Anez Cooper sees a Miami Hurricanes team that’s shed its negativity and has big things ahead

The Miami Hurricanes have plenty of glitz on the offensive side of the ball, with shiny new additions in QB Cam Ward, RB Damien Martinez and WR Sam Brown plus the return of top WRs Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George.

In reality, though, this year’s offense will be as reliant – and perhaps even moreso – on a different group of guys.

Mario Cristobal built this attack in his own vision from the inside out, literally. So the backbone upon which Ward, Martinez, Et al. will stand on is a bunch of guys up front. You might not notice them on an 80-yard TD toss to Restrepo or an 80-yard TD run by Martinez, but four set-in-stone offensive line starters and a to-be-determined fifth guy are going to be the foundation upon which this team tries to springboard itself to 10 wins for just the second time in the last two decades.

So when one of those linemen, two-year starting guard Anez Cooper , shares his thoughts on the OL group and this offense, it’s worth paying as much attention as you would for a Miami-FSU game. Okay, maybe a little bit less, but not much.

The way Cooper tells it, this is a much different 2024 team than the ones fans watched in Cristobal’s first two seasons. Cooper says a couple of guys “didn’t want to be here” last season, and that was one of the myriad reasons why this team sunk to a modest 7-6 record.

“That’s a negativity thing – those guys like that who don’t want to be here and all that, we try to talk to them, that can be a bad thing for the team because of negativity,” Cooper told CaneSport. “Someone sees them down, they (get) down. It creates confusion between the team. Those guys should be out of the program, and won’t be here this year.”

This year Cooper stresses “everyone is brought in,” and he expects fans will see the results when the season kicks off at Florida Aug. 31.

“Our culture is where it needs to be right now,” Cooper said. “Everyone is bought in. We have fun with each other.”

With all the above in mind, let’s start at the beginning for Cooper. Because, in a way, he’s a microcosm of Cristobal’s recruiting savvy.

Cooper arrived at Miami in the Class of 2022 and was considered a project as a 3-star when he was getting recruited. He was overweight at 6-6 and 365 pounds, and while he only played offense as a high school junior he started to play defensive line as a senior … that was the position at which he received the vast majority of his senior offers.

Enter Cristobal.

While other programs came in and told Cooper why they loved him as a D lineman and what he could do at their schools, Cristobal first asked Cooper what position he preferred.

“Offensive line, coach,” Cooper responded. “I told them I wanted to play right guard. I had my mind set I wanted to play O line. Miami was the only school that straight up asked me if I want to play offensive line or defensive line. I wanted to play offense because I felt it was going to be easier for me – I don’t like being double-teamed, I like being the one that does the double-teaming and blocking.”

From that moment on Miami recruited him for offense and separated itself from the pack. Cristobal and Alex Mirabal recognized Cooper’s talent, pounced and won out.

Cooper came in and started four games as a freshman, then enjoyed a solid 2023 season as the full-time starting right guard, garnering All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. He didn’t allow any sacks, allowed 12 QB hurries and three hits on the QB per Pro Football Focus (in 878 reps he graded out at 65.9 percent overall with a solid 78.4 pass blocking grade and 63.1 run block grade). He helped the offense go from averaging 3.7 yards per carry in 2022 to 5.1, and the sacks allowed decreased from 36 to 16.

Something else that decreased?

Cooper’s weight.

After arriving at UM as a 365-pounder, he’s currently at 339 (he played last season at 350 pounds).

“It’s helped my quickness, focusing on my weight,” Cooper said. “Focusing on being lighter, staying at my weight right now I can move quicker. In high school I ate whatever I wanted to, snacks, chicken tenders and fries; now it’s (broiled) chicken and rice, steak.”

Cooper says that while for the majority of last season the team had six or seven linemen it could rely on, he sees that number as closer to 10 for the coming season.

“This year we can go two lines deep, do have a lot of guys that can play,” Cooper said. “It won’t be `Oh my God, he’s down!’ All the guys that play right now, they’re ready.”

Miami’s four locked-in starters are Cooper, LT Jalen Rivers, RT Francis Mauigoa and C Zach Carpenter (an Indiana starting transfer). That open left guard spot? Cooper doesn’t expect the team to move a Mauigoa or Rivers from tackle to guard in order to plug in a new tackle starter. So – and this is not coming from Cooper but based on what we saw from last year and this spring – it’s most likely going to be either Samson Okunlola or Matthew McCoy in that final starting spot. Tommy Kinsler is also a possibility, and he primarily works behind Cooper at right guard. Standout JUCO arrival Markel Bell also is cross-training at guard, although he’s considered primarily a tackle.

“I feel like whoever gets that spot will hold their own,” Cooper said.

Regardless, Cooper sees an O line and an overall Miami offense that’s going to be very difficult to slow down.

“I feel we should be very good on offense this year, have a whole bunch of weapons,” Cooper said. “We have a very dominant offense. We just have to play a good game. We have to do what we have to do.”

Certainly the expectations are ratcheted up for this team, with Vegas setting an early line of 9 to 9.5 wins. Cooper doesn’t want to get caught up in that prediction game, though.

THIS AND THAT

Cooper says RB transfer Damien Martinez has stood out after arriving this summer. “His balance and the way he runs (makes him difficult to tackle),” Cooper said. “He runs mad. I feel those things make a good running back. And he’s big and fast.”

Of another summer transfer arrival, WR Sam Brown, Cooper said, “Sam he can block, has speed, is powerful, can catch. Sam came in and just added on to what we’ve got. He’s making our receiver room better.”

As for Cooper’s take on QB Cam Ward? “That’s my guy,” Cooper said. “Cam Ward, he came in already leading and doing what a quarterback is supposed to do controlling the team, controlling the offense. Cam cares about all his teammates. If I’m messing up he’s on me, if he’s messing up then I’m on him. And if I’m talking trash to the defense he comes right behind me helping, and I’ll come behind him. We have a very good bond. He’s a guy we love and put our trust in.”

–Nino Francavilla is pushing to be the backup center, and Cooper has high praise for the freshman: “Nino is great, learns fast,” Cooper said. “Nino came in ready, already has had his mindset what he wants to do. He is catching onto everything, he’ll be a very good player.”

–On the defensive side of the ball Cooper goes against the interior linemen and says he has no worries about the tackles. “I feel those guys will be great,” he said. “We’ve got CJ Clark, Simeon Barrow and Marley Cook (as transfer additions), those guys are very good.”

Cooper says while he’s gone against Clark and Cook from the spring that he’s only seen summer arrival Barrow do some walkthrough type stuff, so he’ll get a better feel for his ability level in fall camp.

Asked about the progress of another DT, Josh Horton, Cooper said, “I feel Josh is ready. He was young last year, is growing up now. He should be able to go in and do his part.”

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