Miami wrapped up its third season under Mario Cristobal by losing three of its last four games, firing defensive coordinator Lance Guidry and entering the offseason with a big question mark at quarterback.

Where did things go wrong? What should we take away from it all? And what needs to happen next for the Hurricanes to avoid tumbling back to mediocrity with Heisman finalist Cam Ward off to the NFL?

Here are eight thoughts on 2024 and what’s ahead in 2025.

1. It’s hard to categorize Cristobal’s third season as anything other than a golden opportunity missed.

Yes, there was significant progress, and that can’t be ignored. Miami won 10 games for only the second time since joining the ACC in 2004 and had the No. 1 scoring offense in the country (43.9 points per game). At this point last year, most Miami fans would’ve considered that a successful season after 5-7 and 7-6 campaigns in Cristobal’s first two years on the job.

But players like Ward are special. Six Miami quarterbacks have been invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony dating to 1984: Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Gino Torretta, Ken Dorsey and Ward. The first five won national championships at Miami. With Ward, the Hurricanes failed to make an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff or even qualify for the ACC Championship Game. That’s going to sting for a while.

2. Miami’s downfall was its defense. Cristobal was confident he had acquired enough talent before the season to complement Ward and what he expected to be an elite offense. The problem was Cristobal failed to correctly assess that his secondary was in bad need of upgrades. Miami, instead, spent most of its name, image and likeness funds on acquiring veteran defensive linemen, several of whom didn’t exactly pan out.

Washington transfer Mishael Powell, a former Huskies walk-on, wasn’t the problem in the secondary. Powell made the biggest play in Miami’s only win over its last four games with a pick six against Wake Forest. The issue was the Hurricanes didn’t develop enough of their own recruits in the defensive backfield. Guidry, who was fired after his second season in Miami, coached the safeties and hired former Marshall assistant Chevis Jackson to handle the cornerbacks this year.

Miami’s secondary was a collective mess when it was needed most. Go back and watch the defense on third-and-long in the second half at Georgia Tech against a backup quarterback and against Syracuse in the regular-season finale.

Guidry deserves some blame, obviously. Miami played more man coverage than anyone in the ACC (46.7 percent of snaps), according to TruMedia, and allowed 12 touchdowns while in man (tied for third most in the league). The Canes weren’t good in zone coverage either. There were far too many instances of receivers going in motion before the snap that resulted in someone being left uncovered. You expect freshmen like O.J. Frederique to make those mistakes. But it happened to veterans, too, which makes you question what they were or were not learning in the film room.

3. Let’s not make this all doom and gloom, though. Miami had some other positive moments in 2024 aside from Ward.

Homegrown receiver Xavier Restrepo topped the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season. Miami has had one other 1,000-yard receiver (Charleston Rambo) since 2015. It helps in recruiting when you can point to significant achievements like that.

Miami led the ACC with 5.7 yards per carry, up significantly from when Cristobal first took over in 2022 and the team ranked ninth in the league (3.7). Damien Martinez became the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Mark Walton in 2016.

If you need proof Cristobal has significantly improved Miami’s offensive line in his three years on the job, look no further than those numbers. There’s a standard to maintain, and that standard should be held up with four starting linemen back in 2025.

4. The big questions: Who replaces Ward at quarterback and whom will Cristobal hire to remedy the defense?

There’s no doubt quarterback is the most important position on the field. It always will be. But having an elite defense matters, too. National semifinalists Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas and Penn State rank Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 7 in scoring defense. All four allow fewer than 16 points per game.

Last year, national champion Michigan led the country in scoring defense at 10.4 points per game. In 2022, national champion Georgia finished fifth (14.3 ppg).

Here’s how Miami has ranked in scoring defense over the last nine years:

• 68th in 2024 (25.3 ppg)
• 44th in 2023 (22.8 ppg)
• 67th in 2022 (26.8 ppg)
• 84th in 2021 (28.4 ppg)
• 51st in 2020 (27.0 ppg)
• 23rd in 2019 (20.2 ppg)
• 18th in 2018 (19.5 ppg)
• 28th in 2017 (21.0 ppg)
• 12th in 2016 (18.5 ppg)

Having a great quarterback is cool. But building a championship defense with talents like Vince Wilfork, Jonathan Vilma, Antrel Rolle and Ed Reed is probably more important.

5. Landing a quality starting quarterback out of the transfer portal, though, is necessary if Miami is going to have any realistic shot of contending for a Playoff spot. Sophomore Emory Williams inspired very little confidence with his performance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

The problem is most of the top quarterbacks are off the board. Miami native Fernando Mendoza — the No. 4 prospect in our QB portal rankings — left Cal to join his younger brother at Indiana. Ex-Washington State starter John Mateer followed his offensive coordinator to Oklahoma. I’m not sure Miami really was in line to land either, but they were the biggest names the Canes showed an interest in.

The best-case scenario at this point for Miami is that someone like Georgia’s Carson Beck or Texas’ Quinn Ewers — both NFL prospects — decides to come back to college for one more season and follow Ward’s example of doing so in Coral Gables.

6. Otherwise, the 2025 season will be about the program Cristobal has been building through his high school recruiting and portal efforts.

But many of his imports have already left via the portal or exhausted their eligibility.

Only five of the 15 high school recruits Cristobal signed in the Class of 2022 are still at Miami — linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, safety Markeith Williams, left guard Matthew McCoy, defensive tackle Ahmad Moten and right guard Anez Cooper.

Only half of Miami’s 26-member 2023 recruiting class still calls Coral Gables home. That’s a group of mostly backups to this point, anchored by starting right tackle Francis Mauigoa, defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. and running back Mark Fletcher.

That puts a lot of pressure on Cristobal’s 2024 class — which ranked No. 4 in the 247Sports Composite — to deliver next year. Frederique, tight end Elija Lofton, running back Jordan Lyle and receiver Joshisa Trader definitely flashed as first-year freshmen.

But now Cristobal and his staff have to show what they can do with all of those players serving as the foundation.

7. The majority of Miami’s additions through the portal have been productive contributors under Cristobal in the past, which is why you should be fairly optimistic about the eight transfers he’s landed since the end of the season.

Miami hit the secondary hard and probably isn’t done yet. All four defensive backs acquired — Ethan O’Connor (Washington State), Emmanuel Karnley (Arizona), Charles Brantley (Michigan State) and Zechariah Poyser (Jacksonville State) — started at least half of their team’s games last season, and three (Karnley, O’Connor and Poyser) have three seasons of eligibility left.

Miami lost talented second-year tight end Riley Williams, who returned home to Oregon State, and replaced him with Alex Bauman, a 25-game starter at Tulane.

Starting center Zach Carpenter has been replaced by TCU’s James Brockermeyer — making it three former starting centers from Power 4 programs acquired via the portal in the last three offseasons.

Defensive lineman David Blay, a first-team All-Conference USA selection at Louisiana Tech, helps make up for the loss of Simeon Barrow inside and will team with returning veterans Akheem Mesidor, Bain and Moten.

CJ Daniels, meanwhile, comes over from LSU and provides a veteran presence (30 career starts) to a really, really, really young group of wide receivers.

8. Do I believe the 2025 team — as it’s currently constructed — will be as good as the 2024 Hurricanes? No. But at this time last year, Ward was headed to the NFL and we had no idea who was going to be the starting quarterback.

The transfer portal remains open for graduate students and for players on teams still in the Playoff. It also reopens again for everyone in April.

Few imagined Florida State would finish 2-10 after going 13-1 in 2023.

Few believed SMU would play for the ACC title and make the Playoff in its first year in the league.

All I’m counting on is for more of the unexpected.

(Photo of Mario Cristobal: Rich Barnes / Imagn Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — The Miami Heat were at Chase Center on Tuesday night.

Jimmy Butler wasn’t.

The temperamental superstar’s feud with his organization reached a boiling point in recent days, with Butler’s demands to be traded resulting in a suspension handed down by the team that just so happened to coincide with its six-game swing up and down the West Coast.

By the time Miami returns home, could Butler be on his way out west?

General manager Mike Dunleavy is evaluating the Warriors’ options ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, and it’s difficult to think of a more enticing possibility than the six-time All-Star and playoff showman. Steph Curry needs a sidekick, and who better than a dynamic scoring wing with a reputation for lockdown defense?

Well, it’s complicated.

Butler owns a home in Southern California, and he has reportedly singled out the Warriors as one of his preferred destinations. But the interest isn’t necessarily mutual. According to reports, the Warriors’ front office prefers other options, such as Bulls center Nikola Vucevic and Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith.

While Butler, 35, has taken a backseat to Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro in his 14th NBA season, he is still scoring 17.6 points per game on the highest efficiency of his career — 55.2% from the field). However, the Warriors aren’t alone in their hesitations. The questions regarding Butler’s availability, contract and motivation have made him a toxic asset.

Butler previously forced his way to Miami, and now he is under contract for $48 million this season with a $52 million player option for 2025-26. And while he has a well-earned reputation for crunchtime heroics, he hasn’t played more than 64 regular-season games since 2018-19. Before things boiled over this season, he earned a public rebuke last spring from Heat president Pat Riley, who said, “if you’re not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut.”

On Tuesday, Brian Windhorst reported on ESPN that, so far, teams have offered “poo-poo platter” in exchange for Butler, who isn’t expected to sign an extension anywhere he is traded. Chris Haynes, of Clutch Points, reported that certain teams have been advised not to acquire him.

Butler’s gambit has backed Riley and the Heat into a corner. In the span of two weeks, Riley went from issuing an unprecedented public pronouncement that Miami was not even listening to offers for Butler to suspending him for “conduct detrimental to the team” while backtracking from his initial show of support.

“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the Heat wrote in a statement Friday. “Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”

Last time we heard from Butler was after Miami’s loss to Indiana last week, and he said he had lost his “joy” for the game. Asked if he thought he could find it again in his current situation, he responded succinctly: “Probably not.”

“I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball, and wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon,” he told reporters.

Few players have a stronger reputation for inspiring joy on the court than Curry, but it’s worth wondering if Butler is worth the trouble.

As the Warriors hover around .500, less than a month from the trade deadline, that is what Dunleavy and his associates will be deliberating.

Originally Published: January 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM PST

Florida State and Miami will play their first matchup of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, but the opposing sideline won’t feature Jim Larranaga for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Larranaga shocked all of college basketball by stepping down as Miami’s head coach on December 26th after getting off to a 4-8 start with losses to Mount Saint Mary’s and Charleston Southern.

Leonard Hamilton was asked about Larranaga’s decision to step down in an ACC Zoom call on Monday morning and ahead of Wednesday’s game.

READ MORE: Former FSU Star Jalen Ramsey Makes Decisive Miami Dolphins Career Statement

“Jim has demonstrated that he’s a class act. He’s a guy who thinks things through,” Coach Hamilton started. “I’m sure the decision didn’t come as a knee-jerk reaction to anything particular. I’m sure it came with a lot of thought over a longer period of time and for him to have the courage to stick with his convictions and what he believed is the best thing to do, not only for his team and for the university, players that have played for him before (and it) is to be tremendously respected. I talked to very few coaches who really don’t feel some of the similar things that seems to have been on Jim’s mind. It’s just where we are. I don’t see anything coming in the future that will eliminate the reasons why he made the decision that he did, and I think I have a lot of respect for him for how he did it.”

Coach Larranaga cited things like exhaustion and the ever-changing NIL market as reasons for stepping down. Coach Hamilton is in his own hot water with NIL after six former players sued him last week over alleged promised NIL money that was never delivered. So Hamilton can relate to some of the issues Larranaga was dealing with.

Larranaga isn’t the only ACC coach to make a shocking untimely retirement, as Virginia’s former coach Tony Bennett stepped down about a month before the season started. Leonard Hamilton was already the longest-tenured head coach in the ACC by a mile with 23 seasons in Tallahassee, with Clemson’s Brad Brownell in second with 15 seasons, but the third-longest tenured coach in the ACC after Larranaga’s and Bennett’s retiring is now Kevin Keatts at NC State, who started in 2017.

Florida State and Miami will play in Coral Gables at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

READ MORE: FSU Basketball Picks Up First ACC Win of Season, Beats Syracuse 90-74

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