yards rushing. Hassan Haskins ran for 1,327 yards on 4.9 yards per carry and 20 touchdowns. Blake Corum ran for 952 yards on 6.6 YPC and 11 TDs. Corum and Haskins also contributed as receivers. Corum had 24 receptions for 141 yards and one TD. Haskins had 18 catches for 131 yards.

Third-team RB Donovan Edwards also thrived as a receiver. Edwards had 20 receptions for 265 yards and one TD last season. Gattis has a deep group of RBs to work with entering his first season as the Miami Hurricanes OC. Michigan was 15th nationally in 2021 averaging 214.36 rushing yards per game.

Gattis was hired as the OC at Michigan from Alabama in 2019. Zach Charbonnet ran for 726 and 11 TD in the first season with Gattis as the Michigan OC. Haskins had 622 yards and four TDs averaging 5.1 YPC in 2019. The RBs did not play a big role for Michigan as receivers in 2019.

Michigan finished 77th nationally averaging 150.9 rushing yards per game in 2019. The Wolverines had their worst season since 2008 finishing 2-5 in 2020. Michigan fell to 95th averaging 131.5 rushing yards per game. Haskins took over as the lead Michigan RB with 375 rushing yards and six TDs.

Mississippi transfer Henry Parrish showed a lot of promise for Miami this spring. Rising sophomore Thad Franklin had a good spring and showed his ability to close games on the ground as a true freshman in 2021. Rising third-year juniors Don Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton will be part of the rotation at RB for Miami.

Gattis will have a difficult job keeping all the RBs happy with their roles. The Miami Hurricanes also signed four-star RB TreVonte’ Citizen who the Hurricanes’ staff has high expectations for in the future. Citizen could potentially redshirt in 2022. Parrish had 553 rushing yards and three TDs and 21 receptions for 173 yards last season.

Knighton had 561 yards rushing and eight TDs and 20 receptions for 280 yards and another three TDs in the final eight games of 2021. Miami was without Chaney who was recovering from his 2021 season ending knee injury and Knighton who had a shoulder injury that kept them out of the entirity of spring practice.

Harris had 409 yards and and five TDs with 11 receptions for 119 yards and one TD starting the first six games before getting injured last season. Gattis will have a lot of versatility at RB with Chaney, Franklin, Knighton and Parrish. Miami is expected to use a more complex running scheme under Gattis than last season.

Miami needs to be better in short yardage this season. The Hurricanes were 109th with a 21.2 percent stuff rate in 2021. Michigan was third nationally with an 11.2 percent stuff rate. Mario Cristobal and the Miami staff are establishing a more physical culture throughout the Hurricanes program than in recent years.

More physicality on the offensive line should help Miami become more sucessful running. Gattis helped Michigan improve immensely running in 2021 that led to him earning the Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant in college football. More balance offensively will be a major goal for the Miami football team in 2022.