Can Carson Beck, new-look defense get Miami — and its coach — over the hump?

New York Times

17 hours ago

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami quarterback Carson Beck's surgically repaired right elbow is covered in tattoos, making it difficult to spot the scarring from his Tommy John surgery last December.
'I got all these tattoos before I had the surgery,' the 23-year-old Georgia transfer said before he explained the meaning behind a few of the symbols on his throwing arm.
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There's a tribute to Devin Willock, No. 77 at Georgia, who was killed in a 2023 car accident. A quote taken from 'Batman Begins' reads: 'Why do we fall? So we can rise.'
'I'm a Harry Potter fan, too. In 'The Order of the Phoenix', it says, 'When the phoenix dies, it is reborn out of the ashes,'' Beck said. 'The incision from the surgery goes through that tattoo. I'm not sure if that's a coincidence or not. But that's my favorite tattoo. It is pretty poetic.'
Beck suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the 2024 SEC title game that ended his second season as the Georgia starter and, ultimately, his career between the hedges. He pulled his name out of the NFL Draft and transferred to Miami in January for his sixth and final college season. The program is paying him between $3 million-$4 million to fill the void left behind by ACC Player of the Year Cam Ward.
Beck had no previous ties to the Miami program. The Jacksonville native grew up rooting for Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators. If Beck had not been dating Miami women's basketball player Hanna Cavinder — one of the internet-famous Cavinder twins — he might not have found his way to South Florida.
Georgia moved on with its financial resources after Beck initially put his name into the draft in late December. Alabama reportedly showed interest, but he ended up at Miami less than 48 hours after entering the portal with a 'do-not-contact' tag.
If Beck's arm holds up, he could help Miami win the ACC title for the first time since joining the league in 2004. The program has invested heavily since luring coach Mario Cristobal home from Oregon in December 2021 to return the Canes to glory.
So far, the highlights of Cristobal's tenure have included a couple of top-10 recruiting classes, a 10-win season in 2024 and Ward becoming the program's first No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick since Russell Maryland in 1991.
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Will Beck and a revamped 2025 roster be enough to take Miami to the next level? Cristobal said the program's progress should be measured by where it started upon his return.
'If you want to tell a story, let's make sure we tell the story from the starting point of what it looked like,' Cristobal said recently, 'so we have an accurate depiction for what that story really is.'
Cristobal inherited a program that won 21 games combined in the previous three seasons under Manny Diaz. Perhaps more telling, the Canes had only one player drafted in 2022 (in the seventh round) and just three selected in 2023 (only one in the first four rounds).
Miami has had 11 players drafted in the past two years, including seven in 2025 (sixth-most in the nation).
Talent is no longer the issue.
That talent, however, didn't translate to a 2024 ACC title despite Ward running an attack that led the country in both total offense and scoring offense in his one season at Miami after transferring from Washington State.
Miami's defense regressed throughout the fall, sabotaging what should have been a truly special season. Ward bailed out the porous defense in thrilling comeback wins over Virginia Tech and Cal and a shootout victory at Louisville.
The offense finally sputtered in a loss at Georgia Tech in early November, and three weeks later, the Canes entered the regular-season finale at Syracuse needing a win to earn a spot in the ACC Championship Game for only the second time. A 21-0 lead in the second quarter didn't hold up; they gave up 479 total yards en route to a 42-38 loss. Instead of a likely invite to the Playoff, Miami headed to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, where it gave up 42 points (again) in a loss to Iowa State.
Cristobal parted ways with all but one defensive coach after the season, retaining NFL Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, the defensive ends coach. The Canes' NIL collective then went to work, raising enough money to help patch up the secondary and land Beck as part of a transfer portal class that ranked in the top five by both 247Sports and On3.
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The new-look Hurricanes debuted at No. 10 in the preseason AP and Coaches polls and have the second-best odds to win the ACC behind defending champion Clemson.
Entering the fourth season of a 10-year, $80 million deal, Cristobal has more job security than most coaches at the Power 4 level. But at some point soon, he has to get the Canes over the hump.
'We are being recognized for the progress of our program, but for us, it means we still have a long way to go,' Cristobal said of debuting in the top 10. 'We have been busting our asses to get Miami to where it needs to be, and the progress is not going to stop.'
Miami opens the season with a much-anticipated Sunday night game Aug. 31 against sixth-ranked Notre Dame at home and hosts No. 15 Florida three weeks later. The rest of the schedule features only one game against a team ranked in the preseason (at No. 16 SMU on Nov. 1).
'I just want to see this team be great,' senior linebacker Wesley Bissainthe said. 'Hopefully, this year we put it all together.'
After last season, that starts on defense. Cristobal hired Corey Hetherman — a former Rutgers assistant under Greg Schiano — away from Minnesota to replace Lance Guidry as Miami's defensive coordinator.
Minnesota's scoring defense improved from 69th nationally in 2023 (26.7 ppg) to ninth (16.9 ppg) in Hetherman's lone season as coordinator. The Gophers led the Big Ten in pass efficiency defense and improved from 100th (4.7) to 19th (3.5) nationally in rushing yards allowed per play.
Miami's defensive issues last season were typically related to presnap confusion. When teams ran motion, receivers were often lost in coverage.
That's expected to happen less frequently this fall. The buzzword around Miami's defense all spring was communication. Redshirt sophomore safety Zechariah Poyser — one of six portal additions to the secondary — wore the green dot on his helmet (designating the player who speaks to the coach through a mic in his helmet). He's considered an elite communicator.
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So is his coordinator. Cristobal said Hetherman coaches in soundbites, not dissertations.
'He makes it simple and digestible for our guys and complicated for the other team,' Cristobal said. 'He is a conceptual and progression teacher, like (Miami OC) Shannon Dawson. They teach in progression and teach concepts, so you can almost overlay it to different formations or different sets.'
Offensively, Miami has a lot less to worry about in terms of continuity. Dawson is entering his third year running the offense.
'There's steps you have to take to get the sixth (national championship) up on the board,' Dawson said. 'I think the steps we've taken over the past three years, you can see the progression. Last year, we got over a hump. Did we reach our goal? No. But we could taste it, we could smell it, we could see it. I do think all of our kids right now believe that we can accomplish all of our goals.'
Miami lost its top four pass catchers, including tight end Elijah Arroyo, a second-round pick. But four starters on the offensive line return and all could be draft picks, led by preseason All-American Francis Mauigoa at right tackle.
The backfield is led by talented junior Mark Fletcher and includes highly regarded North Dakota State transfer CharMar Brown, who ran for 1,181 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. The Canes led the ACC in both rushing yards per carry and per game in 2024.
Miami brought in three veteran transfers at receiver: CJ Daniels (LSU), Keelan Marion (BYU) and Tony Johnson (Cincinnati). The receiving corps also includes a Class of 2024 top-50 national recruit in Jojo Trader entering his sophomore season and talented freshmen Malachi Toney and Joshua Moore.
Dawson expects Beck to thrive in his offense the way Ward did. He's given his new QB the same freedom to change protections and call audibles at the line.
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'It didn't take very long to see that (Beck's) football IQ is probably as high as I've been around,' Dawson said.
Like Ward, Beck invited his linemen and receivers to his house several times to hang out and build bonds.
Beck, though, isn't trying to be the next Ward.
'They have two different personalities,' right guard Anez Cooper said. 'Cam was more talkative, playful. Carson is more chill. Carson is just a take-care-of-business type of guy. Cam was talking s— all game.'
What Ward and Beck share in common, Dawson said, is a desire to prove doubters wrong.
Beck went 24-3 as a starter at Georgia, but he threw 12 interceptions last season and fell well short of the preseason hype; many forecasted him as a potential first-round pick in the 2025 draft. Critics wondered if Beck's success in 2023 (when he threw for nearly 4,000 yards with 24 TDs and six interceptions) was more of a product of throwing to Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey — eventual first- and second-round picks — than Beck actually being an elite passer.
The good news for Miami so far: Beck's arm hasn't shown any weakness in preseason practices. He was cleared to start throwing with teammates in early May and has said his arm 'felt juiced.' Dawson said all he sees is a highly motivated player who spent each day this spring with a different skill player to get to know his new teammates and their responsibilities.
'For probably eight or nine weeks of the season last year, he was the preseason No. 1 pick overall in all the people's little fake boards they do,' Dawson said. 'So, I love the fact that nobody's talking about us. It's great for me. But if I was him, yeah, it would probably strike me a certain way.'
So, yes, in a lot of ways, Beck has a chance to rise from the ashes and reestablish himself as one of college football's best.
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So do the Canes.
'I have so many accumulated reps against the best college defenses, best college teams, some of the biggest games that have ever been played,' Beck said. 'I think I'll be able to bring that to this team, help the guys around me, and give them confidence.'
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