Miami football’s 8 most significant developments since the spring game

The last time we saw Mario Cristobal’s team on the field, at the spring game in mid-April, Cam Ward was throwing touchdown passes to Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and Isaiah Horton, and the Miami offseason hype machine was just beginning to crank up.

It will shift into overdrive once fall camp gets underway and preparations begin for the Aug. 31 opener against the hated Florida Gators in Gainesville.

The 2024 Hurricanes should be Cristobal’s best team yet and will be expected to contend for the ACC championship. Miami features a roster that has been bolstered by several key transfers over the last few months. The arrival of a former All-Pac-12 running back was the most important addition — but far from the only one.

Here’s a list of eight key developments since the spring game, ranked by order of significance.

1. Damien Martinez joins the backfield. The Hurricanes added six players after the spring game — none more notable than Martinez, a two-time first-team All-Pac 12 selection who ran for 1,185 yards and nine touchdowns last season at Oregon State.

The Texas native will wear No. 6 and helps solidify a backfield that lost two of its top three rushers in Henry Parrish Jr. (625 yards) and Donald Chaney Jr. (478) to Ole Miss and Louisville, respectively. Sophomore Mark Fletcher Jr. (514) and Ajay Allen (361) are experienced veterans who will battle for carries.

2. Simeon Barrow Jr. transfers in … and stays put. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle from Georgia started 30 games in four seasons at Michigan State. There were rumors that Barrow had second thoughts about his decision — after enrolling in summer classes at Miami — but he reaffirmed his commitment to the Canes in early June and should play a big role on the defensive front in 2024.

There’s been a lot of assumptions and rumors about my stance with Miami. I am a Miami Hurricane and concentrating on working hard and this team! Let’s get it!🙌🏾🧡💚 @CanesFootball

— SB ll 💭 (@BarrowSimeon) June 6, 2024

3. Eleven players depart. Barrow was an important addition considering that veteran defensive tackles Jared Harrison-Hunte (SMU) and Thomas Gore (Georgia Tech) were among 11 players who left the program after the spring game. The Hurricanes previously added 23-game starter C.J. Clark (NC State) and 27-game starter Marley Cook (Middle Tennessee) in January. Their presence should buy time for several of Miami’s young tackles to grow up, including 2024 five-star recruit Justin Scott, a summer enrollee.

Other post-spring exits included backup quarterback Jacurri Brown (UCF), oft-injured running back TreVonte’ Citizen (McNeese State), reserve offensive lineman Logan Sagapolu (Washington), young edge rushers Nyjalik Kelly (UCF) and Jayden Wayne (Washington), second-year linebacker Marcellius Pulliam (Michigan State) and defensive backs Kaleb Spencer (Virginia Tech) and Demetrius Freeney (Arizona).

4. Tyler Baron leaves Louisville for Coral Gables. The addition of the 6-5, 260-pound edge rusher — who spent the spring at Louisville — gives the Hurricanes 156 combined starts among reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Rueben Bain (11), Barrow (30), Clark (23), Cook (27), Akheem Mesidor (26), Marshall transfer Elijah Alston (20) and Baron (19). Baron, coming off a shoulder injury, had 28 tackles (including 10.5 for loss and six sacks) and 41 pressures in 2023 at Tennessee.

Louisville is the only team in the ACC with more starting experience than Miami on the defensive line.

5. Receiver Sam Brown transfers from Houston. Miami’s staff exited the spring excited about Horton, a 6-4, 205-pound redshirt sophomore, and his potential as a big-play threat on the outside. But it was still important for the Hurricanes to add an experienced pass catcher such as Brown, who caught 103 passes for 1,286 yards and seven touchdowns over the last two seasons at Houston.

Miami is the only ACC team with three receivers on its roster who had 800 receiving yards last season — Restrepo (1,092), George (864) and Brown (815).

6. Miami adds depth at cornerback and linebacker. Former Louisville linebacker Jaylin Alderman (17 starts) and Marshall defensive back Dyoni Hill (nine starts) were two other key additions.

Alderman, a redshirt junior who played for Miami linebackers coach Derek Nicholson while at Louisville, joins senior Kiko Mauigoa (26 starts) and junior Wesley Bissainthe (13 starts) as one of three linebackers on the roster with starting experience. That’ll buy time for some talented first- and second-year guys to grow up, including Raul Aguirre and true freshman Cameron Pruitt, who impressed in the spring.

Hill, a junior, should slot into the starting nickelback position, with senior Daryl Porter Jr. (24 starts) and sophomore Damari Brown (four starts) on the outside and Washington transfer Mishael Powell (25 starts) and another safety to be named later on the back end.

7. Cristobal is on pace to sign another top-10 recruiting class. When Miami played its spring game, it had only six commitments in the 2025 cycle: linebacker Elijah Melendez, running back Girard Pringle Jr., tight end Brock Schott, receiver Waden Charles, quarterback Luke Nickel and offensive lineman Lamar Williams.

Williams (Maryland) and Charles (UCF) have since flipped their commitments, but Miami has picked up a lot of steam on the trail and boasts the No. 9 class in the 247Sports Composite. Miami has 18 commitments, headlined by top-100 recruits Hylton Stubbs, a safety from Jacksonville who was previously committed to USC, and Las Vegas native Seuseu Alofaituli, the top center in the cycle. Miami could soon add five-star safety DJ Pickett (announcing Wednesday) and top-100 cornerback Jaboree Antoine (announcing Saturday).

8. Cristobal adds recruiting and personnel staff. Recruiting never stops for Cristobal, and he added at least five new members to the department.

Among the new additions are Trip Carrico, who was the assistant athletic director for player personnel at Arkansas State and also previously served as a recruiting specialist at Alabama under Nick Saban, and former FIU and Florida State offensive lineman Devonte Taylor, previously a recruiting strategist at Arizona State.

(Photo of Damien Martinez: Brian Hayes/ Statesman Journal / USA Today Network)