Miami freshman RB Jordan Lyle has some of that old school Canes swagger in him: “I want to be way better than the old Miami”

You don’t have to look too far back to find a Miami Hurricanes true freshman running back that made a big impact. Just turn on last year’s film and watch Mark Fletcher go to work, right?

This year don’t rule out another newcomer back making a splash. That would be Jordan Lyle, who has the combination of size and explosion that sends coach Mario Cristobal’s heart racing.

Lyle will start out the season working behind star transfer addition Damien Martinez, of course, but fall camp will determine the next guys in with coordinator Shannon Dawson saying he’d like to get multiple backs into games.

Mark Fletcher is getting worked back into action slowly off a foot injury, and Chris Johnson, Ajay Allen, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey (also a true freshman) and H-back Elija Lofton are others in the mix for carries.

For his part, Lyle says the transition to college football “is going well.”

“I blended in with the team, also with the coaching staff,” he said. “I feel the program, we’re going in the right direction right now. With some of the new guys we brought aboard, we can take it home this year.”

Lyle was a highly regarded prospect out of Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas who was a former Ohio State commitment.

Looking back, he says the decision to become a Hurricane came from “when you really see how much they run the ball, look at the O line – man, this is a stacked O line. I looked at the ’22, ’23 classes and saw some of the somewhat young guys, guys like CiCi (Mauigoa). I’m like `man, I want to run behind that, I have to go there.’”

Lyle says he’s excited about being a part of the offense where the backs won’t just run the ball but also are expected to show off their receiving skills – “I feel like now we can really show off other things outside our run game,” he says.

Lyle’s also got a pointed message for those that wonder about the exact level of talent in the Miami running backs room.

“To be honest, it’s looking like the old Miami,” Lyle said. “But I don’t want to say that right now because I want us to be better, you know? I want to be way better than the old Miami.”

Reminded about the history with guys like Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee and so many others, Lyle responds, “I know that, but sometimes you have to shoot for the stars. I think we have a lot of those guys in here, guys with that potential.”

And those backs will play an integral role in an offense that has a huge amount of potential with explosive talent across the board led by QB Cam Ward.

“It’ll be really tough to stop us,” Lyle said. “We have Cam Ward, a real field general and I appreciate everything he’s taught the running backs room, too.”

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