The 2024 season is on the horizon, and Hurricanes fans hope to see a major step forward in Year 3 of the Mario Cristobal era.
As Miami keeps adding talent through high school and transfer-portal recruiting, UM appears poised to be a major contender in the ACC this season.
This summer, we will take a look at a different position group each week to see who departed, who arrived and who should have big impacts this year.
Last week, we took a look at Miami’s cornerbacks. T his week, we preview the corners’ teammates in the secondary, the safeties.
Who left
Miami lost its two starting safeties, Kam Kinchens and James Williams, to the NFL. More than that, they lost two key leaders for the defense.
Kinchens, a Miami Northwestern alum, became a leader as a sophomore when he was named an All-American. After his excellent sophomore season, he had another solid campaign in 2023. He suffered a concussion during UM’s win against Texas A&M but returned for ACC play.
Kinchens, who had been a starting safety since his freshman year, had 59 tackles with five interceptions last season, and the Los Angeles Rams took him with the 99th pick in the draft.
“He’s the best leader that I’ve ever had on any sports team, on any kind of organization,” UM safety Jaden Harris said before the 2023 season.
Williams is also pursuing his NFL dreams after getting picked by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round . Williams, a former American Heritage star and five-star prospect, came to UM before the 2021 season and became a freshman starter like Kinchens.
Last season, Williams played the most snaps of any UM defender in the regular season. He had 73 tackles, two forced fumbles, six pass deflections and one interception in 2023.
Miami also lost safety Savion Riley, who had transferred to the Hurricanes before spring football began. After practicing with UM, he left to play for Colorado. Second-year safety Kaleb Spencer did not play on defense last year and transferred to Virginia Tech.
Who returned
Miami has a dearth of returning, experienced safeties on this year’s team.
Harris, a redshirt sophomore, played the most last season, notching 130 snaps across eight games. He was the one who filled in for Kinchens when the star was out due to injury. Harris had seven tackles and half a tackle for loss in 2023.
“Him just being with me for two years, learning how to watch film, learning how to be a good football player. That’s all he needed. He needed the confidence,” Kinchens said at UM’s Pro Day in March. “He’s as professional as everybody else, but he kind of gets down on himself when he knows he’s not doing the things he’s capable of. So with him, it’s just understanding it’s not OK to mess up, but it’s OK not to be perfect and just stacking those good plays.”
Markeith Williams, a redshirt sophomore, played 75 snaps for UM last season. He had 15 tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup.
Jadais Richard, who primarily played cornerback last year, can also dabble at safety.
Who arrived
To replace Kinchens and Williams, the Hurricanes added five safeties in the offseason: two transfers and three freshmen.
Mishael Powell transferred from national runner-up Washington. He is a versatile defensive back who can play nickel, corner or safety. Last year, he had 122 snaps of his 878 defensive snaps at safety, so he can fill the role if needed.
“(I’ll play) whatever coach Guidry says. He says play nose guard, I’ll be right next to C.J. Clark, playing nose guard,” Powell said in the spring.
Powell, a redshirt senior, had 29 tackles, six pass breakups and three interceptions last year. Pro Football Focus gave him a 68.3 defensive grade.
Isaiah Taylor, a St. Thomas Aquinas alum and the son of UM defensive line coach Jason Taylor, transferred in from Arizona. Taylor played 146 snaps in eight games for the Wildcats last year, making eight tackles.
The three freshmen are promising. UM added four-star Zaquan Patterson and three-star prospects Dylan Day and Isaiah Thomas.
Patterson was a star at Chaminade-Madonna; 247Sports’ composite ranking listed him as the No. 6 safety and No. 93 player in the class.
“Zaquan is an absolute stud from top to bottom as a competitor, as a physical presence, as someone who represents himself and his family extremely well,” Cristobal said at his signing day press conference. “I think a lot of you guys have seen it play in person and his value is not only as a safety, but also in the form of a special-teams player. He is all over the field all the time. He sets a tone for that team in a couple of different ways.”
Thomas came to UM from Clearwater Academy International. He missed the season with an injury but was listed as the No. 56 safety. Day, a Louisiana native, was the No. 70 safety in the nation.
“(Day is) a long, athletic safety that also plays in the box,” Cristobal said. “And nowadays, if you play that boundary safety spot, you’re like a Will linebacker. So he has position flexibility.”
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