RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 1

OXFORD, Ohio— Wednesday morning was CJ Young's first fall camp practice with the Miami Football program.

But Mid-American Conference football isn't new to Young at all.

The redshirt junior linebacker has plenty of #MACtion experience after transferring to the RedHawks this year from conference rival Kent State. Young, who was named Second-Team All-MAC a season ago, collected 89 tackles and eight tackles for loss for the Golden Flashes in 2025.

"I'm just overall excited to be with the team," he said after Miami wrapped up its first practice session of the fall. "We came out here fast and physical; it was a long summer of working out and running, and it's always fun to see it put together."

"We knew about him and we knew how talented he was and what a good player he was," head coach Chuck Martin said as he recounted Young's journey to Oxford. "You have him in your league, so we watched him every week almost in crossover games...because he played a ton and he played in our league.

"So then you're trying to figure out the kid more. We had heard great things about CJ from everybody at his previous school, saying, 'What an unbelievable kid.' And then you get to meet him...he's awesome.

"Good player and a good kid: That makes life easier for us!"

Young admitted he'll probably have November 17 circled on his calendar, as the RedHawks travel to Kent for a late-season showdown against his former team (and his brother Quinten, a freshman offensive lineman for KSU).

"I think he'll have a lot of fun in that game," Miami assistant coach Logan Plumley smiled. "He loves to play football, and I know he's going to be playing in front of a lot of guys that are really important to him and that he's played a lot of football with.

"He's going to have a lot of fun."

Miami is scheduled to practice again on Thursday morning, August 6 in Oxford.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Devin Hyatt, a redshirt junior wideout, pulled in a Thomas Gotkowski pass over his shoulder on the right sideline with perfect concentration for a gain of about 40 yards late in practice today. Hyatt, a transfer from Arizona, drew quite a reaction from the offensive players nearby as he hopped up off the turf after his contested reception.

INSIDE SLANT: No detail is too small for the Miami linebackers to drill and rehearse over and over again under the watchful eyes of Plumley and defensive coordinator Bill Brechin, who both work directly with the position group. (In fact, the linebacker unit had multiple do-overs to satisfy the coaches even when it came to breaking a huddle properly and sprinting into position before the very first rep.)

To illustrate this attention to detail, one LB drill was focused on proper footwork, with the teaching points centered on the very first step as the ball was snapped: Which foot pushes off initially, how to quickly move laterally while staying squared up in a powerful position, and how to accelerate and drive while still staying under control.

"Every step that you take as a linebacker matters," Plumley said later as he broke down the purpose of the drill. "Having your body positioned is a big thing...because there's a lot of people that are a lot bigger than you in the box. You have to be in an advantageous leverage situation or else you're not going to stand much of a chance if those linemen get up on you...so every step matters, every inch of body position and pad level is very important."

LOOKING SHARP: The RedHawks were decked out in new practice jerseys with the script 'Miami' on their chest, an upgrade since spring ball concluded. As usual, the defense wore red, the offense was in white and the quarterbacks were wearing gray.

UP TOP!: How strong is placekicker Kellan McLaughlin's leg? Before practice was even 15 minutes old, McLaughlin had already drilled multiple extra points so hard that they cleared the field goal net and bounced off the roof of the Gunlock Family Athletic Performance Center building in the south end zone.

UIHLEIN-BACKER: Miami's linebacker room benefits from returning players with experience like Malcolm McCain (who represented the Red and White at the MAC's annual media day) and Brock Uihlein, while also adding in All-Conference honorees at other schools like Young (Kent State) and Blayne Myrick (South Alabama).

"That's one position where the returners have played and the new guys have played," Martin said. "We have some positions where the returners have played, but the new guys are young...[maybe] we have really good transfers, but they were backups...Or the returners haven't played, but the new guys have played.

"[Linebacker] is one position where we do have a lot of college game experience. That should be a good group for us."

Uihlein, who made a career-high 11 tackles in the 2025 MAC Championship Game, drew compliments from the coaches in several drills today for his effort. "Playing hardest: That's what we want," Brechin said at one point.

"The amount of times you're watching from the sideline and you don't really know who made the play, then by the time all the bodies clear out, it's like, 'Oh, that was Brock,'" Plumley elaborated later. "He just ends up at the football...he's got a natural feel of doing his job...then, if the ball didn't hit here, going to do the next thing and make a play. That's what makes him really good."

GUESSING GAME: Martin praised his team's 'approach' after practice, while reminding his players not to 'guess' or gamble. "Guessing is not good football," he said. "Understand what [the other side] might do, but react."

He elaborated on that idea in our post-practice interview. "Some players are really instinctual, and you don't want to take any player's instincts away. But some players pre-determine what they think might happen pre-snap, and if you're doing that, sometimes you're going to be right and sometimes you're wrong and cost the whole team. That's not the right way to play the game, hoping that, 'Well, last time they did this – maybe they'll do that again.' And if they don't do that again, it's a big play.

"Instincts are one thing. Anticipation is one thing. Just going out there and saying, 'I think they're going to do this' is something else. That's guessing."

ABCs: Blayne Myrick, redshirt senior linebacker, jersey no. 15
Get to know a player on the 2026 Miami Football team in their own words.

Attributes and Adjectives: What are three words that describe you as a player or a person?

"I don't know. I feel like someone else has to give me those words! I'd say: fast, athletic, effort."

Background Bio: What brought you to Miami? How did you get here?
"I saw the promise here of winning, and I think we can win a lot of games and get a ring."

Compare/Contrast: Who do you try and model your game after? "I just try to do my thing. I don't really try to copy anybody; I just want to do the best I can do."
And what sets you apart from other people at your position?
"I think how fast I am at my size."

Drive and Desire: Why do you play the game? What drives you to excel?
"Man, I just love it. I love playing ball. It's just fun."

External Evaluation: Scouting report from a Miami coach or teammate.
"Blayne Myrick is a freak. He's 6-4, 245, and can run like a 4.4, so I think Blaine's going to be very special to us and very important to our team." -CJ Young

Fun Facts: Share one or two interesting things about you that the average fan (or maybe even people on your team) might not know.
"I'm from Alabama —South Alabama—and when I took my visit here, that was the first time I've ever been to Ohio. Also – I really like to swim."

Golf Group: If you could assemble your dream foursome for a day at the golf course (anyone in the world past or present), who would you choose and why?
I'm going to go Tim Tebow. And I think Shawn Ryan would be cool. He's a former [Navy] SEAL...dang. I don't know, I'll probably just do those two. Those two seem pretty good.

ROCKING THE 'CRADLE': Martin was one of a number of current Miami head coaches to attend last night's Cradle of Coaches preview event at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. The highly-anticipated documentary will showcase Miami University's historic tradition of launching the career of exceptional coaches across a variety of sports, especially football. The preview event included clips from the film, a collection of artifacts, and a panel discussion with Ohio lieutenant governor (and former national-title winning coach) Jim Tressel, journalist and Miami alum Terence Moore and other experts.

"The setup was amazing," Martin said. "There were a lot of people in the space, but there was enough room that you could actually go and interact...I thought the event was really, really well done...it was great to see so many different people.

"I'm excited to see the finished [documentary]. You see a little clip here, a little clip there; that's why they call them teasers. I'm like, 'Yeah, I want to see that!'"

The 155-minute Cradle of Coaches film will be available to stream on Peacock beginning August 17.

PLUMLEY'S PATH: Plumley returns to Miami's coaching staff this fall after previously working for Martin as a student assistant and then a graduate assistant. He'll assist Brechin with linebackers while also helping out on special teams. Plumley most recently was the University of Indianapolis co-defensive coordinator after a previous stop at Butler.

"He student assisted for me for four years and he GA'd for me for three. Everybody's like, 'Who's your new linebackers coach?'

"'New?!?' Seven of my 12 years, he worked for me at Miami," Martin laughed during a recent podcast appearance.

"I worked with [Coach Martin and Coach Brechin] for a long period of time and that was the foundation of football that I learned," Plumley explained. "Not just the football part of it, but also coaching and developing people in that.

"So then going on and having my own room at Butler and then being a position coach and coordinator at UIndy where we won a lot of games, I really learned a lot of things there. Having the ability to come back kind of full circle and do it here has been awesome. This place means a lot to me; the people do."

EYEBALL EMOJI: This just in: Scoop Smith is fast. The 5-foot-5 speedster from Pittsburgh, Pa. got loose for multiple big plays today, including a long gainer down the left sideline in a team period and a wide-open touchdown catch in 7-on-7s later. Smith, who was a three-sport standout in high school (scoring more than 1,000 career points in basketball and winning back-to-back state titles in the 100 meters for the track team) should be a lot of fun for RedHawk fans to watch this fall. Keep your eyes out for No. 24...but don't blink or you might miss him.

For more inside coverage of Miami Athletics, bookmark RedHawk Insider.

Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2026 Miami Football season are on sale now! Call (513) 529-4295 for more information.

RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 1

Related News

Players Mentioned

Thomas Gotkowski

Devin Hyatt

Malcolm McCain

Kellan McLaughlin

Blayne Myrick

Scoop Smith

Brock Uihlein

CJ Young

Related Videos