Washington State’s Ethan O’Connor was a priority target for the Miami Hurricanes in this portal cycle, a playmaking cornerback who is very much needed in a UM secondary that struggled mightily this season.
And Miami’s won out with him. O’Connor has announced he chose UM over Oklahoma, Georgia, Colorado and UCLA. He joins Arizona CB Emmanuel Karnley and Michigan State CB Charles Brantley as new portal cornerback additions for the Canes … a position that desperately needed help after last season’s issues.
Off his UM visit Dec. 15, O’Connor told CaneSport “It was beautiful. First thing I have to say is for sure I’ve never seen anything like that before. I had a great time really liked it, the history of it, campus tour – it was awesome. … Coach (Mario) Cristobal is a great dude. He said he really wants me there, says I’m kind of like the missing piece right now. They need a corner they can play on an island that they don’t have to worry about teams throwing bombs over. They want to put me on an island, they want me because they can trust me on an island. That’s what I’m used to, what I did at Wazzu. That’s it right there.”
He adds that “They also have a great DB (OJ Frederique) on the other side. They are really trying to build something.”
As for what O’Connor brings to Miami?
The 6-2, 176-pounder had a team-high four interceptions, eight pass breakups and 32 tackles this past season after redshirting and playing off the bench in two games in 2023 – that was year in which he overlapped at Washington State with current Miami QB Cam Ward.
Per Pro Football Focus O’Connor had a 78.2 overall grade this year in 755 reps, including a stellar 80.1 cover grade. He was targeted 62 times and allowed 32 completions for 406 yards and three TDs along with his four picks.
O’Connor has great speed, a 22 MPH runner.
“He’s long, smooth in his movement, everything real quiet,” O’Connor’s former high school coach, Ray Fenton, said. “He has the Miami mindset back in the day of defensive guys – hyper competitive, no mercy, would rather rip your jersey off and win. I’d compare him to those guys back in the day when there was no mercy.”
O’Connor has three years of eligibility remaining.
Landing him is a big boost for the Miami secondary after only one DB enjoyed fairly consistent success in 2024 – the aformentioned true freshman Frederique. In addition to the other transfers, UM also will return CB/nickel Jadais Richard, and CB/nickel Damari Brown, who could be a standout but missed most of the season injured. The expectation is that O’Connor will come in and compete to be a playmaking starter. Miami’s also landed a safety in the portal: Jacksonville State’s Zechariah Poyser.
Certainly Miami needs O’Connor to be a standout off a rough UM secondary performance in 2024.
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