College football’s latest eligibility wrinkle has opened a door for Jack Pyburn, and Miami has a clear case for why it should walk through it.
On Wednesday evening, a judge in Louisiana granted a group of 16 players - including several in NFL training camps - a retraining order that allows them to return to college sports his season. Pyburn is among them, and the former LSU and Florida defensive end is now set to explore his options as a player who can return to college and enter the transfer portal.
That possibility matters because Pyburn brings exactly the kind of body and production Miami has been chasing on the edge. He went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft after logging 1,061 defensive snaps in college, and he’s already showing he can hold his own in pro settings, totaling a couple of sacks in a preseason game last week against the New York Jets while going through training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His college résumé is built across two stops. At Florida, Pyburn spent three seasons and finished with 80 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, and one interception. In 2025 at LSU, he added 52 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and 34 quarterback pressures.
The fit in Miami is easy to see, especially after the program parted ways with former five-star defensive end recruit Hayden Lowe just before the start of fall camp. Lowe, listed at 6-feet-5 and 265 pounds, was expected to give the Hurricanes starter-level depth and rotational impact. With him in the picture, UM could have made a strong argument for having the best top-four defensive end rotation in the country alongside Armondo Blount, Damon Wilson, and Marquise Lightfoot.
Even without Lowe, the need for four starter-quality defensive ends remains obvious for a team trying to survive a long season and make a run in the College Football Playoff. Pyburn would help Miami get there.
The numbers back that up. According to PFF, Pyburn posted a 72.9 run defense grade and an 85.3 run defense grade at LSU last season while playing 560 defensive snaps.
At 6-feet-4 and 264 pounds, he has the size and strength to help on the edge, plus the technique and experience to matter as a pass rusher. He plays with an impressive motor, and in 2025 he averaged 47 defensive snaps per game in the SEC.
He also showed he could create real disruption. Pyburn had five games in 2025 with at least three quarterback pressures, and he battered a bad South Carolina offensive line for eight quarterback pressures.
There’s another angle here too: Miami’s recent track record developing defensive ends. The Hurricanes produced two first round defensive ends in the 2026 NFL Draft, and that kind of development should get Pyburn’s attention. Rueben Bain was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2026 NFL Draft, and Pyburn has been impressed by the work ethic and technique the former Hurricane has shown in training camp.
Pyburn should also be looking at Akheem Mesidor, who made a big jump in 2025 under defensive line coach Jason Taylor. Mesidor is currently 25 years old, while Pyburn is 22, and Taylor helped him put it all together and significantly improve his NFL Draft stock as a veteran college player.
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The addition also pushes Miami to 14 players for the 2026-27 season, which only sharpens the larger roster picture as the staff continues sorting out how this group will fit together. Miller brings size and defensive tools, but his arrival is part of a bigger question now facing the Hurricanes: how all of these pieces will be managed once the roster is finally set. [Read more 🡒]