Corey Suttle (11) is one of 13 transfer additions to the 2022 Miami Football roster
Transfer Additions Hoping to Make Immediate Impact
8/31/2022 8:44:00 AM | Football
OXFORD, Ohio— As the Miami football team prepares for its season opener this weekend at No. 20 Kentucky, expect to see quite a few new faces on both sides of the ball making their RedHawk debuts. Chuck Martin's program brought in 13 student-athletes via transfer this year, more than in any previous season.
According to Martin, there are two main reasons Miami added so many student-athletes via the portal in 2022.
"You look at the transfer portal and try to identify guys you think can help, regardless of position," Martin said. "We start in the Midwest because that's where we recruit, with people we know. It may not be a position of need, but we've known them since their sophomore year of high school and we had recruited them then. We were trying to get them to come play for Miami, they ended up going someplace else, and all of a sudden they show up in the portal.
"We had a preexisting relationship with those guys, and if they're available, we knew we wanted them to be a part of our program because we thought they fit Miami University and Miami Football. We'll always want to go after those guys.
"The second piece is if you lose one or two at a position that you weren't necessarily counting on. We go through [that process]: 'Okay, we have an area of need; now we have to go find someone.'
"If you lose your top four defensive ends – two to graduation, two to the portal – well, you have to replace them. You can't necessarily say, 'Okay, we're going to replace them with young guys.' You need some older guys too."
Corey Suttle is one of those incoming defensive ends. The Iowa State transfer has enjoyed the process of bonding with his new teammates in Oxford, from offseason lifting groups all the way through fall camp.
"We've gotten very close throughout the year," Suttle said. "Even the new transfers: I feel like it's a family now."
Michael Dowell, a nickel back who played 12 games for Michigan State last season, agrees. Dowell lives with some of the other Miami defensive backs and said they've enjoyed spending time together on and off the field.
"Not only here, but also at home: Hanging out, getting some pizza, going bowling, whatever it is," said Dowell.
"We're a tight group and we're just trying to compete and make each other better each and every day."
Each incoming student-athlete had his own reasons for choosing to move on from his previous university and join the RedHawks. Offensive lineman John Brekke, an All-Patriot League performer for FCS playoff team Holy Cross, said a blend of opportunity and tradition attracted him to Miami.
"Holy Cross was undergrad-only, so when I graduated from there and played my last season, I had another year of eligibility," Brekke said. "I wanted to play another year of football, but I couldn't at my old school. So I put my name in the portal…
"When I took my visit here, you see a lot of big names —Brandon Brooks, Sean McVay, Ben Roethlisberger— and a lot of tradition in this place. I think that's what really drew me here.
"I definitely wanted to go somewhere I could play, but also somewhere where it would be competitive…it's about going to a school where it's the best fit all around. A good school academically, a place where you like the coaches: all of that."
Although there has certainly been some level of adjustment for each of the new RedHawks, wideout Miles Marshall said he's feeling comfortable, thanks to extra meetings with the offensive coaches and plenty of time to absorb the Miami playbook that he received within days of committing in January.
Marshall, who played in a pair of bowl games for Indiana and has 57 career catches to his credit, is looking forward to showing what he can do this weekend and throughout the season.
"Offense is offense," Marshall said with a smile. "The route's going to be the route. It's just different terminology and different words for different things…I feel like I've got a good grasp of it now.
"Playing Power Five teams [like Kentucky], for me it's no different. That's what I've been doing these last four years. Just get the call, line up, and make plays. It's you and the quarterback and the ball and the defender – that's it."
While many of the newcomers are expected to make an instant impact for the Red and White beginning Saturday night in Lexington, Martin is also expecting plenty of improvement as the season unfolds and Miami begins chasing its 17th Mid-American Conference championship.
"You don't know what you have until the lights go on," Martin said. "You can practice all you want, but it's not going to be anything like Kentucky when the lights go on. And that doesn't mean what you see at Kentucky is what you get, because no one's at their best in Game 1.
"They're going to keep getting better."
Martin said his goals for the newest RedHawks are simple: Be themselves, be great players on the field, improve as the year goes on, and then grow into a leadership role. Because while a graduate transfer might be the oldest player in his position group, he also is the newest person in the room, and both Martin and the incoming transfers recognize the uniqueness of that balancing act when it comes to leading.
"It's a little different, because your resume and what you've done before is stripped away," said Dowell. "You've got to prove yourself again, not just to the coaches, but also to your teammates. But I feel like that's a great thing…it's an opportunity that I try to welcome with open arms…
"I came here to contribute on the field. Then I also want to contribute with leadership. The best way to do that is with actions and to produce on the football field, so that's really what I'm looking forward to."
After building a successful program on the foundation of high school recruiting for the better part of a decade, Martin and his staff have adapted to the portal era and realize things will continue to look different in the coming years when it comes to assembling a roster.
And when it comes time to go out and sign a new class of RedHawks, whether directly out of high school or via transfer, the Miami coaches will be able to promote the same appealing opportunities that drew Dowell and a dozen other incoming transfers in 2022. With the team coming off a bowl victory and boasting one of the longest active home win streaks in college football, recruits want to be a part of the successful tradition of the MAC's all-time winningest program.
"Everywhere Coach Martin has been, he's won," said Dowell. "And if you want to win, Miami's going to continue to do that."
Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
According to Martin, there are two main reasons Miami added so many student-athletes via the portal in 2022.
"You look at the transfer portal and try to identify guys you think can help, regardless of position," Martin said. "We start in the Midwest because that's where we recruit, with people we know. It may not be a position of need, but we've known them since their sophomore year of high school and we had recruited them then. We were trying to get them to come play for Miami, they ended up going someplace else, and all of a sudden they show up in the portal.
"We had a preexisting relationship with those guys, and if they're available, we knew we wanted them to be a part of our program because we thought they fit Miami University and Miami Football. We'll always want to go after those guys.
"The second piece is if you lose one or two at a position that you weren't necessarily counting on. We go through [that process]: 'Okay, we have an area of need; now we have to go find someone.'
"If you lose your top four defensive ends – two to graduation, two to the portal – well, you have to replace them. You can't necessarily say, 'Okay, we're going to replace them with young guys.' You need some older guys too."
Corey Suttle is one of those incoming defensive ends. The Iowa State transfer has enjoyed the process of bonding with his new teammates in Oxford, from offseason lifting groups all the way through fall camp.
"We've gotten very close throughout the year," Suttle said. "Even the new transfers: I feel like it's a family now."
Michael Dowell, a nickel back who played 12 games for Michigan State last season, agrees. Dowell lives with some of the other Miami defensive backs and said they've enjoyed spending time together on and off the field.
"Not only here, but also at home: Hanging out, getting some pizza, going bowling, whatever it is," said Dowell.
"We're a tight group and we're just trying to compete and make each other better each and every day."
Each incoming student-athlete had his own reasons for choosing to move on from his previous university and join the RedHawks. Offensive lineman John Brekke, an All-Patriot League performer for FCS playoff team Holy Cross, said a blend of opportunity and tradition attracted him to Miami.
"Holy Cross was undergrad-only, so when I graduated from there and played my last season, I had another year of eligibility," Brekke said. "I wanted to play another year of football, but I couldn't at my old school. So I put my name in the portal…
"When I took my visit here, you see a lot of big names —Brandon Brooks, Sean McVay, Ben Roethlisberger— and a lot of tradition in this place. I think that's what really drew me here.
"I definitely wanted to go somewhere I could play, but also somewhere where it would be competitive…it's about going to a school where it's the best fit all around. A good school academically, a place where you like the coaches: all of that."
Although there has certainly been some level of adjustment for each of the new RedHawks, wideout Miles Marshall said he's feeling comfortable, thanks to extra meetings with the offensive coaches and plenty of time to absorb the Miami playbook that he received within days of committing in January.
Marshall, who played in a pair of bowl games for Indiana and has 57 career catches to his credit, is looking forward to showing what he can do this weekend and throughout the season.
"Offense is offense," Marshall said with a smile. "The route's going to be the route. It's just different terminology and different words for different things…I feel like I've got a good grasp of it now.
"Playing Power Five teams [like Kentucky], for me it's no different. That's what I've been doing these last four years. Just get the call, line up, and make plays. It's you and the quarterback and the ball and the defender – that's it."
While many of the newcomers are expected to make an instant impact for the Red and White beginning Saturday night in Lexington, Martin is also expecting plenty of improvement as the season unfolds and Miami begins chasing its 17th Mid-American Conference championship.
"You don't know what you have until the lights go on," Martin said. "You can practice all you want, but it's not going to be anything like Kentucky when the lights go on. And that doesn't mean what you see at Kentucky is what you get, because no one's at their best in Game 1.
"They're going to keep getting better."
Martin said his goals for the newest RedHawks are simple: Be themselves, be great players on the field, improve as the year goes on, and then grow into a leadership role. Because while a graduate transfer might be the oldest player in his position group, he also is the newest person in the room, and both Martin and the incoming transfers recognize the uniqueness of that balancing act when it comes to leading.
"It's a little different, because your resume and what you've done before is stripped away," said Dowell. "You've got to prove yourself again, not just to the coaches, but also to your teammates. But I feel like that's a great thing…it's an opportunity that I try to welcome with open arms…
"I came here to contribute on the field. Then I also want to contribute with leadership. The best way to do that is with actions and to produce on the football field, so that's really what I'm looking forward to."
After building a successful program on the foundation of high school recruiting for the better part of a decade, Martin and his staff have adapted to the portal era and realize things will continue to look different in the coming years when it comes to assembling a roster.
And when it comes time to go out and sign a new class of RedHawks, whether directly out of high school or via transfer, the Miami coaches will be able to promote the same appealing opportunities that drew Dowell and a dozen other incoming transfers in 2022. With the team coming off a bowl victory and boasting one of the longest active home win streaks in college football, recruits want to be a part of the successful tradition of the MAC's all-time winningest program.
"Everywhere Coach Martin has been, he's won," said Dowell. "And if you want to win, Miami's going to continue to do that."
Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
Players Mentioned
Offensive Line
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Defensive Line
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