miami: "There's no Cam Ward safety net for you": JD PicKell reminds Mario Cristobal and Miami of changes for 2025

After a terrible 2024 on defense, the Miami Hurricanes made big changes on that side of the ball. Corey Hetherman came in from Minnesota to take over as defensive coordinator, and there were several changes made to the defensive staff. They also got some players from the transfer portal who should make an impact in 2025.

On3 college football insider JD PicKell believes it is Miami's defense that could determine how successful next season will be.

“Vibes are very, very good on the defensive side, which is massively important because last year, we said they were bad," PicKell said (Timestamp: 3:14). "The difference with them being bad last year and the potential of them having a repeat of last season defensively, there’s no Cam Ward safety net for you.

“Like, you hope the offense is still good. But there’s no No. 1 rolling in with the Superman cape, able to just take over and will you to a victory.”

Cam Ward had a big 2024 season, passing for 4,313 yards, 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also led the Hurricanes' top-ranked attack in yards (536.2) and points per game (42.9). However, the bottom fell off the defense in key losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse, which eventually knocked Miami out of the College Football Playoff.

With Ward headed to the NFL draft, Mario Cristobal got former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck to join the Canes this season. Beck had an up-and-down season in 2024.

At his best, Beck is capable of moving the Hurricanes, but it feels like a stretch to believe that he can have the same kind of success Cam Ward had, especially because there are multiple departures among the receiving corps as well.

On defense, Miami got players like David Blay Jr., Xavier Lucas, Emmanuel Karnley, Ethan O’Connor and Charles Brantley through the transfer portal.

Miami will play a pivotal 2025 game according to JD PicKell

Despite having an expanded College Football Playoff, insider JD PicKell believes the game between Miami and Notre Dame in Week 1 could be one of the most important games of the entire college football season.

“Notre Dame, if you want to make the College Football Playoff, you probably have to be 11-1, 10-2. With no conference title game, I think you are playing with fire a little bit. … For Miami, they went 10-2 last year, missed the College Football Playoff," PicKell said.

Why? Well, you go back to their resume, and there wasn’t enough juice there. And it’s not really Miami’s fault, but there wasn’t anything there where you could stand on the table for and say ‘this win is why we should be in.’”

Beating Notre Dame would automatically give the Hurricanes the kind of resume-building win they couldn’t get last year, even after defeating Florida early in the season.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein