MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2014 For the first half of Miami\u2019s hour-long media day at the Miami Beach Convention Center, \u2018Baby Jesus\u2019 didn\u2019t have his own podium, so he assimilated with the rest of the team, sitting on the aluminum bleachers.<\/p>\n
Miami was wearing white jumpsuits that didn\u2019t feature their numbers anywhere on the top, so you\u2019d think his smaller stature would have made it easier to blend in. Nope. Malachi Toney<\/a> was immediately surrounded by reporters, engulfed by microphones eager to get to know the true freshman receiver who has helped push the Hurricanes all the way to the national title game.<\/p>\n One by one, reporters asked him questions about how he\u2019d caught on so quickly and how he\u2019d become a star despite not being all that big or buried on the depth chart behind players like CJ Daniels<\/a> and Keelan Marion<\/a>. He answered them, brief and to the point.<\/p>\n Where did his nickname \u2014 Baby Jesus \u2013\u00a0come from? <\/p>\n \u201cI was given that nickname by somebody on Facebook when I was eight years old,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Playing football? <\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d <\/p>\n Where were you playing? <\/p>\n \u201cWashington Park. I was playing quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you like the name? <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feed into it.\u201d <\/p>\n You\u2019d understand why Toney wouldn\u2019t want to play up that nickname, especially since it\u2019s offensive to some religious people. But when you watch him play this game \u2014 so naturally, so explosively \u2014 you realize why people arrived at it. He\u2019s not big, loud or pompous. What he does, though, is attack the game with relentless effort and change outcomes. One tunnel screen and a step, and he\u2019s to the house. Some people are great, and it doesn\u2019t take long to see it.<\/p>\n In Toney\u2019s case, people on Facebook did when he was eight. In the college football world, it was the first half of his true freshman season at a program dying to get back to national relevance. <\/p>\n Which is why it\u2019s so important he\u2019s a Hurricane. <\/p>\n A few weeks ago, former five-star receiver and South Florida native Jeremiah Smith<\/a> was in a similar setting at the Cotton Bowl. I asked the Ohio State star \u2014 who helped the Buckeyes win the national title last year \u2014 if he would have stayed home at Miami had Mario Cristobal<\/a>\u2018s team already shown this upside. Smith said, \u201cMost likely, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Toney wasn\u2019t a five-star prospect, but there were times it felt like he was going to make a similar decision. A three-star recruit who ranked the No. 420 overall player and the No. 61 receiver in the Rivals Industry rankings, Toney still had plenty of opportunity to leave. He had offers from Florida State, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Penn State, Oklahoma and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n During his recruitment, Toney initially committed to Miami but decommitted in October of his senior season, following a visit to Alabama. It felt like the Hurricanes were going to lose another area star, as Toney played at Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage<\/a>. But Toney eventually signed with Cristobal.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat made me stay home is me trusting the process, trusting what Coach Cristobal was telling me that he was going to make happen with this program, how he was going to turn it around,\u201d Toney said. \u201cCoach Kevin Beard<\/a> and Coach (Shannon) Dawson<\/a> told me I\u2019d have an opportunity to come in and showcase my talent early as long as I do what I have to do. I came in, kept my head down, and kept grinding and executed.\u201d<\/p>\n Toney has had 99 receptions for 1,089 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He has rushed for a touchdown and even has thrown for two.\u00a0But it\u2019s the moments, like when he caught a screen pass and broke a 36-yard touchdown in Miami\u2019s win over Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff semifinal. He turns nothing into something. <\/p>\n So back to the nickname. <\/p>\n