\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
Mark Fletcher Jr. could only smile after the Miami Hurricanes\u2019 first spring football practice last week.<\/p>\n
Every member of his position room returned. Fletcher came back for his senior year. CharMar \u201cMarty\u201d Brown returned after a successful first season at UM after transferring in from North Dakota State. Jordan Lyle, despite limited playing time, chose not to enter the transfer portal. Girard Pringle Jr., after briefly entering the portal, opted to stay after showing promise in spurts as a true freshman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shows you what type of guys are in the room and the type of thing that we\u2019re building here,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cThe fact that every single running back came back, and there\u2019s only one or two guys who can be on the field at a time, that just shows how special our bond is and what we\u2019re focused on building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Add in true freshman Javian Mallory and redshirt sophomore Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, and the Hurricanes have legitimately a half dozen options to handle duties in the backfield in 2026 as they try to build on a 2025 season that saw them reach the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re stacked in that room,\u201d Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said.<\/p>\n
In fact, the only real change in the room is at the coaching level. Favian Upshaw is Miami\u2019s new running backs coach. He replaces Matt Merritt, who left to be the running backs coach for the NFL\u2019s Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n
Upshaw, who spent three seasons as an offensive quality control coach for the Broncos after previously having college stints at Tulane, Georgia Southern, Benedict College and Savannah State, knows the balancing act of the talent he has is going to be one of his biggest tasks this season.<\/p>\n
But if that\u2019s the challenge ahead, it\u2019s a good one to have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing I told those guys was look around the room,\u201d Upshaw said Thursday in his first news conference since being hired. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good players in this room. And the thing I learned in the NFL is that you never know when your time is going to come. I told them the first day, \u2018Game 1 might not be the Mark Fletcher game, and I don\u2019t know whose game is going to be, but you have to be ready when your number\u2019s called.\u2019 At some point in time, somebody\u2019s going to have a game where they\u2019re going to go off and somebody\u2019s not gonna have a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, Fletcher is poised to once again be Miami\u2019s featured back regardless of the overall talent level in the room.<\/p>\n
The senior rushed for 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, with 507 of those yards (42.5%) coming during Miami\u2019s four College Football Playoff games. Fletcher\u2019s 2,313 career rushing yards at Miami rank seventh in school history. His 26 rushing touchdowns are tied for fifth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been on that steady growth incline,\u201d Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. \u201cHe came in with some leadership qualities already in the freshman class, and … he\u2019s never stopped. We all know that during the postseason last year, he took it to a different level, and it just hasn\u2019t stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s exactly what you want. There\u2019s no one out there that you would ever, ever trade for. Mark Fletcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Upshaw: \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best humans I\u2019ve ever met, and I truly mean that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as Miami has done in the past three years under Dawson, the workload will be split among the room. Brown had 122 carries for 474 yards and seven touchdowns last season while serving as a bruising back up the middle. Pringle had 62 carries for 375 yards and four touchdowns, showcasing advance vision for a freshman. Lyle, limited first by injury and then by getting passed on the depth chart, had 35 carries for 108 yards but has breakaway speed that can be lethal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be comfortable with the fourth or fifth guy probably playing in that room, which is a great thing,\u201d Dawson said, adding that the running back position \u201ctakes the most abuse on offense … so it\u2019s good to have that position to be deep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Upshaw: \u201cIt\u2019s just a good problem to have. I mean, you know, they\u2019ve done a great job of recruiting up to the point that I got here. But those guys aren\u2019t done. They\u2019re not finished products. And my thing is trying to make these guys better.\u201d<\/p>\n