Maybe it’s too soon to call Malachi Toney the King of Miami, but the title feels accurate.
The Miami Hurricanes have a very clear history of local guys that have done extremely well in the program. Howard Schellenberger very much credits local products Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton as the start of the modern era of “The U” and, of course, there are so many more (Michael Irvin, Sean Taylor, Andre Johnson, Willis McGahee, Dan Morgan, etc. etc. etc).
But Toney’s attachment to Miami, while not any more unique than the other stars that have come through, feels even more authentic. Maybe some of that is the social media age, but some of it is just the fact that the Hurricanes are back to dominating local recruiting and Toney is the ambassador for Miami guys playing for the home team…