Head Coach: Chuck Martin is entering his 11th season as the head coach of the RedHawks with a 56-62 record. Martin has led the RedHawks to 2 MAC championships. Most of his record is weighed down by the first 2 seasons, they’ve been solid ever since but last season was his best yet when they went 11-3.
Program Outlook: Miami has a lot of proud football success and this is actually one of the first football programs in the state of Ohio. This has been a starting point for many legendary coaches giving the program the nickname “Cradle of Coaches” and it’s a truly impressive list. Paul Brown played here, before Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler became rivals they each had a stint as the RedHawks head coach, Sean Payton was the offensive coordinator here, Jim Tressel an assistant, both John Harbaugh and Sean McVay played here. Oddly enough Miami hasn’t sent a coach to a major program since Mike Haywood came out of nowhere to win a MAC title, got hired at Pitt, got fired 16 days later and was never seen again. That being said sometimes they say the best is yet to come and that may be the case for the Chuck Martin era. Miami is known as the “rich kid school” in Cincinnati, and that might help them in this new NIL era.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: With how much of a rise the RedHawks had last season you’d expect it to be a group of seniors, but it wasn’t and now a lot of these guys are back with their eyes on defending their title. The offense is expected to be led by 6th year QB Brett Gabbert, he’s been a part of 2 MAC championship winning teams now but has been very unfortunate with health. Last season was his best year on the field until he broke his leg trying to carry the ball across the goal line against Toledo, it was tough to see, but with a new opportunity he will be motivated to finish his college career strong. The hope is that he will be ready to go immediately there’s no experienced depth behind him backup Henry Hesson got his first start in about the worst conditions possible so it’s hard to read what he brings to the table. Running the ball to control possession and protect the defense is typically the name of Miami’s game. They’ll have a new top RB after Rashad Amos played here for a year before transferring to half of college football this offseason. They still have Keyon Mozee who was the teams leading rusher in 2021 and 2022, along with a couple other returning backs and Purdue transfer Dylan Downing who’s produced when given the opportunity with the Boilermakers, he’s looking to follow a similar but less chaotic path than Amos did. It may be hard to remember because they basically didn’t use them the back half of last season but Miami has some pretty solid receivers even with their top target leaving for South Carolina. As long as Gabbert is healthy he will go bombs away throwing it to them, although he will need to take more intermediate passes. What will help the RedHawks attack will be an offensive line that was solid last season and returning almost every starter. Miami’s defense was the best in the conference last season and one of the best in the country in general. They are so good at dragging you down to their pace. They don’t give up big plays and they make stops in the RedZone. Most of it is back but the portal did pick some parts. They’ll need to figure out their pass rush after their best sack artist was picked off by Oklahoma, but Brian Ugwu is solid pass rusher in his own right. Fortunately for the RedHawks they have their ironman in the middle returning in Matt Salopek, he’s a beat and his running mate Ty Wise is back as well. These two are very underrated nationally. The secondary probably took the biggest hit this offseason, there’s some vets back but they’ll need to figure out who will fill in the rest of the spots. Special Teams is a huge emphasis for their team that helps them maintain a field position advantage, they have one of the best Punters in the sport in Alec Bevelhimer, and they had the best kicker in College Football until Alabama stole him in the spring. Overall this is still one of the best rosters in the MAC.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: Miami will face a tough schedule this season. They open the season playing Northwestern at a lakeside practice facility that was turned into makeshift football stadium. They play rival Cincinnati at home in one of the last Battle for the Victory Bell matchups for the foreseeable future (sometimes College Football is very disappointing) and they also face a playoff contending Notre Dame on the road. The UMass game may as well be a conference game because it will be starting in 2025. Miami will have some battles with their MAC slate they play just about every top contender that’s aiming for their crown.
Vegas Projection: Miami’s win total is set at 7.5 with the odds geared toward the over. The lower win total might be a reflection of the tough non-conference schedule but Vegas sees them as a wagon in MAC play. They’re the odds on favorite to win the conference at +240. That’s a low number for a normally balanced conference.
2024 Best Case: Gabbert is back healthy and he’s ready to lead the RedHawks on a special last ride. They open the season dominating on defense and taking a commanding win over Northwestern by the lake. Following the bye week they get their grudge match against Cincinnati in one of the last Battle for the Victory Bell games in some time, the stadium is filled and the Redhawks are determined to win it, they once again are able to ride their defense to the win. Then comes the RedHawks biggest test yet against Notre Dame. Gabbert plays a great game, the defense frustrates Riley Leonard all game and they battle hard before eventually losing in a tight battle to the Irish. Miami avoids a letdown against UMass to set up a huge MACtion showdown against an undefeated Toledo team. The Redhawks take off to an early lead and control the game from there on their way to a statement victory. They roll past the rest of their slate including the tests at the end of it to an 11-1 regular season record. That sets up the rematch with Toledo with both teams at 11-1. The RedHawks avoid the fate the Rockets suffered last season and don’t lose in the rematch. Their impressive season earns them a playoff birth, something that is massive for a MAC program. Not only that but they get matched up with Ohio State in the first round. The RedHawks are ready for the challenge two amazing drives to open the game along with a strong defensive show allows them to take a quick 14-0 lead and earn control of the game. They control possession the rest of the game and keep Ohio State on the ropes, but just before the 2 minute warning they lose contain on a screen to Judkins and he breaks it the distance to give the Buckeyes the lead. Under pressure Gabbert tries to hit the big play too soon in the drive and throws a pick. It’s a heartbreaker for the RedHawks but still massive they made it here and they put the biggest scare Ohio State received from an in-state program in a long time.
2024 Worst Case: There’s enough questions that this offense can regress at any time and the defense really can’t get much better. The RedHawks struggle to score and are beaten easily by Northwestern. Still all can be right if they can just beat Cincinnati at home, but it doesn’t happen the Bearcats take control of the game early and dominate Miami in their last precious home opportunity against the Bearcats. They are crushed by Notre Dame a week later and down from that awful opening stretch they’re upset by UMass. Miami loses at both Toledo and Eastern Michigan to suddenly find themselves 0-6 in what was supposed to be a dream season. Miami can’t get in the win column in the Battle of the Bricks against Ohio and it all leads to a disaster of a 2-10 season. Such a sudden unforseen collapse is worrisome for the program just as they thought they established themselves back at the top of the MAC.
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