CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It was a sight that became routine last season, and at times, was even entertaining – if you were a Miami fan, that is.

Former Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward standing in the pocket, scanning the field, then calmly getting the ball to his wide receivers and running backs while Miami’s offensive line, more often than not, gave him all the time he needed to make a play happen.

These days, Ward is at training camp with the Tennessee Titans and two of the veteran offensive linemen who protected him – Jalen Rivers and Zach Carpenter – have moved on, too. But in Coral Gables, the standard for Miami’s offensive linemen remains the same.

It’s their job to protect their quarterback, pave the way for Miami’s playmakers in dominating fashion and get better every time they take the field.

“We’ll never be a finished product,” assistant head coach and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said of his group. “But as long as they work, give effort, finish, [and] chase the ball, we’ll continue to grow as an offensive line. So, we’re growing. We’re growing.”

As the 10^th-ranked Hurricanes prepare to kick off the 2025 campaign on Aug. 31 against Notre Dame, they do so knowing they’ll have not just one of the most experienced, talented offensive lines in the ACC, but one of the top units in the nation.

Junior offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa – a former five-star prospect who has started 26 games at right tackle the last two seasons – is back and already generating his share of national attention.

The lineman from American Samoa has already been named to the preseason watch lists for the Lombardi Award, the Wuerffel Trophy, and the Polynesian Player of the Year Award. He’s a former Freshman All-American, second-team and honorable mention All-ACC selection and earned a spot on the preseason All-ACC team to start the year.

Also back are senior Anez Cooper, who has started 30 games at Miami; junior college transfer Markel Bell, who appeared in 12 games last season and started five, during his first season with the Hurricanes; redshirt junior Matthew McCoy, who started 12 games last year after playing in 13 games in 2023; redshirt senior Ryan Rodriguez, and redshirt sophomores Tommy Kinsler IV and Samson Okunlola.

To that mix, Miami added center James Brockermeyer, a redshirt senior who started 12 games at TCU last season and previously played at Alabama, and highly touted freshmen Max Buchanan and Seuseu Alofaituli.

It’s a group that has depth, experience, size, and is coming off a season in which it helped the Hurricane offense average 537.2 yards and 43.9 points per game.

No team nationally averaged more in either of those categories.

But as much success as they had last year, Miami’s linemen say they want to see those numbers rise in 2025 and they’ll push each other to make sure that happens.

“Coach Mirabal never lets us settle,” Rodriguez said. “He’s always going to push us. He even said it today in the meeting room: everybody’s got to compete. No one’s spot is guaranteed. Everyone’s got to compete and yeah, there’s obviously guys that are going to play, but everyone’s got to compete and push each other because that’s the only way we can get better. If everyone is comfortable in their spots and in their roles, there’s no growth.”

Added McCoy, “I feel like the last couple years we’ve proved that we’re getting better and we’re trying to be the best position group on the team every year.”

That steady improvement of Miami’s offensive line has been a priority for head coach Mario Cristobal, himself a two-time national championship lineman for the Hurricanes.

He made it clear shortly after returning to lead his alma mater’s program that the Hurricanes would be built from the inside out and that reshaping the offensive line was going to be the key to Miami’s future success.

Now, heading into his fourth season as head coach, that group is starting to look more and more the way he and Mirabal envisioned.

And outside Coral Gables, people are starting to take note.

“It’s overwhelming, the size and the power that you see, the height and the width. We walked in here and when I feel small around people, that’s usually a really good problem for others,” said ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain, a former offensive lineman at Clemson. “Now, it’s time. It’s time for them to take that next step. I think they have an opportunity to be amongst the best in the country. I think they and Clemson, back and forth, of who’s the best in the ACC right now. But Miami has Francis Mauigoa and Clemson doesn’t. I mean, I think ESPN just mocked him as the number two pick [in the 2026 NFL Draft] and there’s a lot of responsibility there.

“It’s a clear demonstration of Coach Cristobal’s process of starting inside out, taking care of this and everything else will work. I’m hoping that’s what we see, and I think we will. And the good thing is, we’re going to see it Week One. We’re going to see it that Sunday night. The whole world will be watching, and those guys can put on a show. I think they will.”

For Miami’s skill position players – including transfer quarterback Carson Beck and running backs like Mark Fletcher Jr. and Jordan Lyle, playing behind the Hurricanes’ talented offensive line is a boon.

Beck, who joined the Hurricanes after playing the first five years of his college career at Georgia, couldn’t help but appreciate how much the group protected Ward last season as he studied the Hurricanes and weighed where to play his final year of college football.

“You look at them and they pass the eye test. They’re huge.  You go watch some of the clips of last year and the way they were able to protect Cam, it’s very impressive,” Beck said. “The success they had last year is undeniable. Beyond that, you see the success, you see the film, but what a lot of people don’t see is the amount of work that they put in. That’s what’s impressed me the most.

“We get done with a workout and I’m walking into the locker room to go up and watch film and you can see through the windows up there and you see all of them down here [in the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility] getting in extra work for hours after practice, hours after a workout in the offseason when they don’t have to do that. … They want to be the best and I believe they’re the best. The work that they put in shows that.”

Added Lyle, “Our o-line is completely stacked. Ones, twos, threes, everyone is on the same page. Everyone, they know their points. Coach Mirabal and Coach Cristobal are doing a great job with those guys. … They’re always hard-nosed and you know they’re going to push guys around. That gets guys motivated.”

There’s no doubt that as Miami looks to improve on its 10-win performance of a year ago and to take the next step forward as a program, the offensive line will be a key to the Hurricanes’ success.

That’s a pressure Miami’s linemen are embracing. They’re determined to make sure Beck stays on his feet Aug. 31 – and beyond.

And their coaches and teammates can’t help respect determination.

“We can sit here and talk about receivers, this and that, but the core of our offense is the five guys up front,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “That’s what makes everything go. … Carson said early in camp, ‘Man, I’ve got to get used to all this time, you know?’ Those guys do a really good job, which makes offensive football, your ability to execute higher. Everything builds around them.

“They’ll be the first to tell you they’re tired of people talking about them. They’re ready to play ball. … Everything they do is the heartbeat of what we do and so everybody around them kind of morphs into their personality, toughness, physicality and all the rest. I’m excited about that group.”