Miami Hurricanes DC Kevin Steele 2022 coordinator to watch

Mike Huguenin of On3 named Kevin Steele one of the “12 college football coordinators to watch this season.” Steele was hired by Mario Cristobal as the co-defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes with linebackers coach Charlie Strong. Steele has over 40 years of experience as a football coach.

The 2022 defense needs to make improve significantly for the Miami Hurricanes to reach its full potential. Miami allowed 28.4 points per game in 2021 which was 84th nationally. The Hurricanes gave up 389.6 yards per game in 2021 which ranked 75th in FBS. Miami is fortuitous to have hired Steele.

Steele was last the defensive coordinator at Auburn from 2016 through 2020. Auburn allowed 24.7 points per game in 2020 which was 38th nationally. Miami returns seven starters on defense, all on the back end. The Miami Hurricanes added seven transfers on defense during the 2022 off-season.

Five of those transfers could start on defense. Edge rushers Mitchell Agude and Akheem Mesidor, linebacker Caleb Johnson and cornerback Darryl Porter Jr. are all transfers projected to start on the Miami defense. Defensive linemen Darrell Jackson, Jacob Lichtenstein and Antonio Moultrie will be part of the rotation.

Kevin Steele, Miami DC
The skinny: “Steele was set to become coordinator at Maryland. Instead, the contract never got signed and he ended up at Miami working for Mario Cristobal. The Hurricanes’ defense has had all sorts of problems of late.

The secondary has had trouble against teams that made it a priority to throw, while the front seven has had trouble against teams that made it a priority to run. In addition, the overall sloppy tackling was noticeable. A lack of talent has been an issue, and that is something that Cristobal’s recruiting figures to solve.

This season, there are numerous transfers and Steele’s top priority is meshing those guy…with a handful of talented holdovers. The Hurricanes have finished in the top four in total defense in the ACC just three times in the past 10 seasons. That’s embarrassing.

Miami’s offense features talented QB Tyler Van Dyke and is good enough to win the division.  But the defense has to play better if UM wants to get to just its second ACC title game in its 18 seasons in the league.”

Defensive ends coach Rod Wright spoke to Miami play-by-play announcer Joe Zagacki on Thursday that the primary focus of the Hurricanes’ defense will be to stop the run which will lead to letting the pass rushers loose on later downs. Miami needs to improve its pass rush after finishing 42nd averaging 2.75 sacks per game in 2021.

It was surprising to see Steel as the Miami coordinator watch in 2022. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is 38 years old and early in his career calling plays. Steele is at the end of his career. Gattis has often been mentioned as a head coaching candidate for 2023. Miami is fortunate to have Gattis and Steele as coordinators.