After two weeks of fall camp, many players and coaches had positive comments about the football team's progression. Aside from Head Coach Mario Cristobal, here are some of the best quotes from players and assistant coaches.

"Nathaniel "Ray Ray" Joseph kind of reminds me of Santana [Moss] from a standpoint of, he's really fast and really explosive," said wide receivers coach Kevin Beard. "From January to now, he's done a really good job of transforming himself to a wide receiver."

"Every time he's up, I always pay attention to him, said Defensive Lineman Akheem Mesidor of freshman D-Lineman Rueben Bain. "He's really on my back about a lot of things. Today, I started a little bit slow; he was on my back, and he got me pumped up."

"Just be where my feet are at," Wide Receiver Xavier Restrepo said of what he learned from last season. "Last year, I got to admit I was too in the future with my mental space. I know that happened for a reason. God sat me down for a reason. I'm a big believer in Christ, and I believe everything happens for a reason. The biggest standpoint that I got from last year was be where my feet are at and just focus on the next day."

"We got more and more people putting in extra work after practice," Defensive End Jahfari Harvey said of the difference in this year's team with teams of the past. "More people holding each other accountable. I feel it's very player-led now. That's what we needed. So I feel like those are the biggest areas we improved in, and that's what we needed."

"It's always good to have a really, really, really big sucker," Defensive Coordinator Lance Guidry said of having a big defensive tackle. "When you don't have him, you don't have it. So you got to create ways to make up for that. A lot of times, it's through movement of your defensive line or different techniques you play, but we feel like we have enough big guys; we just don't have the big anchor. It is what it is. I think we got a good front. We got a lot of depth. We got some backers that can play. I think the D-Line is the strength of the defense. We'll see how this thing goes, but I think if we stay injury-free I think we have a chance to be a good defense."

"He asked me, do you want to win? And I told him yeah," Safety James Williams said about playing outside linebacker. "We sat down, had a conversation, talked about it, I accepted the role, it is what it is...I kind of knew it was coming. I wasn't scared or nothing. I know what the future holds for me and my body and how much I'm going to keep growing, getting bigger. So I already know these things. I've been kind of like holding off of it. Now is the time to come to reality and realize what I have to do."

"I like how he plays with a physical tenacity, Cornerback Davonte Brown said of his brother Damari. "He plays the game like a bully. He likes to be physical, so I feel like that's one thing on the field."

"We kind of hunting," Defensive Lineman Branson Deen said of the defense's attitude. "I know these guys want to rewrite their story. It's a lot of noise out there, and we kind of block it out and just work. I'm right there with the guys; I want to help write the story and go out there with an attitude. Just hunting, every rep, every play."

"He's a special player," Center Matt Lee said of Freshman Defensive Lineman Rueben Bain. "Off the ball, very intentional, big, strong, big hips, big ass. He knows what he's doing every play. At such a young age, it's impressive."

"I feel like if you would've ran it, you would have scored," Mark Fletcher said about scoring his first touchdown in the open scrimmage. "Anybody could have scored, that big hole by that O-Line. If was walk-in so all credit to the O-Line."

"Every day," Wide Receiver Nathaniel Joseph said of how often he's on the jug machine. "I'll catch before and after practice. Then I'll go to class and come back and catch some more...I'll be out there for about two hours, and then if I feel I didn't do enough for the day, I'll come back, but my routine was after practice I'll catch. Normally after practice, I can't really get that many, I'll try to get about 500, but you know I got class. So, I'll go to class, but after class, I got all day."

"That's been brought up, but that would be cool, though," Damari Brown said of the thought of starting with his brother Davonte. "If my name is called, that'll be something. My family, that'll be something that's not really heard of. Going out there at the opposite side of your brother, that'll be something."

"Everybody," Rueben Bain said of who he likes to battle against. "No matter what, iron sharpens iron; we're getting each other better, but if I had to choose, Francis. Sometimes, he gets me, and I get him. I love the competition."

"The first game I'm not really worried about...because every day is a game day for me," True Freshman Francis Mauigoa said of playing his first college game. "So I've been to 800 game days already. So I've prepared myself. The team trusts in me, and I have trust in the team, so I'm not really worried about any game days. I feel like our defense is way tougher than other [team's] defense."

"This is my home," Tyler Van Dyke said of staying at Miami for the 2023 season. "This is my fourth year here. A lot of people I've met here, good relationships. Couldn't leave my brothers; this is where I want to be. I'm excited for this year with Coach Dawson. It'll be a lot of fun. Can't wait."

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