CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Ethan O’Connor’s first season at Miami ended with a memory he won’t forget, but not for the reasons he wanted.
The transfer corner from Washington State walked into last season as one of the Canes’ biggest defensive additions, and he spent the year helping shape one of the country’s best secondaries. But the National Championship game left the sharpest mark.
Miami kept getting picked apart by Fernando Mendoza and Charlie Becker, with the back-shoulder fade becoming a problem all night long. For O’Connor, one bad night lingered far longer than he would have liked.
Still, that stretch also gave him a clear takeaway.
"What I learned is to have your brothers by your side," O'Connor said. "It's real hard to get through something by yourself.
If it wasn't for the group of corners, the defensive line and safeties, the linebackers, we wouldn't be able to go as far as we did without them, so I'm thankful for them, bro. Like, I went through those tough times, especially after the playoffs, and my brother kept me alive for real."
O’Connor, a 6-foot-1 junior, finished the season with 28 total tackles and five pass deflections. The one stat he wants to change this year is his interception total. The opportunities were there, but a few chances slipped away.
That wasn’t just on him. It was a team-wide issue, with Bryce Fitzgerald the exception after leading the ACC in interceptions as a freshman. The jugs machine has been part of the fix for everyone in the room, not just the receivers.
Now O’Connor is back for year two in Miami, and so is the secondary around him. The group returns together, and that continuity is part of what has him fired up heading into camp.
"It's going to be a good thing," O'Connor said. "I think we're all getting closer and closer.
Today, especially with all camp coming up, so just the case aspect too, like, like we've got a lot of guys here just really want to work. I'm excited for it."
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