PLANTATION, Fla. — When the Miami Hurricanes and Indiana Hoosiers take the field for the national championship next week, the moment will feel like a homecoming for dozens of players raised and trained in South Florida — and for the high school coaches who helped shape them.
Two of the region’s most prominent football programs, American Heritage and St. Thomas Aquinas, each sent four former players to the Hurricanes’ current roster, a point of pride for coaches who say the foundation built years ago prepared them for this stage.
“When you can get all the kids from one area and to have pride in that one area, I mean that’s the intangible that that that you know that that you’re looking at right there,” said Mike Smith, head football coach at American Heritage.
Smith coached wide receiver Malachi Toney, running back Mark Fletcher Jr., and defensive backs Xavier Lucas and Demari Brown before they moved on to college football.
He said the bond between the players and the program remains strong.
“They come here and they’re part of our culture and they all come back and train,” Smith said. “I think that’s a big thing that that’s unique to this school is that they all come back and train here and work out in the offseason.”
At St. Thomas Aquinas, head coach Roger Harriott watched cornerback OJ Frederick Jr., defensive backs Isaiah Taylor and Ryan Mack, and running back Jordan Lyle develop into national championship contenders after leaving the Fort Lauderdale powerhouse.
“Watching those guys grow and take what they’ve learned here from a faith based foundation a foundational standpoint and progress, you know, to to the to the college level it’s just, it’s an amazing thing to, to, to to to witness,” Harriott said.
St. Thomas Aquinas is also known as the alma mater of NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, adding to the program’s storied legacy.
“We’re extremely blessed and we are looking forward to them winning the national championship,” Harriott said. “They’re focused. They’re locked in and again just finished. They know they know, keep the main thing the main thing and just finish.”
The national title game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, adding another layer of significance for players who grew up nearby.
More than two dozen Hurricanes on the roster have South Florida ties, along with four players on the Hoosiers, including Fernando and Alberto Mendoza.
With family, friends and former coaches watching closely, the spotlight will shine not only on the teams, but on the South Florida football pipeline that helped get them there.
For the coaches, the pride is clear — but the work, they say, is not finished.
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