Can Emory Williams be the Guy for the Hurricanes?

As Miami Hurricanes fans try and digest the holiday misery of not making the College Football Playoffs, many have resorted to roster analysis that seems to be rooted in a type of sports sadomasochism. They are asking themselves, Can Emory Williams be the guy? The resounding answer seems to be ‘hell no’.

I am confused.

Nobody knows what Emory Williams will be. He’s 1-1 as a starter with a win over Clemson and a loss to FSU. It’s worth mentioning that in that loss, he showed more heart and guts than a majority of Canes players have over the last 20 years. Kid literally sacrificed his body for a first down. Reese Poffenbarger has transferred out. He has thrown for over 3,000 yards and 30 TD’s in his career. To me, that says that after being around Emory in practice for a year he realizes he’s not beating him out. That’s a good sign.

I get the NIL world has changed it all and we obviously struck gold with Cam Ward this year, but Mario trying to land a one and done stud QB every year is not sustainable. You must develop kids. Emory has had two years in this system with the same OC. He has a cannon for an arm. He’s looked good at times in Spring and relief along with those two starts. If you want to bring in a vet to compete, that’s fine, but I don’t think you lay out seven-figures for the top QB in the portal. If you want to bring in a guy who has some experience to compete, fine, but we need to see if we can develop. Also, it’d be fun to watch him grow over two years before handing it off to Luke.

I will say, I’m not buying the notion that this Miami team is 6-6 with Emory at the helm next year. 8-4 to 9-3 would be my initial guess, unless the defense is able to be a major factor and deliver us a win or two. Regardless, I’m looking forward to what the future holds.