It’s finally the weekend and yesterday Miami’s preseason recognition continued, with kicker Jack Olsen the latest Hurricane to land on a national award watch list.
Olsen has been named to the 2026 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason Watch List after an impressive 2025 season at Northwestern. He converted 19 of 21 field-goal attempts, made 24 of 25 extra points and finished the year with 81 points.
It might not grab the same headlines as Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney or Mark Fletcher Jr., but reliable kicking could be hugely important for Miami this season. Tight road games and close ACC contests can come down to a handful of points, and Olsen gives the Hurricanes another experienced option in a key area.
His recognition also continues a busy run of preseason honours for Miami. Toney has already been named a Sporting News Preseason First-Team All-American, Elija Lofton is on the John Mackey Award watch list, while Mensah, Toney and Fletcher have all received Maxwell Award recognition.
Away from the awards, Miami’s wide receiver room remains one of the more interesting camp battles.
Toney is obviously the headline name, but Joshua Moore, Cooper Barkate, Cam Vaughn, Vandrevius Jacobs and others are competing for roles around him. Moore has drawn some early attention in camp as he looks to establish himself as a regular part of the offence.
There is competition elsewhere too, with freshman offensive lineman Ben Congdon pushing for work at guard as Miami continue experimenting with combinations up front.
No major new injury or recruiting news emerged, so for now the focus remains firmly on camp and which players can turn early promise into meaningful snaps.
The Last Word from Across the Pond
Olsen adding his name to Miami’s growing watch-list collection is another reminder of the talent across this roster. The stars will take most of the attention, but camp is really about finding the dependable pieces around them. If Miami can get that right, the Canes should have plenty more than preseason awards to talk about.
