Miami safety James Williams to have season-ending surgery

The Miami Hurricanes will be without freshman safety James Williams for the remainder of the season as he undergoes surgery to repair a groin injury suffered in the second quarter of the team’s Nov. 13 game against Florida State.

Williams, a former five-star recruit out of the 2021 class, played in 10 games for the Hurricanes in 2021, making 31 total tackles with a pair of interceptions. The 6-foot-5, 224-pounder prepped at Plantation American Heritage School in Florida.

Williams had a boatload of scholarship offers coming out of high school, ultimately choosing Miami over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, UCF, USF, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, among others.

Miami, which is 6-5 on the season with a 4-3 mark in ACC play, closes its regular season Saturday on the road at Duke.

If Manny Diaz is let go, Lane Kiffin would likely be Miami’s top choice

The future of Manny Diaz at Miami is uncertain. The school parting ways with athletic director Blake James – who hired Diaz back in 2018 – likely doesn’t bode well for the Hurricanes’ head man.

Nevin Shapiro, a former Miami booster, has reportedly told Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is Miami’s top choice to replace Diaz.

“I texted my best Miami source, or certainly the most interesting Miami source in Nevin Shapiro,” stated Wetzel. “Nevin is claiming that the top candidate is Lane Kiffin with Randy Shannon as the defensive coordinator.”

Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde thinks that Kiffin would make a ton of sense for Miami.

“Well, I can certainly see them wanting Lane,” answered Forde. “It always cracks me up though but this is what the boosters do at some places, including Miami. We’ll name your staff for you as we go. Here’s who you need — you have to hire Lane, you’ve gotta have Randy Shannon because he knows the program and he recruits south Florida. You don’t get a say in the matter. That’s how these things work out.”