What freshman Mauigoa starting for Miami means for the Miami Hurricanes

By most accounts, Francis Mauigoa will start this season for the Miami Hurricanes. The freshman has impressed this spring and has all but solidified his place on the Miami offensive line as a starter. Fall camp will of course be the ultimate determinant of whether Mauigoa starts or not, but the odds are definitely in his favor with his time with the first team.

"It's an honor to run with the ones, it's still spring so the job ain't secured yet," Mauigoa said. "Still working to that, but it's a pleasure to gain that trust with Coach [Alex] Mirabal and Coach [Mario] Cristobal and especially the offensive coordinator."

Here are some of the benefactors of Mauigoa starting for the Hurricanes in game one against Miami (OH).

Mauigoa came in with fellow five-star Samson Okunlola and both have been impressive this spring with both freshmen challenging for playing time, which will only elevate the entire offensive line's level of play and effort.

"Samson is like a brother, everyone's like a brother but he tends to come out as my closest brother," Mauigoa said. "We tend to work out here a lot and we tend to come in here late after class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays...to work on some more stuff."

Veterans Jalen Rivers and Zion Nelson will be pushed by the two five-star rated players and that fact the freshman are pushing for playing time does not allow any projected starter to become complacent.

This bodes well for overall play from the offensive line.

Former IMG Academy teammate Jerrick Gibson was quoted saying that "the fact that Francis got a starting spot makes him want to go to Miami."

The message conveyed to prospects is that they can earn playing time right away. The fact that Mauigoa has all but earned that spot is intriguing for future Hurricanes.

Knowing that you have such a talent in Mauigoa that has yet to play a college football game is refreshing for Hurricane fans. Miami potentially has an established a building block to build around to position itself for success in the future.

If Mauigoa continues on this upward trend, the freshman could very well be a first-round draft pick from the offensive line since 2015 (Ereck Flowers), which will also prove to be a selling point for future prospects.

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