Ahmad Moten Sr. is set to return to full-speed football activity when the Miami Hurricanes open their 2026 preseason camp Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Coral Gables. The veteran defensive lineman missed most of Miami’s spring drills after suffering an injury during the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff run last season. Miami begins the camp after months of offseason preparation and will open its season Sept. 4 at Stanford.
Moten continued attending meetings and working with his teammates and coaches during the spring, but he was limited physically. His 2025 season included 31 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He said he is eager to resume the physical work of football.
“I’m just ready to finally run full speed, to hit something, hit somebody,” said Moten. “I’m excited. I’m just very excited to play football.”
Miami enters camp with major expectations
The University of Miami was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference after going 13-3 in 2025. The Hurricanes lost 27-21 to Indiana in the College Football Playoff Championship. Darian Mensah, who transferred to Miami from Duke, was named ACC Preseason Player of the Year.
Six Miami players earned preseason All-ACC honors: Fletcher, Malachi Toney, Ahmad Moten Sr., Bryce Fitzgerald, Samson Okunlola and Mohamed Toure. Toney earned three selections as a receiver, all-purpose player and specialist. Toney also was named ACC Rookie of the Year in December 2025 after recording a team-high 1,622 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns as a freshman.
Fitzgerald, now a sophomore, recorded a team-high six interceptions for Miami in 2025. He said the expectations following his freshman season are motivation rather than pressure.
“I don’t feel like it’s pressure. I look at it as motivation. People will be like, ‘Oh, that was freshman year. You have to go do it again.’ Seeing that every day, it gets me fueled up. I’m just ready to go out there,” said Fitzgerald.
Toney also enters his sophomore season as a leader in Miami’s receiving room. He said CJ Daniels and the older players previously helped him develop, and he now wants to provide that same support to younger teammates.
“They passed that torch down to me, CJ [Daniels] and the older guys in that room,” said Toney. “I’m the leader in that room now, so I’ve just got to do [with the younger guys] what they did with me, and everyone else around me.”
New-look units prepare for the season
Matthew McCoy and Ryan Rodriguez are expected to help lead a new-look Miami offensive line under head coach Mario Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal. Fletcher led Miami with 1,192 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. He said the Hurricanes are emphasizing accountability and preparation rather than outside expectations.
“We’re [emphasizing] the message that those things that people are saying, they can’t help us. Whether they’re saying good things or bad things, they just can’t help us,” said Fletcher. “The only thing that matters is what these people in the building say and what we believe in. … We believe in the work. We believe in working hard, extremely hard, each and every single day and we believe in not making any excuses. We believe in holding each other accountable and we believe this is a player-led team. That’s what it’s going to take to be a successful team and just to be successful, period. We have to all hold each other accountable.”
Rodriguez said the Hurricanes must remain focused despite positive or negative outside commentary. McCoy described training camp as a defining period for the season, which begins at Stanford on Sept. 4.
“We’ve just got to tune it out. Don’t even listen to it. … the positive, the negative comments, anything in general, just tune it out, good or bad. Just stay neutral and keep working,” said Rodriguez.
“[Training camp] is the season for us, to be honest,” McCoy said. “This really dictates what our season’s going to be like and it’s exciting, seeing these guys every day and seeing them work and push through things that a lot of people couldn’t. Seeing how tough these guys are, it’s a different feeling and going into it, we’re ready. We’re just ready.”
Mensah said the Hurricanes are eager to begin the next stage of preparation. Miami will open preseason camp Aug. 4 before traveling to Stanford for its season opener one month later.
“I can’t wait to go and put on the pads. It feels like I haven’t done it in forever. Yeah, the excitement levels are high in this building,” said Mensah.
Source: Original report