Miami Hurricanes OL Francis Mauigoa: “We’re not coming to sit around, just for the palm trees. We came here to win championships”

A notable absence this spring was Francis Mauigoa , who emerged as the full-time starting right tackle last season as a true freshman after the 5-star chose Miami over virtually every other top program in the country out of high school.

Mauigoa missed spring of surgery to both shoulders, but now he’s back as good as new.

“I’m definitely clear now to be involved in fall camp, and I am  really excited to get back on the field,” Mauigoa said.

Mauigoa earned All-ACC honorable mentions honors after last season and was also named a Freshman All-American by several media outlets. Don’t expect that to go to his head. He’s as humble and hardworking a guy as you’ll find.

“I’m more confident now (in Year 2), Mauigoa said. “Last year I was confident enough, but this year I feel I’ve evolved better and will be more confident playing to my own playing style.”

Mauigoa is part of a line that also returns starters Jalen Rivers and Anez Cooper, and Miami added Indiana starting center Zach Carpenter out of the transfer portal. It’s expected that either Samson Okunlola or Matthew McCoy will emerge as the fifth starter, although there will be a big fall battle for that spot.

Last year Mauigoa was part of a line that helped Miami backs go from averaging 3.7 yards per carry in 2023 to 5.1 last year while decreasing sacks from 36 to 16. The hope is that trend will continue.

“Mario Cristobal, he played offensive line, knows how it is on the offensive line side,” Mauigoa said. “His point of view is the offensive line sets the standard for the whole offensive scheme. If we don’t block then we can’t do anything. Him pushing us is making sure we take care of the line of scrimmage so it evolves to the wide receivers and running backs to do what they are there to do. Us being the standard of the team makes us push others harder.”

As for Mauigoa’s physical strides? He says at 6-6 he weighs 333 and has a body fat percent of 20, same as the spring.

“Muscle mass is still up there, I’m still trying to maintain my strength in my shoulders as much as possible but really have been working on lower body strength, being explosive off the ball,” Mauigoa said. “Football is all about explosiveness. I’ve been really working on that this whole summer and spring.”

Per Pro Football Focus he graded out at 70.1 percent overall last year (fourth-best of all college freshmen) with a 64.8 pass block grade and 70.7 run block grade (in 866 reps). His overall grade was third-best of the starters on the line, trailing Matt Lee (79.0 grade) and Jalen Rivers (74.1).

“I’m very excited for this season, for this fall camp,” Mauigoa said. “We’re not coming to sit around, just for the palm trees. We came here to win championships.”

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