The Rundown Take
Signature Win or Fool's Gold? U Talk Previews Ranked Pitt With Storm Warning's Groove
Friday night ahead of a home date with No. 17 Pitt, Devin and Larry Frank Jr. tried to figure out whether Miami's win over NC State was a real signature victory or a one-off before reality set back in. Guest Groove of the Storm Warning channel joined mid-show, and between coaching-search speculation and a trip down memory lane at quarterback, the room found plenty to argue about with 3-4 Miami hosting a 6-1 Panthers team.
Key Takeaways
- Larry Frank Jr. called the NC State win a "signature victory to an extent" — not a top-ten scalp, but a game Miami wasn't expected to win, and enough to get to 2-2 in ACC play with a victory over Pitt.
- The panel's defensive-line focus for Saturday: get pressure on Kenny Pickett before he settles into a rhythm, with Larry Frank Jr. openly hoping for extra blitzes.
- Guest Groove floated Bill Clark of UAB as a sleeper head-coach candidate if Miami moves on from Manny Diaz, alongside the expected Lane Kiffin and Mel Tucker speculation.
- A long nostalgia detour revisited the Malik Rosier–N'Kosi Perry–Jarren Williams quarterback carousel, with the panel agreeing Perry never got a fair shake before transferring to FAU.
- Jaylan Knighton was pegged as a player one clean push from the offensive line away from a breakout game, with the group hoping Rhett Lashlee stays aggressive instead of going conservative once Miami builds a lead.
Two and Two, or Business as Usual
Larry Frank Jr. laid out the stakes plainly: beat Pitt and Miami sits at 2-2 in the ACC, ahead of North Carolina on the loss column and holding the tiebreaker over the Panthers themselves. The bigger question was whether the team could handle success — Miami hadn't followed up a meaningful win with another test all year, and the panel wanted to see whether practice intensity and Rhett Lashlee's aggressiveness carried over from the first series against NC State, or whether the offense would get conservative again once things got tight on the road in cold weather.
Groove Joins the Coaching Search
When Groove came on, the conversation turned hypothetical fast: if Manny Diaz goes, who inherits the roster? The group kicked around Lane Kiffin — an instant offensive upgrade, in their view — and Mel Tucker, tied up with LSU speculation of his own, before Groove made the case for UAB's Bill Clark, pointing to Clark rebuilding a shut-down program into back-to-back conference championships and recruiting Alabama's overflow talent. The consensus: whoever comes in should keep position coaches like the defensive line's Jeff Simpson rather than cleaning house wholesale.
Rosier, Perry, and What Might Have Been
Groove and the hosts spent a long stretch relitigating the Mark Richt-era quarterback battles, with the group agreeing N'Kosi Perry deserved more patience than he got before Jarren Williams took the job and Perry eventually left for FAU, where he's playing well now. The larger point tied back to Saturday: Tyler Van Dyke, unlike Perry or D'Eriq King before his injury, has both the arm and the size to let Rhett Lashlee open up the offense — if the coaching staff lets him.
Before signing off, the hosts pointed to Pitt's Kenny Pickett as the swing factor — "he will pick you apart if you let him" — and reminded the chat that Miami is 7-2 against Pitt in the last nine meetings, kickoff set for Saturday at noon on the ACC Network.