Mario Cristobal discusses opportunity to emerge on defensive line

Miami Hurricanes‘ head coach Mario Cristobal had a rough debut season with the ‘Canes in 2022. The Hurricanes struggled through a 5-7 season, and they had a highly disappointing season from quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. But help is on the way this offseason with an infusion of young talent. Cristobal wasted little time in bringing in the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class during the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. That group includes two four-star edge rushers, Jayden Wayne and Collins Acheampong. Not only will the team add an infusion of new talent, but there are plenty of players returning that have one more year of experience under Cristobal’s staff. The ‘Canes had to deal with a number of injuries along their defensive line this spring. Following Miami’s spring game a few weeks ago, Cristobal was impressed with the toughness and resiliency of his young defensive linemen that stepped up this spring. More specifically, he mentioned redshirt freshman Ahmad Moten, a 6-foot-3, 325-pound defensive lineman.

“Toughness. Toughness and resiliency from guys that they’re not waiting for a starter to return. You know, they’re trying to establish themselves as that guy. And [I’m] really proud of those guys. Because you guys don’t see when we’re practicing, those guys don’t have to take double reps, but they are taking a significant amount of extra reps,” Cristobal said.

“They’ve been productive. They’ve been effective. They haven’t complained. They just kept going. They got a lot of reps tonight as well and they were effective. So, all those reps Ahmad Moten has been getting, they showed up today in technique. And he’s just making plays, where a year ago, he couldn’t do that,” Cristobal said.

Moten received praise from Cristobal because he took advantage of his first team snaps during the game. He played with the first team because Leonard Taylor, Jared Harrison-Hunte, and Purdue transfer Branson Deen were all held out of the spring game due to injuries.

Coming out of high school, Moten was rated as a three-star recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He played his high school football for Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, Florida). Moten helped guide Cardinal Gibbons to back-to-back state crowns in 2020 and 2021. His final season there, he racked up 39 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and three sacks.

Cristobal and the Hurricanes will begin their 2023 campaign on Sept. 1 against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.