One Final Run Through the Smoke
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Senior Day happens every year, but each annual honoring of the senior class is different.
Every senior class is unique, having experienced different things at different times while playing for the University of Miami. But every senior class shares the common bond of being Hurricanes for life and, this Saturday, the 2019 seniors will share one final run through the smoke before they take on Louisville inside Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“With the game being Homecoming, with the game being Senior Day, it’s just amazing to think that some of these guys will be playing their last game at Hard Rock Stadium,” head coach Manny Diaz said. “We hope to have a great crowd, we need to have a great crowd to make it as hard on Louisville as possible and to get around our fans and really cheer on this team that is starting to hit its stride in the month of November.”
Fourteen players will be honored before the game during Senior Day festivities as they play the last home game of their University of Miami careers. For some like linebacker Michael Pinckney, it feels like their Hurricane career started just the other day and now it is starting to wind down.
“Time flies, man,” Pinckney said. “You think you’ve got all the time in the world and then one day you wake up and you’re a junior, then you’re a senior, then senior night comes and before you know it I’ll be gone and it’ll be the next group. Just cherish the moment and know that time is not on your side and you’ve got to handle that — handle your business.”
Pinckney, along with fellow linebacker Shaquille Quarterman and defensive tackle Pat Bethel, have been at Miami since the spring of 2016. The trio enrolled early to get a head start on their collegiate careers and all three have been impact players at The U. For Bethel, who is the son of former Miami tight end Randy Bethel, Saturday will be an unforgettable moment in his UM career.
“It’s emotional,” Bethel said. “Time waits for nobody. My family is going to be there. It’s special. Having been here all four years with coach Diaz and getting to close it out at The Rock with my brothers one last time, I’m looking forward to it.”
Quarterman and Pinckney have been four-year starters at linebacker, earning numerous accolades for the play and becoming the heart and soul of the team during their time at The U. They have also built an unbreakable bond with Diaz, who spent their first three years as their position coach and defensive coordinator before becoming the head coach in 2019.
“To be with those guys every step of the way, not even just as freshmen but as mid-year enrollees in the second half of their 12th grade year, to see them mature and to see them go through the ups and downs of a four-year career has been unlike any other relationship I’ve had in my coaching career,” Diaz said.
The standout linebackers have mixed feelings about their final game at Hard Rock. Pinckney has not fully embraced what Saturday’s game will mean, while Quarterman anticipates a rush of emotions to hit him during the senior ceremony.
“Mike told y’all he’s not going to cry?” Quarterman said to the media assembled after Wednesday’s practice. “I definitely probably will. Yeah, without a doubt.
“I’ve been focused on preparing. Moments like that, I don’t think about. You can’t ever be prepared for something like that. Taking the next step after committing four years of your life to something very precious to you. I haven’t really thought about it but I have a feeling of how it’s going to go down.”
One senior has been at Miami longer than the rest, as redshirt senior safety Robert Knowles is in his fifth year with the program. The Miami native has been an integral part of the program, contributing on special teams before becoming a key member of the defense in his final season.
“Rob Knowles is so important to our football team,” Diaz said. :I don’t know where we’d be without him and I don’t know how many wins we’d have without Rob Knowles. He’s a guy that faced a lot of adversity in his career and, in fact, the last time we went to Tallahassee was involved in Florida State’s go-ahead touchdown and then to go out there and play like he did as a senior [was great].”
For senior striker Romeo Finley, who hails from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Saturday’s game will be extra special because it will mark the first time his dad sees him play at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I’m from the panhandle in Fort Walton Beach, so it’s been hard for him to get down with travel and work,” Finley said. “He came to the FSU game and he was proud. He got to see me walk out there as a captain. That was pretty cool. It’s going to be pretty special.”
Former walk-on Jimmy Murphy could never have imagined a Hurricane career growing up in Avon, Conn. He arrived in Coral Gables three years ago just trying to help the team in any way he could and earned his way to a major role on special teams.
“As a walk-on, I just expected to work hard and hopefully find a spot on this team and hopefully crack one of these depths charts on special teams,” Murphy said. “That was my goal at the beginning.”
“The first year, I couldn’t because you had to sit out a year when you transfer. That was 2017, so I just worked my butt off for scout and tried to give them the best look and they did well that year going to the Orange Bowl. Came back in 2018 and a couple of guys went down and I found a spot on a kickoff depth chart for a start against Boston College and it was just unbelievable, especially with my home crowd there. I’m from up north.”
After spending the last two seasons as a special teams ace for the Canes, Saturday is going to be the next unbelievable moment Murphy’s dream career.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Murphy said. “I think all of the seniors here are really, really excited for coming out one last time. We’re expecting out fans to be there. We were so appreciative that they came for FSU. It was my first time there, so seeing all those fans really travel all that way meant a lot to us. Hopefully we get a big outcome and a big fan base at Hard Rock this week because we need them.”
This season’s senior class features four graduate transfers in K.J. Osborn, Trevon Hill, Chigozie Nnoruka and Tommy Kennedy. Despite beginning their collegiate careers at other schools, all four will forever be Hurricanes.
“It came really fast,” Osborn said. “I’m getting even closer with my teammates and developing that even stronger bond and now I’m about to leave. It’s my last time at Hard Rock Stadium, it’s been a blessing to be here, so it should be fun. … I feel like I’m part of the family. These guys are fun and they’re family. I’m definitely going to miss these guys.”
While Saturday will be filled with fond memories and good feelings, the seniors know there is still a football game to be played and they want to make sure their last game at Hard Rock Stadium ends in a Miami victory.
“I want to finish as strong as possible,” Quarterman said. “I don’t want to look at the stats after the game. I want to look at the film and know that I left it all out there. For the last couple of games, that’s all I’ve been trying to do — not saving at all, putting it on the line for my teammates.
“We want to go out with a bang,” Finley said. “We are practicing hard and working hard and the underclassmen want to send us out on a good note, so they’re going hard too.”
Redshirt freshman Jarren Williams is one of many underclassmen who are feeling extra motivation to get a win on Saturday.
“It means a lot to us,” Williams said. “Those older guys, the leadership and everything that they’ve done for us and this program. This is their last game at Hard Rock, so it’s emotional for them and for all of us because we love our seniors. We are going to give everything we’ve got for those guys. It’s a big day for the seniors.”
With a victory over Louisville, Miami will reach six wins on the season and become bowl eligible for the seventh consecutive year. For the 14 seniors being honored on Saturday, it would also mean one more chance to play together as a Hurricane family.
“It would mean so much to me to wear a Miami Hurricanes helmet one more time and I think that means a lot to a lot of these seniors,” Murphy said. “Getting another chance to strap it up with these guys again is the best thing in the world.”
Back row from left to right: STRK Romeo Finley, P Jack Spicer, TE Nick Ducheine, WR K.J. Osborn, LB Shaq Quarterman, LB Michael Pinckney, S Robert Knowles, DT Chigoznie Nnoruka, OL Tommy Kennedy.
Front row from left to right: LS Jacob Muñoz, DL Shawn Walker, RB Jimmy Murphy, DE Trevon Hill, DT Pat Bethel
