The ‘Hurricane’ stemming from South Florida fizzled out into nothing more than a passing breeze in the grand scheme of things. Miami promised a lot when they began the ‘24 season 9-0. But those who scratched the surface and saw deeper than the mere record knew there were cracks in the foundation. Transfer quarterback Cam Ward was akin to a messiah who was papering over those cracks. But you can only dodge reality for so long. Those last-gasp comebacks and Ward’s heroics dried up down the stretch, and the Canes lost 3 of their final 4, including the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Now that the ink has dried and the dust has settled on both the season and Cam Ward’s short-lived Miami stint, a national analyst has an intriguing take on its fallout. Enter the fray, their new QB1-elect, Carson Beck.

Carson Beck arrives in Coral Gables as one of the most polarizing players in the sport. His time in Georgia has drawn a marked line in the sand between the ‘23 season and last season. The very evident decline in performance and production can be attributed to some bad luck and a dearth of potent weapons. After all, he went from throwing to Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey to a receiving corps that led the entire FBS in drop rate. That said, Beck does bear much of the blame for said decline. That said, Miami gives him a shot at redemption. A clean slate. But what about expectations? In a twistedly rational take, CBS Sports’ Josh Pate reckons the expectations inside the program may offset any duress that’s on Beck from outside the U.

Setting the expectations for fall in May when you’ve just lost a QB who became the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft is naturally a very nuanced process. You’d instinctively anticipate Mario Cristobal’s Canes taking a step back. But it’s not as straightforward. Since Miami was so dependent on Cam Ward last season, it has given Coach Cristobal the opportunity to make amends.

A new defensive coordinator, new defensive personnel and just a revamped roster overall mean the Canes are now more of a sum of their collective. This plays in Carson Beck’s favor. Additionally, Miami knew he wouldn’t be able to be a full participant in spring camp when they onboarded him through the portal, owing to an elbow injury he suffered in the SEC championship game. Which, again, meant Miami inadvertently had to forge more contingencies and routes to results. 

“I feel about [Miami] the same way I felt about that LSU team with Jayden Daniels. You didn’t even go to your conference title game. You wasted [the quarterback] because of the defense and the issues you had there,” said Josh Pate while guesting on the Flo Factory podcast. Mario Cristobal bringing in new DC Corey Hetherman signals that they’re geared towards a more holistic, balanced team. If you’re Carson Beck, that’s the ideal setup to walk into. More so than what his predecessor, Cam Ward, inherited a year prior. Pate proceeded to outline how being injured is, uniquely, a “blessing in disguise” for Beck. “I think it’s very interesting that Beck comes in there off an injury,” he said, before elaborating.

“Because when Cam Ward came in there, I was down there for some of those early workouts. When he first walked into the building. And it was so obvious from day one that it was just his team. Everyone was going to jump on his back,” remarked Pate. Miami “jumping on” Ward’s back resulted in success for both parties. But it wasn’t the makings of sustainable, deep-season success. “Carson Beck, you’re hoping he can do that. But I don’t think people are banking on that like they were when Cam Ward walked in. And it may be a blessing in disguise, because of what it does is it convinces your entire organization you can’t just ride a guy like you did last year,” resounded Josh Pate. 

Carson Beck’s rehab is almost at its end, and he’s edging close to being “100%,” according to Mario Cristobal himself. He has already been cleared and has begun throwing the football for the first time post-surgery. But even with all this said, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows down in Coral Gables. Later during the aforementioned podcast, Pate undercut this optimism for Beck with a dose of pessimism about the Canes program as a whole.

As aforementioned, Cam Ward’s eminence and heroics perhaps wrongly altered the perception of Miami. It’s fair to say that, with 95% of other FBS quarterbacks, the Canes wouldn’t have sniffed double-digit wins. Josh Pate realizes this and puts into perspective how the Miami Hurricanes under the custodianship of Mario Cristobal can be viewed from two completely different lenses.

“If I were a Miami hater, I could easily say you [first] went from 5 wins to 7 wins. You went and rented a player that got you to 10 wins. Your defense was atrocious last year. That quarterback was lipstick on otherwise a total pig of a season. So he’s gone now, and the guy you got out of the portal just started throwing again after surgery. What if you just fall back to Earth? I can look at it pessimistically like that. And I don’t think that’s unfair, by the way, because I do still think they got a lot to prove,” remarked Pate. Even the most ardent Miami fans would find it difficult to disregard this POV.

There’s a lot of uncertainty for Miami heading into the fall. More than they let on. There’s still an air of positivity around the school, and Mario Cristobal has been a hit. But there’s a chance, albeit slim, that it’s smoke and mirrors. Carson Beck has gone from one pressure cooker in Athens to another. With all this baked into the equation, Mario Cristobal himself sounded off on Cam Ward now that he has ascended to the NFL. Interestingly, he himself drew parallels between Ward and Beck.

Mario Cristobal outlines the similarities and differences between Carson Beck and Cam Ward

There’s a ton of similarity with [Cam] and Carson,” said Mario Cristobal in an interview with, ironically, Josh Pate. “Both of their knowledge of the game, the knowledge of the run game, their knowledge of the protections involved in every single concept that we have that has that has me as a former offensive line coach will be fired up.” This mostly comes across as vanilla coach talk. What you’d expect to hear from the head coach as he passes the baton from one QB to another. However, he also proceeded to point out facets where there is a divergence between Ward and Beck. Particularly in terms of their personalities as humans.

[Carson Beck] is different than Cam personality-wise, but not from a drive and determination side. I think that really hit us strong in the very short process with Carson [so far]. His knowledge of the game speaks very loudly of a guy who’s been prepping his entire life. I also think we brought in a person who has a lot to prove, but more in the sense of winning. More in the sense of team than anything else,” resounded Mario Cristobal. Circling back to the initial premise of this conversation, Beck isn’t tasked with being the focal point for Miami, akin to Ward. Nor is he tasked with being that sort of personality and leader within the building. But he is still the quarterback of a fabled program. That carries a ton of onus by itself.