''This is What We Came Here to Do''

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It’s been three years, but the memories still haven’t faded.

After a pair of wins over Bethune-Cookman and Southern Mississippi to open the 2022 season, the Hurricanes traveled to College Station to take on Texas A&M.

It was Miami’s first road game of the year, its first matchup against a Power 4 opponent.

It didn’t go well.

While the Aggies edged the Hurricanes in what was ultimately a one-score game, Texas A&M did enough for defensive end Akheem Mesidor to come to a stark realization.

“When we went to Kyle Field, we weren’t the greatest team,” Mesidor said. “We had a bunch of stuff we had to fix internally. It was [head coach Mario] Cristobal‘s first year and unfortunately, we lost that game and it impacted our whole season.”

That rough night in College Station was a sign of things to come.

Losses to Middle Tennessee State, North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Clemson, and Pittsburgh followed.

The Hurricanes finished the season 5-7, did not qualify for a bowl game and Mesidor – who hails from Ontario, Canada – spent the holidays at home.

“I was able to go home for Christmas for the first time, which I guess was great, but also sad,” he chuckled wryly.

This weekend, Mesidor and his Miami teammates will be back in College Station and things are markedly different than they were back in 2022.

When the Hurricanes take the field Saturday against Texas A&M, they’ll do so as the No. 10 seed in the College Football Playoff.

They earned that playoff berth after closing the regular season with a four-game win streak, outscoring their ACC opponents 151-41 in the process.

Miami’s 38-7 road win at Pittsburgh on Nov. 29 capped the Hurricanes’ second straight 10-win season and ultimately, helped push them up in the CFP rankings.

And Mesidor – and several of his teammates who were on that 2022 team – played a significant role in helping bring Miami to this moment.

“To see this turnaround is honestly just such a great feeling,” said Mesidor, who leads the Hurricanes defense with 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks. “You see Coach Cristobal’s work, bringing guys in. You see [defensive line coach Jason Taylor’s] work; a bunch of guys, a bunch of people, players, and staff members who helped completely change the trajectory of this program. It’s an amazing feeling.

“When I look back at that team, and I look at this team, it’s crazy to see how far we’ve come.”

Mesidor isn’t the only veteran Hurricane celebrating Miami’s turnaround.

Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe was a freshman during that 2022 campaign.

Since, he’s become one of Miami’s veteran leaders, both on the field and in the locker room and as a Miami native, helping his hometown program get back to competing for a championship is extremely personal.

That’s why even through the ups and downs he endured through his four-year collegiate career, he never considered playing anywhere else.

“That’s just who I am. I’m a loyal person and when I committed to the school, I fully committed to the school,” Bissainthe said. “If something’s not going right, I feel like it’s on us to fix it. Don’t blame anybody else. Don’t try to point the finger. No, you just have to lock in, look yourself in the mirror and decide what you want to do. …

“That season was tough. It was tough. It was a lot of crying, and I didn’t want to ever feel anything like that again.”

While Hurricanes like Mesidor, Bissainthe, defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr.., offensive linemen Anez Cooper, Matt McCoy and Ryan Rodriguez, running back Terrell Walden II and others endured the challenges of that tumultuous season, others were high school prospects who saw Miami’s potential under Cristobal.

Defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr., running back Mark Fletcher Jr., and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa were among Miami’s 2023 signees and for them too, this playoff opportunity is one to savor.

“This is something that we all hoped for. No, something we all worked for. I’m not even going to say hope. We all worked to earn this,” said Bain, who has 37 tackles and 4.5 sacks on the year and has already earned multiple first-team All-American honors. “When you’re putting in the work for something, it’s kind of a relief to see all the results and all the success. So, this is something we all dreamed of. All the freshmen who came in, we helped the program turn around. … We’re all on cloud nine, but we know there’s more work to be done.”

Added Fletcher, “This is what we came here to do. We came here to change the culture of the program, change how people view us. We all came in here together, stuck to the plan, and we’re just excited for this opportunity.”

As excited – and proud – as the Hurricanes may be of the progress the program has made the last two years, all of them have made it abundantly clear they’re not just content with making the playoff.

Their goal is to continue moving Miami forward and get the Hurricanes back to championship form.

The immediate goal is to win at Texas A&M and then continue focusing on each challenge as it comes.

That’s the mentality their head coach has instilled over the course of their time in Coral Gables, and one they’re carrying with them into the playoff.

“Those early years are like dog years. They’re tough. But we never strayed from the vision, from the process,” Cristobal said. “We had incredible people that worked at it, and I think the best part of all the people involved is that there’s no relaxed syndrome. The moment [the playoff field] was announced. It’s like, ‘Okay, let’s get to preparation. Let’s get right to work to make sure we give ourselves the best chance of being 1-0 on Saturday.’”

Said Bissainthe, “We’ve come a long way. We made it to the playoffs. But none of us are satisfied, so we’ve just got to keep this thing rolling. Take it one game at a time, one play at a time, and everything else will take care of itself.”