How Many Wins Does Miami Need in Order to Deem the Upcoming Season a Success?

2019 left the Miami Hurricanes program in the basement, suffering embarrassing losses, including a shutout by Louisiana Tech in the Walk-Ons Independence Bowl, and posting a dismal final record of 6-7. At this point, a 7-win season would be a noticeable improvement—but Hurricanes fans want, and expect, much more.

While the new ‘Canes offense has generated massive attention and hype, it’s still unproven. Taking 2019’s disappointment into consideration, we can’t be sure of what to expect, or how efficient it will truly be. However, something to excited about is the Miami defense.

Jaelan Phillips gaining eligibility, Bubba Bolden recovering from injury, and the addition of All-American defensive end Quincy Roche make the upcoming version of the ‘Canes defense a ferocious one. Miami’s secondary is more experienced and the defensive line has great depth—an area that has a significant question mark is the linebacker position due to the departures of team-leaders, Michael Pinckney and Shaquille Quarterman.

With position previews and team predictions for the Hurricanes being widespread, the time has come to answer the proposed question: How many wins does Miami need in order to deem the upcoming season a success? In my own opinion, the ‘golden’ number is 10. Presumably, that’d put Miami in the ACC Championship with a possible New Year’s Six bid. Coming off a 6-7 season, that’d be a huge boost for the program and Manny Diaz—not to mention the implications it’d have in recruiting. Would 8 or 9 be an outright failure? No. 10, however, would seemingly usher in a new brand of Hurricanes football, proving and fulfilling the plan that Manny Diaz installed shortly after the conclusion of the 2019 season.