Miami Hurricanes DB Kam Kinchens on Spring Game: `We want to put the world on notice to see where we’re at’

If you want to see Miami star safety Kam Kinchens’ name this season, you don’t just have to see him in uniform. You can gaze up to the rafters at the Indoor Practice Facility, where Kinchens’ name now joins those of the other past All-Americans that worked on their craft on Greentree Practice Field and starred on the college stage.

“It’s a great feeling; I try not to pay too much attention to it,” Kinchens said. “You know, more work to do. Self goals aren’t really anything.”

This year Kinchens is working in a new defense under Lance Guidry that is aggressive and blitzing.

Kinchens likes what he sees.

“It’s very different (from last year), I feel,” Kinchens said. “A lot more, definitely, things we can do. Last year there wasn’t too much we did. This year I think it’s like all over the place, we have a little bit of everything. It’s kind of easy to grasp, just takes repetition.”

Kinchens is the leader of a defense that returns several key players – DEs Akheem Mesidor and Jahfari Harvey, DT Leonard Taylor, LB Corey Flagg, LB Wesley Bissainthe, nickel Te’Cory Couch and safety James Williams. That’s seven players that all started games a year ago, and the team also has added transfers at defensive tackle (Branson Deen, Thomas Gore), linebacker (Francisco Mauigoa) and cornerback (Davonte Brown, Terry Roberts).

But, off a 5-7 season, there’s a lot of work to do to get this team right.

Kinchens is working to take a leadership role to make sure things get turned around.

“Last year was more of put my head down … now it’s I have to bring along everybody with me,” Kinchens said of his new approach to leadership.

Certainly Kinchens knows what it should look like, and he’s always put in the work. Coaches point to him as a guy who spends late hours in the film room. It paid off last year.

Heended the year as the nation’s highest graded safety per Pro Football Focus at a ridiculous 90.0 percent. That bested No. 2 Brian Branch out of Alabama, who was at 89.5 percent. His highlight game? That was against Georgia Tech, when he grabbed a program record-tying three interceptions, including one for a 99-yard touchdown, and led the team with eight tackles, including four solo and a half-tackle for loss, adding one pass breakup. Kinchens led the ACC with six interceptions.

The scary thing for opponents is Kinchens should be even better this year – he was a true freshman in 2021, starting the final five games and finishing with 44 tackle, a forced fumble and four pass breakups, then in Year 2 showed huge progress. If you go inside his Pro Football Focus grades you see an elite 90.7 cover grade, 71.3 run defense grade and 56.4 tackle grade. He also moves all over the field with 173 reps in the box, 404 at free safety and 118 in the slot. Kinchens is a guy that is athletic enough to do it all.

He says the new Miami offense is testing him and the rest of the DBs this spring, with a vertical Air-Raid style attack.

“They are taking us more vertical this year,” he says.

With James Williams banged up most of this spring, it’s been Markeith Williams stepping up with the ones quite a bit.

Kinchens says that Markeith improved “every area.”

“He can do big things for the team,” Kinchens said. “I’ve seen him taking control of the dense as if it’s his own – taking that next step.”

Kinchens also says he’s excited for Miami’s spring game at DRV PNK Stadium.

“I want to see great effort, make sure we’re grasping the playbooks,” Kinchens said. “Just going out there and competing. … We want to put the world on notice to see where we’re at.”

And he wants to see this team continue to put in hard work every day from now through the end of the year.

“If you don’t do anything extra it’s going to always be hard to grasp a new defense – it’s a lot that goes into it,” Kinchens said. “Everybody is coming together, D line is meeting after, linebackers meeting after, DBs meeting after to make sure everybody is on one accord.”

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