‘Academic requirements’ trigger redshirt for 4-star 2019 Miami signee

One very heralded member of Miami’s most recent recruiting class has yet to see the field in 2019, and, thanks to academic issues, you won’t see him at all this season.

After picking up his first win as The U’s head football coach this past Saturday, Manny Diaz revealed that linebacker Avery Huff and defensive lineman Cameron Williams will be utilizing their redshirt years this season. Per Diaz, the two defenders will be sidelined because of what he described as “academic requirements.”

The two players will still be permitted to practice with the team

“Cam and Avery are both not going to be able to play this year due to academic requirements,” the coach said according to the Miami Herald, “so this will be their redshirt year and they’ll be good to go next year.”

A couple of years ago, the NCAA instituted an academic redshirt for those student-athletes who do “NOT meet all of the initial-eligibility standards... for competition.” As relayed by 247Sports.com:

If a college-bound student-athlete does NOT meet all of the initial-eligibility standards (core-course progression requirement, minimum 2.3 core-course grade point average (GPA)) for competition, a separate certification is completed using the 16 core courses with the best grades in the student’s academic record (no core-course progression requirement) to calculate the core-course GPA for academic redshirt purposes. This core-course GPA is paired with the student’s SAT or ACT score and assessed against the academic redshirt sliding scale (minimum 2.0 core-course GPA).

Huff was a four-star 2019 signee, rated as the No. 12 outside linebacker in the country. Only three other signees in the Hurricanes’ 18-player class were rated higher than the Fort Lauderdale high schooler.

Williams, meanwhile, was a three-star signee.