The Rundown Take
Okay or Dominant? U Talk Grades the New-Look Miami Defense on Father's Day Weekend
Devin broadcast from a family reunion in Orlando and Larry Frank Jr. joined from the road for a Father's Day weekend show built around one question: with a new defensive coordinator, a retooled linebacker room and Jason Taylor now on staff, will Miami's defense be dominant this year, or just okay? The room split the difference and landed somewhere in between — with the phone lines backing them up.
Key Takeaways
- Larry Frank Jr. set the tone: not dominant right out of the gate, but "way better than okay," pointing to real improvement at linebacker and along both lines.
- Consensus definition of success — hold opposing offenses to 24-27 points and let the offense do the rest, since true shutdown defenses are a thing of the past in the modern spread era.
- Cam Kitchens and James Williams return as the two proven leaders of the unit, both entering their second year at the position after All-America-caliber 2022 seasons.
- Jason Taylor's presence as an on-staff assistant was framed as a major add — a Hall of Fame voice the coordinators and even Mario Cristobal have to respect and listen to.
- Callers pointed to the Notre Dame-Marshall tape as the best available preview of new coordinator's scheme, and predicted a top-25 defensive finish would count as "dominant enough" given where the unit has been the last few years.
The Case for "Better Than Okay"
Larry Frank Jr. argued that judging defenses by old standards — holding teams to 16 or 17 points — doesn't apply anymore against today's spread offenses; even Georgia's dominant unit couldn't do that every week. Instead, he set the bar at 24-27 points allowed, paired with a defense that plays fast and disciplined rather than needing "elite" players at every spot. Callers built on that, crediting the incoming defensive line and linebacker transfers with adding size and speed that the unit lacked a year ago, while flagging the secondary as the group still needing to prove itself in live snaps.
Jason Taylor's Locker-Room Weight
Multiple callers zeroed in on Jason Taylor's hire as a difference-maker beyond X's and O's — comparing his impact to what Jimmy Johnson's mentorship did for Taylor's own playing career with the Dolphins. The thinking: even Cristobal, as the unquestioned head of the program, has to defer to a Hall of Fame pass rusher's football mind, and that voice in meetings could sharpen technique across the defensive front.
"It's not about being dominant, I think it's more about having the right fit. If you can get that defense into the top 25, man, that's dominant enough for me, coming from where we were the last few years."
The show closed on a personal note for Father's Day weekend — Devin, broadcasting from his hometown reunion, and Larry Frank Jr. both took a moment to tell fathers in the chat to hold their loved ones close, referencing a family member of Ray Lewis going through a hard time. The crew also teased a second annual U Talk Bash coming to Miami later in the year.