Everything They Do is the Heartbeat of What We Do

That steady improvement of Miami’s offensive line has been a priority for head coach Mario Cristobal, himself a two-time national championship lineman for the Hurricanes.

He made it clear shortly after returning to lead his alma mater’s program that the Hurricanes would be built from the inside out and that reshaping the offensive line was going to be the key to Miami’s future success.

Now, heading into his fourth season as head coach, that group is starting to look more and more the way he and Mirabal envisioned.

And outside Coral Gables, people are starting to take note.

“It’s overwhelming, the size and the power that you see, the height and the width. We walked in here and when I feel small around people, that’s usually a really good problem for others,” said ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain, a former offensive lineman at Clemson. “Now, it’s time. It’s time for them to take that next step. I think they have an opportunity to be amongst the best in the country. I think they and Clemson, back and forth, of who’s the best in the ACC right now. But Miami has Francis Mauigoa and Clemson doesn’t. I mean, I think ESPN just mocked him as the number two pick [in the 2026 NFL Draft] and there’s a lot of responsibility there.

“It’s a clear demonstration of Coach Cristobal’s process of starting inside out, taking care of this and everything else will work. I’m hoping that’s what we see, and I think we will. And the good thing is, we’re going to see it Week One. We’re going to see it that Sunday night. The whole world will be watching, and those guys can put on a show. I think they will.”

For Miami’s skill position players – including transfer quarterback Carson Beck and running backs like Mark Fletcher Jr. and Jordan Lyle, playing behind the Hurricanes’ talented offensive line is a boon.

Beck, who joined the Hurricanes after playing the first five years of his college career at Georgia, couldn’t help but appreciate how much the group protected Ward last season as he studied the Hurricanes and weighed where to play his final year of college football.

“You look at them and they pass the eye test. They’re huge.  You go watch some of the clips of last year and the way they were able to protect Cam, it’s very impressive,” Beck said. “The success they had last year is undeniable. Beyond that, you see the success, you see the film, but what a lot of people don’t see is the amount of work that…