Miami entered the spring transfer portal knowing it needed to revamp the defensive line.
Miami’s transfer portal plans had been on pause during the winter as the Hurricanes went all-in on Washington State transfer quarterback Cam Ward. They finally won out after Ward announced for the NFL Draft before deciding to return to college and play at Miami.
Ward’s decision to bet on the Canes gave Mario Cristobal’s staff the fuel to piece together one of the best spring portal classes. The Hurricanes lost Nyjalik Kelly and Jayden Wayne in April, both contributors during the 2023 season.
Miami then landed arguably two of the best defensive linemen available. Michigan State’s Simeon Barrow committed to the Hurricanes in early May, beating out Missouri and LSU. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle has recorded 110 career tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks.
In late May, the top EDGE in the portal, Tyler Baron, picked Miami. The former four-star recruit spent four seasons at Tennessee before transferring to Louisville in the winter. But he will play his fifth season of college football in South Beach this fall. He’s posted 101 career tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.
The duo of Baron and Barrow will be a crucial piece of the Miami defense this fall. Now they have both inked NIL deals with the the Miami-driven NIL collective Canes Connection. It’s their first endorsement deals since arriving in Coral Gables.
The collective was launched in August 2022 and is operated by co-CEOs Zach Burr and Brian Goldmeier, who are fundraising professionals with more than 30 years of experience running business development firms in the Miami-Dade area. The collective has set a goal of raising $10 million annually.
As of this past summer, roughly 75 of the 85 scholarship football players were under contract along with the entire Miami men’s basketball team.
“We’ve been at this for two years now, and we’ve been building this roster, building this culture, and there’s been steady progress,” Cristobal said in May at ACC meetings. “Actually, last year, there was a lot of progress statistically. The exceptions are the areas of turnovers and penalties, which end up costing you. We’ve taken another jump in terms of caliber of talent, development and culture. You need to address those other things to take that next step as a program.
“It’s got to start with the big guys up front. The level of physicality of toughness has improved. It’s got to take another step this summer. We’ve got to develop more young guys. We’ve got to develop more high-level players to operate the way we want to operate.”
Barrow never formally left the Miami program, but his status with the program was uncertain at the end of May. The defensive tackle ultimately decided to stick with the Hurricanes, making a formal announcement in June.
Baron took a visit to Coral Gables in late April and later visited USC. He took time making a decision, not making anything official until May. Viewed as one of the top returning pass rushers in college football, the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder tallied a career-high 28 tackles and six sacks while also recovering a fumble in 2023.
Miami opens the season at Florida on Sept. 7, slated for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC. The Hurricanes have opened as a 3.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel.
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