‘Leadership is coupled with performance’: The new group making up Miami’s offensive line

Going into the 2025 college football season, dialogue surrounding the Miami University RedHawks centered around the roster turnover.

Half of the starters on defense from last year were missing, but most notably, all 11 starters on offense had to be replaced ahead of this season. Beyond a new quarterback and bringing up new wide receivers, the coaching staff needed to replace five offensive linemen.

The previous squad consisted of standout players like Reid Holskey, a First-Team All MAC selection in 2024. Kolby Bolders and John Young graduated with Holskey, while Will Jados transferred to Texas Tech University.

Without those starters, offensive line coach James Patton needed to prepare the next group of players to take over.

“It’s five guys working together on every play, and guys got to get their jobs done,” Patton said. “We know that. This is a really good group. They work hard, they care about what they do, they care about each other. There’s a standard that the smart, tough and accountable guys want to live up to.”

Miami brought in two transfers: redshirt senior Austin Uke from Stanford University as well as redshirt sophomore Mitchell Butler from Mississippi College. The rest of the group includes 10 returners and four freshmen.

While this group doesn’t have the same starting experience as before, several found playing time throughout 2024. Redshirt junior Drew Terrill even started in the Arizona Bowl at the end of the year. He’s the only lineman on the roster who started a game before the 2025 season.

Losing those veterans impacted the team early on, but redshirt junior Gavin Rohrs said this only made the RedHawks work harder to prove that they were ready to move up.

“It’s our mentality,” Rohrs said. “All my time here, we’ve had guys that have started several games, guys that have played a couple thousand snaps. Last year, we had a lot of veteran guys on the o-line. This year, we [had] nobody … We had a lot to prove this year, and we’re going to continue to keep proving what we want to prove and show everybody what we’re about.”

Throughout the offseason, the linemen prepared themselves to see the field a lot more than in previous years. However, many of them also stepped up as the new leaders in the locker room.

“They’ve done great,” Patton said. “In terms of a leadership role, a young guy like Kris Manu stepped in and done a really good job … But they’re all leaders in their own ways with effort and attitude and how they practice and how they work together. Leadership is coupled with performance.”

Creating a cohesive offensive line would be especially important this season with a new cast of running backs and a scrambling quarterback in Dequan Finn. The RedHawks tend to rely on their passing game but enjoy a reliable ground game, going for 1,894 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns last year.

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With five new starters protecting the quarterback and opening paths for running backs to break through, ensuring the linemen were on the same page at all times was pivotal. For redshirt freshman Kris Manu, this year’s group seems to get along better than in his first season.

“Last year, I really wasn’t as connected with these guys,” Manu said. “Now, I spent another whole year with them. Every day, in and out, I love these guys. These are my people. It’s really a brotherhood.”

So far this season, the RedHawks have used a combination of redshirt senior running back Jordan Brunson in the middle of the field and redshirt freshman running back D’Shawntae Jones at the goal-line.

Patton said his goal for the group is to keep the rest of the offense energized, especially on crucial conversions and endzone pushes.

“It’s in the trenches,” Patton said. “They gotta win their blocks, and they know that. If it gets to third-and-short, somebody’s gotta knock somebody in the endzone, and we have big backs that can run through there and make things happen. Our guys take pride in that, and they feel that surge of energy when they see guys like Brunson and D’Shawntae running through guys.”

Miami has one more game in the regular season against Ball State University on Nov. 28.

“We know we should win these games,” Terrill said. “These are games where we can dominate and take over if all 11 people do their job. Our mindset is that we want to win the conference. That’s how we take it every day and every week, and I think we feel good about any team we go against.”

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