For more than two decades, the Quarterback U. designation once attached to the University of Miami has been nothing more than false advertising.
UM once flourished at the position when the likes of Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta and Ken Dorsey builta dynasty that made the Hurricanes the kings of college football.
Since Dorsey’s departure after the 2001 season, Miami has been a QB black hole. No matter how many 4-star or 5-star prospects tried to lead the Canes back to national relevance, the U continued to stand for Underachiever.
Miami insiders believe Cameron Ward — considered one of the hottest commodities in the transfer portal when he opted to leave Washington State— is an alpha-dog QB who can revive the program that once elevatedtrash-talking and dominance to the highest level.
Sadly, the No. 19-ranked Canes have been quite average far too long, going 26-23 in the ACC the last six seasons and losing 11 of their past 12 bowl games. They’ve rarely sniffed ACC title contention since joining the league in 2004.
As UM prepares for its season openerSaturday against Florida on the road, Ward has a swagger about helping restore the Canes to prominence.
“We’re not worried about bringing the U back, it’ll happen by itself,” Ward told the Times-Union after Monday’s practice. “Hopefully, we’ll get to where we want to be and make a run to the national championship.
“It’s important. Not for me personally, but for the team. I think we have a great group of guys in the skill positions and on defense. We’ll let the accolades take care of themselves in December and January.”
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Making an immediate connection
To get an idea of why Miami thinks Ward, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound gunslinger from West Columbia, Texas, is a game-changer, it goes back to what he did shortly after committingto the Canes in mid-January over USC, Washington and Auburn.
Florida State also pursued Ward until Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei transferred to FSU two weeks before Ward, who also considered leaving for the NFL, made his UM decision official.
Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson was on the road recruiting when Ward showed up on campus, but he called his coachwith an unusual request. The quarterback with only one year of eligibility left wanted Dawson to give him the names and pictures of everybody connected to the football program.
“I had never been asked that. I was taken aback by his request,” said Dawson. “I sent him pictures of secretaries, nutritionists, you name it. So when he showed up, he knew everybody’s name. When he’s talking to equipment people, he knows their name.
“Giving respect to all those people matters. Entitlement is a disease in our sport and in life in general. It was good to see from the beginning that he had an attitude of just being a cog, just one piece in this whole deal. It was a very powerful message he sent to the whole building.”
Of course, Miami’s excitement about Ward goes well beyond him taking the initiative to build relationships throughout the program.
Dawson thinks Ward, who ran Air-Raid offenses the past two years at Washington State and in his first college stop at Incarnate Word, will have a seamless transition tohis scheme. He emphasizes a quarterback throwing accurately from the pocket more than a dual threat.
“One of the reasons Cam is positioned to be successful here is he has the people around him,” said Dawson. “It’s not like he has a void at the skill positions or the offensive line.”
In addition to three returning O-line starters, Miami has a proven receiver combo in Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George, plus dynamic running back and Oregon State transfer Damien Martinez.
Another big draw for Dawson, head coach Mario Cristobal and teammates about Ward is hisextreme alpha mentality. That trait manifests itself in a lot of playful banter and trash-talk at practices, which could play in UM’s favor if Ward proves he can win games.
During Cristobal’s playing days at Miami when the program was raising national championship banners, the Canes had no problem talking smack and backing it up.
Imagine the folk hero Ward would become if he was the leader of a team that delivered similar results.
'We don’t need Superman'
Ward didn’t transfer more than 3,000 miles away just so he could put up numbers to raise his NFL stock, though draft projections of being a mid-round pick certainly factored into going back to school.
He chose Miami primarily for one reason: Ward sees an opportunity to win big with an offense that suits his skill set. He threw for 6,968 yards and 48 touchdowns at Washington State, but the Cougars were a bottom-tier team in the disbanded Pac-12.
“I felt Miami was the perfect fit for meculture-wise,” said Ward. “They had no moving pieces. The core majority of their team was still here. I wanted to be in position to win a lot of football games.
“Being in an offense I’m familiar with impacted my decision a lot. FSU said they would change things to fit my style, but Miami has all the concepts I’ve been running in college. It’s like second nature to me. They’ve given me the authority to play my style and change plays when I see fit.”
With Cristobal needing a turnaround in his third season, the feeling is they have the personnel to be an ACC and College Football Playoff contender, providing UM has foundthe right quarterback.
The question is whether Ward’s promise will lead to any better results than all those Miami predecessors — Tyler Van Dyke, D’Eriq King, Brad Kaaya, Malik Rosier, Kyle Wright, Stephen Morris, Jacory Harris, Robert Marve, Kirby Freeman, Brock Berlin — who never quite measured up to the Quarterback U. standard.
“That was part of the selling point,” Dawson said in recruiting Ward. “For the first time in his career, it’s not going to be all on him. We don’t need Superman. We need a leader.
“I don’t know if Cam will have the best statistical year of his life, but we’ll have the ability to win more games because we have better people around him.”
Facing a Florida defense that tends to play at a higher level in the Swamp should be a good litmus test for Ward. With 25 Pac-12 starts on his resume, he brings substantial hype to a program starving for quality at the most important position.
For Miami to be a championship contender, it needs Cameron Ward to be the answer. Otherwise, Quarterback U. will go on being a shadow of its former self.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 358-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
