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Film Review: Analyzing Miami's Defense

Updated: Aug 28

Last season, when Notre Dame opened their schedule with Texas A&M on the road, they benefited from having a veteran presence under center in Riley Leonard. This season, it will be CJ Carr taking the first snap of 2025, and although his upside as a passer is higher than Leonard's was, so is his learning curve. Carr will have the good fortune of playing behind a Joe Moore Award-contending offensive line and handing it off to the most dynamic rotation of running backs in the country, but make no mistake about it, this is a colossal test for the young signal caller in his first game.

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Photo via University of Miami Athletics


Earlier this week, we went over what to look out for when it comes to Miami's offense, and now we turn our attention to the other side of the ball, which is expected to be much improved for UM this year. Miami's defense was much maligned a season ago, and their bad habit of giving up explosive plays through the air ultimately rendered what their offense was able to accomplish null and void, and cost them a chance to go to the College Football Playoff. In the off-season, Mario Cristobal wiped the slate clean and hired Defensive Coordinator Corey Hetherman away from Minnesota, where he quietly led the Gophers to being one of the best defenses in the Big 10. UM also brought in some high-level transfers at all three levels, and seeing how it all meshes together out of the gate will be interesting to say the least. I went through film on a lot of different facets of what Notre Dame could be facing down in Miami Gardens on Labor Day, and I am going to break it all down.


Defensive Coordinator - Corey Hetherman


There is no better place to start than the man who is going to be in charge of the new look defense for Miami. You never know what elements of a scheme a coordinator will carry over to a new squad, but chances are that the foundation of what he likes to do will stay in place. Hetherman played a lot of base nickel (3-3-5) in the film that I watched, as he liked to have an extra defensive back on the field to mix up coverages. There was plenty of variance to what looks he gave on the back end, but Cover 2 and Cover 3 seem to be his bread and butter.



In the above clip, it is just a simple Cover 3 look for Minnesota. With the corners so far off, USC goes to the quick game and is able to pick up an easy seven-yard gain. Nothing is glaring about this play, but I just want to set up the things we will get into next.



Again, you can see how much cushion the field side corner (top of the screen) is playing with. USC's QB Miller Moss is a little late to make the throw, so it gives the corner a chance to break on the pass and limit yards after the catch, but with a young QB like CJ Carr, he is going to need to recognize these things quickly and take what the defense gives him.



Against the Cover 3 here, Drew Allar was able to hit Minnesota for a big play. The play-action holds the middle safety, who is supposed to get back to cover the middle third of the field, the boundary corner, who technically is supposed to continue to drop, stops to cover the stick route from the WR on his side, which allows the Penn State WR to run a Post to a wide open middle of the field. Minnesota did not give up a lot of explosive plays, but the point in showing this play is to say Notre Dame needs to take what the defense gives them. If it's the short game like in the previous clips, CJ Carr will need to get the ball out fast, but if there is a bust in Miami's Zone Coverage, he should take his shots.



This play is from Miami last year. It is a Cover 3 look as well, and the safety cheats a little too far in one direction and is unable to get back to the middle on time. The corner to the top of the screen, OJ Frederique, who is the only starter from last year's secondary who will start again this year, did a semi-poor job himself. With no vertical threats on his side of the field at all, he should have carried the WR to help out the safety. The play results in a touchdown for Louisville. Very similar to the previous play from Minnesota.



This is where things get more interesting from a scheme standpoint. Right before the snap, you can see the player that was lined up as a Cornerback rotate up to become a Safety in a Cover 2 look. The safety he replaced rolls down into a Tampa 2 linebacker role, and the player who was showing blitz on the edge drops into the flats to replace the Cornerback. That is a lot for a young QB like Carr to have to process post-snap.



Same concept here, just from the opposite side of the field. USC's QB does a better job recognizing it and is able to hit the soft spot in the zone before the linebacker can fill his area.



They ran a similar concept here vs Penn State and almost got Drew Allar to make a costly mistake.



This is something that popped up on tape consistently, and Hetherman was able to use it to confuse QBs like Drew Allar and Miller Moss, both of whom have significantly more experience than CJ Carr, but if Mike Denbrock can dial up some quick throws and time it against some of these late rotations, there should be some underneath plays to be had. As difficult as it may be for a rookie QB to read this type of thing post-snap, it could be equally difficult for Miami to implement it. As I mentioned above, OJ Frederique, who is now a true Sophomore, is the only starter in the secondary who was on the Miami roster a season ago. For a secondary to be successful, it requires a lot of communication, and with so many new pieces on the back end for UM, getting everybody in the proper spot with all of these late disguises and rotations could prove to be hard in week 1.


Another thing of note is when Minnesota played Penn State, although they still played a lot of nickel, they kept their safety in the box for a lot of the game to help play the run. I expect Miami to do something similar vs Notre Dame in an attempt to keep Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price in check and force Carr to make some plays.


Defensive End - Akheem Mesidor


On paper, the defensive line for Miami is probably the strongest unit of the defense. Junior Rueben Bain looks to return to his Freshman form after some nagging injuries limited him a season ago. David Blay is a 1st Team Conference USA transfer from Louisiana Tech and is a force at the point of attack in the middle of the line. Miami's coaching staff also feels good about the development of Justin Scott, another true Sophomore, who gets his chance to crack the starting rotation this year. That leaves Akheem Mesidor, who has bounced around from edge to interior defensive line, but figures to be a mainstay at defensive end entering his Senior campaign.



Lined up as a 3-tech in the above play, Mesidor (No. 3) shows off his lateral agility and balance as he runs a stunt with another defensive tackle, and takes on a double team, freeing up his teammate to get home for the sack.



Here, he is working as an edge player and shows good upfield burst and timing on another stunt, and again forces an errant throw from the QB. Mesidor plays with some violent hands as a pass rusher and uses a good rip move. Left Tackle Anthonie Knapp will most likely draw Mesidor on the majority of occasions, and if there was one area Knapp struggled with last year, it was oversetting in pass protection. Because of Mesidor's lateral agility, Knapp will need to stay square and not overcommit on his initial move.



If there is an area I feel Notre Dame can attack Mesidor, it is probably in the run game. He gets completely washed down the LOS from his end spot in the above play, which almost became a TD.



Can Mesidor hold the point of attack in the run game? It's a question Notre Dame should look to get answered early as they try to establish the ground attack. Mesidor faces a bit of a double team from the Center and Left Guard in the above clip, and loses his gap integrity, which allows the running back to hit the open hole.



Here he is playing the run from a defensive end alignment and loses some balance trying to attack between the Left Guard and Left Tackle. The Guard washes him upfield, the looping linebacker whiffed on the play, and Louisville turns it into a home run touchdown.


Attacking the edges in the run game may end up being the best course of action for Notre Dame come Sunday night.


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These are just a few things that I will be looking out for from Miami's defense in week 1. CJ Carr has the opportunity to hit the ground running against a top-ten opponent, but will need to be disciplined and play within the structure of Denbrock's play calling. How he deals with Hetherman's use of deception post-snap will be a focal point in this contest. Notre Dame's deep WR room should get their chances against a talented, but inexperienced secondary in terms of time spent playing together as a cohesive unit. Jeremiyah Love, the most dynamic player on the Notre Dame roster, is fully healthy after playing through nagging injuries during last year's playoff run and has the skill set to test UM's edge play against the run. It's time to get a glimpse of how high the ceiling is for the Irish offense in 2025.

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