The RB Bringing Smash Mouth Football Back to The U
The RB Bringing Smash Mouth Football Back to The U
Miami's roster is loaded, but incoming tailback Damien Martinez might be the best one of them all.
I usually take the Ferrari.
- Sonny, Miami Vice
My boy Paul E used to always say “push it to limit”. This was back in the 80s—a different time, if you will. Synthwave and Rollerskates were in, as were neon colours and absurdly large hairdos. It was also a time of great success for the Miami Hurricanes football program, who secured three nattys (1983, 1987, 1989) over the decade, plus won another early in the next (1991).
Unlike the glitz and glamour that characterized the 80s which we all know and love, Miami’s flavour of choice was smash mouth football on the field. It was a program built on toughness, grit, and dominating at the line of scrimmage—you know, basically like every other great football program. However, somewhere down the line things went awry, and these days Miami feels like the washed up jock in his letterman telling you the same story about his state title victory from high school 40 years ago.
A sad and pathetic state indeed. This phenomenon was brought to the fore after an embarrassing last second loss last year to Georgia Tech. Many have long felt that the program itself has the players to be better than what they’ve been, but coaching and decision making from the top seems to have held things back. An opposing ACC coach had this to say this offseason:
It’s a situation where the sum is not greater than the parts, and that falls directly on the head coach. There’s more talent here, more resources, than the overall team you’re getting. That’s the problem right now… The Tyler Van Dyke experiment is over, and it’s on them to fit their offense to Cam Ward, not the other way around… The coaching issues cost them a game last season, and overall there are questions about how effective this staff is at getting the most out of otherwise talented players. The biggest question is the sidelines, not the roster.
That’s a pretty damning indictment of the staff. However, I think there is a turning tide on the horizon. When asked about bringing the smash mouth Hurricane football of the 80s back to the modern day U, this very real exchange between a Miami reporter and Cristobal took place earlier this offseason:
(Miami reporter) “How do you go from this mediocrity to that violence?”
(Mario) “I usually take the Ferrari.”
(Miami reporter) “What does that mean?”
(Mario) “With John Ruiz’ aid we’ve just acquired Damien Martinez to play tailback for us this fall.”
Nobody knows exactly where Mr. Ruiz—well known Miami booster—is getting all his funds from; luxury limousine company perhaps? Or perhaps something more sinister… I’ll leave that to Pacino and his crew down there.
Nonetheless, a different era is being ushered into Coral Gables under Cristobal. They’ve now acquired a starting QB that likely would have been drafted into the NFL this offseason, raided the other member of the PAC2 for their starting tailback, and have acquired other key pieces (and convinced them to stay) around the roster to bolster their already strong recruiting classes of the last two cycles.
Indeed, this 2024 team is not the same Miami program people have become accustomed to, which may be best symbolized by the fact that Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” used to be heard playing from outside the Miami practice field constantly; now, it’s “Push it to the Limit” by Paul Engemann, which is a much more superior track. Let’s get into this thing.
Coaching & System
RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 15 — 10.91 (half ppr)
Mario Cristobal is entering into his third season as the head coach of the Hurricanes. Previously, he served for four seasons as the head coach of Oregon, taking over in 2018 after spending one year as the co-OC and OL coach. He also spent time as the head coach of FIU from 2007-2012. His trade is primarily offensive line, and he spent four seasons coaching this position group at Alabama (2013-2016).
His OC, Shannon Dawson, joined the program in 2023 by way of Houston, where he had been at since 2019 serving in various roles, including OC from 2021-22. He’s also spent time as the OC of Southern Miss (2016-18), Kentucky (2015), and West Virginia (2012-14). Dawson is more known as an air raid guy, and his track record at tailback supports this. Of the past nine seasons where he occupied the role of OC across Houston, SMiss, Kentucky, and WVU, only three runners crossed 1000 yards.
You can see the average attempts per game under Dawson over the last five years below.
Notably, his fattest pig was Ito Smith at SMiss, who saw carries of over 245 in both 2016 and 2017.
Cristobal’s history is better as it relates to the RB position, but is still not ideal. His runners average around 13 carries per game over the last five seasons (excluding the COVID year). His runners at Oregon averaged a better workload than their Miami peers, with an average closer to 15 carries per game; perhaps 2024 is the year he gets back to that.
There is a split in tendencies between the two coaches. Dawson runs more of a balanced offence, averaging about 50/50 in terms of run/pass splits. Cristobal leans heavier run at 53/47 run/pass.
Some good news is that Miami returns about 65% of the snaps on an offensive line that averaged 167 yards rushing a game last year, which ranked 47th in the FBS. Miami was one of the slowest teams in the FBS in 2023, averaging 27.7 seconds per play, which ranked 99th in the FBS.
Damien Martinez (6’0, 230)
2023 STATS: 194-1184-9 (16.2 PPG)2
Martinez comes in after a productive two seasons at Oregon State. Although he blossomed into a star in Corvallis, OR, his legend really began as a Texas high school football player, where he rushed for over 1500 yards in both of his last two seasons and scored over 20 TDs in each.
His usage at times under Jonathan Smith was puzzling, often being relied on to move the chains between the 20s before being taken out of the game near the end zone. As such, his scoring numbers were inconsistent. His total of nine scores in 2023 looks good on the surface until you realize six of those scores came via back-to-back games against Stanford and Washington. It was a similar story in 2022 where three of his seven scores came against a poor Colorado team. Also puzzlingly, Smith—a known pig farmer—never gave Martinez 200 or more carries.
Clint Brewster from 247 Sports filled out this evaluation of Martinez as a transfer prospect:
Oregon State star running back Damien Martinez will reportedly enter the transfer portal during the spring window. He will be one of the best running backs in college football in 2024.
Martinez will be a heavily coveted player with the resume he’s built in two seasons at Oregon State, rushing for over 2,000 yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s got an elite blend of size, speed, cutting ability and toughness. Martinez shows impressive maturity for a young runner with his patience at the line of scrimmage and then an explosive burst once he sees daylight.
Martinez has been an All-Conference player in his two seasons in Corvallis and has the ability to be a high-round draft choice. Martinez might not have the run-away speed that elite first-rounders possess but he’s got plenty of juice for a 6-foot, 230-pound rusher.
He will have multiple strong options in the transfer portal, as his game correlates to any offense with his strength and power in a gap scheme or his cutback ability in zone running formations.
Martinez was top 12 in Power 5 football in terms of yards after contact, missed tackles forced and runs of 15 yards or more in 2023. He had six games of 100 yards or more, plus his best performance against No. 5 Washington with 123 yards on 26 carries and two scores.
He was given a four star rating as a transfer prospect by 247 Sports.
Closing
It has recently been reported that Martinez’ weight is up to 240. This worries me and gives shades of 2023 Raheim Sanders vibes (and we all know how that turned out). As it happens, if you keep putting on weight, even muscle, it may not be to your benefit as a runner.
Damien Martinez’ ADP according to Campus2Canton is currently 28.1, but his May ADP appeared to be trending upwards at 24. I don’t know if that makes sense to me. On one hand, there was uncertainty with Oregon State as it was a brand new staff coming in; on the other, the schedule was pretty smooth and Martinez was the only playmaker left on the roster.
Now, he’s in a more certain situation, which is good, however the certainty that we have here is that this staff are not great for the RB position. Miami does have a good schedule this year, so there is that. I remain conflicted about Martinez and it is unlikely that I will own any shares at his current price. ◾
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Sample from 2018-2023.
Martinez’ PPG is quoted in full PPR.