What Swinney is saying about UM football program. Cristobal dishes on personnel

University of Miami admin October 2, 2026 0 Comments

What Swinney is saying about UM football program. Cristobal dishes on personnel

A six-pack of Hurricanes notes on a Thursday, as UM prepares for Saturday’s game at Clemson (7:30 p.m., ABC):

▪ For much of the past 15 years, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney has been the gold standard for Atlantic Coast Conference coaches, winning two national championships (2016 and 2018), nine ACC titles, and posting a 9-1 record in ACC Championship games.

And his respect for how Mario Cristobal has built UM’s program was evident in unsolicited comments this week.

“It’s a well put-together team,” he said. “They might be the best team in the country. Time will tell. There’s not any weaknesses within their team. It’s pretty amazing what they’ve done offensively. It’s like looking at a video game. Almost 600 yards offense per game; 50 points a game. It’s unreal. They’ve got multiple Heisman candidates on the same side of the ball.”

Three of UM’s players torched Clemson last season, albeit while playing for other teams.

Darian Mensah completed 27 of 41 passes for 361 yards and four touchdowns — and Cooper Barkate caught six passes for 127 yards and a touchdown — in Duke’s 46-45 win against the Tigers.

Vandrevius Jacobs, playing for South Carolina, caught seven passes for 141 yards and a touchdown in a late-November game against Clemson. Don’t be surprised if UM tries to use his speed to exploit Clemson’s secondary.

As for Mensah, he leads the country in completion percentage at 88.7, and Swinney said he “can be the first pick in the draft.”

“The quarterback is 90% completion; it’s hard to do that on air,” Swinney said. “We don’t have many days we’re 90% completion on air [without any defenders on the field].

“This is an elite, elite player. He’s incredibly smart, unbelievably accurate, very poised. He doesn’t get rattled. He knows where everybody on the field is. He has a great mind, has great recognition of what you’re trying to do on defense.”

As for UM’s receivers, “we saw the Barkate kid last year and that didn’t go well for us,” Swinney said. “This Malachi Toney is a dude of dudes. He’s really, really good. It’s the first time honestly I’ve really studied him. Breaking him down, he’s impressive. There’s nothing he can’t do.”

And defensively, UM “first in the country in rush defense. Up front, they’re all NFL guys. They bring a lot of different types of pressure to force the issue.”

After finishing 7-6 last season (Clemson’s worst record since closing 6-7 in 2010, Swinney’s second full season), the Tigers have won three in a row, beating Georgia Southern, North Carolina and California after a season-opening 51-10 loss at LSU.

▪ UM’s rotation at guard, which began in last Saturday’s win against Central Michigan, appears likely to continue.

SJ Alofaituli and Max Buchanan have started all four games. But Ben Congdon and Jamal Meriweather split the reps with them throughout the game.

Buchanan and Congdon ultimately received the most playing time; Buchanan played 56 snaps at right guard and Congdon 46 at left guard. Meriweather played 17 at right guard (plus another 10 at right tackle) and Alofaituli 26 at left guard (plus another 15 at center).

The thinking, in part, was “lighting a fire under people,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “Competition is great. Having a couple of those guys roll through and play well is great. You’re going to keep seeing multiple guys roll in.”

Cristobal said Alofaituli did a “really, really good job” during his snaps at center after Ryan Rodriguez departed in the fourth quarter.

▪ Noticeably absent from the guard rotation was five-star freshman Jackson Cantwell, who replaced left tackle Samson Okunlola when the outcome was decided. He’s playing only tackle at the moment after competing at guard throughout August.

“Nearly every offensive lineman we recruit played left tackle in high school,” Cristobal said. “To develop the skill set necessary to perform at the highest level, linemen need experience inside, where they might get hit directly by a powerful three-technique. They also need experience outside against explosive, long defensive ends. We move players around to help them develop. Jackson’s natural home is tackle, and he performed well Saturday. He’s certainly someone we’re counting on.”

▪ With Mark Fletcher Jr. expected back Saturday after a one-game absence, there will be a weekly competition among Girard Pringle Jr., Javian Mallory, Jordan Lyle and perhaps Chris Wheatley-Humphrey for the No. 2 job, which was handled by CharMar “Marty” Brown before his season-ending knee injury against Wake Forest.

Mallory started against Central Michigan but ended up with the fewest carries of the four backs — five, for 30 yards. Pringle had seven carries for 38 yards, Lyle six for 18 and Wheatley-Humphrey 11 for 104.

Cristobal likes that Mallory is “a strong runner with excellent contact balance. He has also improved significantly in pass protection and has become extremely physical in that area. Opponents have brought internal pressures and corner blitzes, and he has stepped in there and knocked defenders backward. He has also performed well as a lead blocker. Whenever he has touched the football, he has made the most of his opportunities.”

Lyle is working off the rust after being sidelined while a legal issue was sorted through.

“Jordan is very talented,” Dawson said. “To say you don’t have a little rust to knock off would be a lie. But it was good to see him get in there and make some plays. We’re going to need him. We trust Jordan.”

Dawson said Wheatley-Humphrey is “awesome. Chris doesn’t complain, works his tail off. … It’s good to see that kid get some playing time and do what he did. We trust that kid to be in the game. That room – thank God we have a talented running back room.”

▪ Quick stuff part 1: On his weekly TV/radio show, Cristobal praised defensive tackle Justin Scott but said: “We need to push Justin to get even more. There’s even more in there.”…

Cristobal said freshman cornerback Brody Jennings, who had an interception against Central Michigan, “has worked his tail off to get an opportunity. Our team loves him and it shows. They absolutely swarmed him when he picked off the ball.”

▪ Quick stuff part 2: Cristobal said edge player Herbert Scroggins was “awesome” against Central Michigan and could play more: “We saw an explosive, confident version of himself.”…

Linebacker Kellen Wiley Jr. didn’t play last week for multiple reasons. “Kellen Wiley was supposed to play — a little bit banged up —but just has to continue to grow and develop and make the choices and decisions necessary to be a contributor to the University of Miami,” Cristobal said.… ABC assigned lead team Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit to Saturday’s game.

This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 10:07 AM.