The football alumni are flooding Miami's sidelines. The unbeaten Hurricanes are seeing the benefits

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami sideline was loaded with talent this past weekend. Michael Irvin was there, just like he’s been all season no matter where the game is. Ray Lewis did his trademark dance. Edgerrin James, Jessie Armstead, Bryant McKinnie, Rohan Marley, Bernie Kosar and Clinton Portis all showed up as well.

Today’s Hurricanes clearly have the attention of the program’s best from yesteryear.

When the big names show up at Miami games, it tends to be a pretty good indicator of what’s happening on the field. Getting the alumni — particularly the Miami greats — more involved was a priority for Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal when he came home in 2021, and he’s seeing the payoff.

“Some of those guys look like they can still play, and probably can,” said Cristobal, a Miami alum and national champion as a player himself. “Look at the old games, back in the ’80s and ’90s, look at that sideline and how littered it was with real-deal dudes. Like, into it, passionate, love Miami, bleed orange and green, dudes and how much of an attraction it was. I used to kill to get over here to watch these guys go at it.”

Some are expected back on the sideline this weekend, when No. 5 Miami (8-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) plays host to Duke (6-2, 2-2) and former Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz on Saturday.

There were well over 100 recruits at this past weekend’s 36-14 win over rival Florida State, and they all got to see the big names from the past. Time will tell if it left an impact on their upcoming decisions.

But for the current players, having the alumni back is a big deal as well.

“I always talk to those guys, and those guys are all saying they wish they could be in our shoes on the team that we have," wide receiver Xavier Restrepo said. "So, that really means a lot, coming from those guys who have done so much in the game of football. I have unlimited respect for those guys and any time I can get a word with those guys, it's just amazing and I really pay attention."

If there’s a sideline alumni MVP this season, Irvin would seem to be the frontrunner by a wide margin.

He’s been in huddles on the sideline, yelling his head off in some cases. Irvin went viral for getting on his hands and knees during Miami’s wild 25-point comeback to beat Cal 39-38. He slapped Restrepo — who has passed Irvin on Miami’s all-time catch and receiving yardage lists this season — on the sides of the helmet in celebration after one of those catches.

And when Miami held on to beat Virginia Tech 38-34 — a game where the Hurricanes prevailed when a Hail Mary touchdown by the Hokies was overturned by replay of the game’s final play — Irvin was absolutely drenched in sweat on the sideline, the white shirt that he wore emblazoned with Miami’s famed orange and green “U” logo stuck to his skin.

“I’ve never worked so hard in all of my life for a victory,” Irvin said in a video he posted online that night, “even when I was playing football. … Every guy in that locker room came to me and said, ‘Michael, way to bring that energy. Way to pull it out of us.’”

Cristobal isn’t the first coach to welcome Miami alumni back to the program — all his predecessors have done it on some level — but it sure seems like more of the greats are around on a regular basis these days. Lamar Thomas is always around, players say. Reggie Wayne chatted with some players before a game this month. Alums stop by practice on occasion, and on game day, home or away, they’re not hard to find.

Cristobal has made it clear: The more the alumni are around, the better.

“This was always an unbelievable brotherhood and that’s what made it what it was,” Cristobal said. “It’s 2024. We’re not going to go backwards. We’re going to go forward, tighten this thing up and bring everybody together so that people understand that when Miami comes together, it’s unbreakable. So, it’s really, really important and significant.”