New Miami Hurricanes have arrived in Coral Gables. Football is around the corner

Soon-to-be University of Miami offensive lineman Frankie Tinilau, a 6-6, 323-pound recent Miami La Salle High graduate and native Australian of Samoan and Spanish heritage, was intent on taking future roommate Tommy “Bruno” Kinsler for a spin around Miami Beach.

“He was sitting in the dorm with no car or nothing,’’ Tinilau, 19, said last week in his thick Aussie accent. “We’ve been hanging out lately — trying to build a bond with the boys.’’

Tinilau, who finally moved into his dorm this past weekend after receiving word June 6 that the NCAA approved his international paperwork, was met by a large group of Hurricanes who also wanted to hang out.

“We all ended up going to Topgolf,’’ Tinilau told the Miami Herald of the large, golf-oriented entertainment venue in Miami Gardens. “All” included 6-6, 330-pound offensive lineman Kinsler, tight end Jackson Carver, quarterback Emory Williams, receiver Nathaniel “Ray Ray” Joseph, offensive lineman Antonio Tripp, transfer linebacker Francisco Mauigoa and his younger, five-star offensive lineman brother Francis.

“I’m definitely excited,’’ Tinilau said of his new journey. “I’ve been around campus long enough to have the feel of the school and the coaching staff and the workouts. The attitude in the locker room is one of respect and caring. Great vibes. Everyone is trying to help each other out.”

The fast-approaching summer can only mean one thing for the Miami Hurricanes: Football is around the corner. Practice will begin the first week of August to prepare for the 7 p.m. Sept. 1 season opener against Miami of Ohio at Hard Rock Stadium.

The UM Class of 2023 recent campus arrivals who did not participate in spring include freshmen Tinilau, Kinsler, running back Mark Fletcher, running back Christopher Johnson, cornerback Damari Brown, linebacker Raul Aguirre, linebacker Marcellius Pulliam and defensive lineman Joshua Horton. The recently arrived transfers include running back Ajay Allen (Nebraska), offensive lineman Luis Cristobal (Georgia State), defensive lineman Anthony Campbell (Louisiana-Monroe), receiver Tyler Harrell (Alabama), cornerback Jadais Richard (Vanderbilt) and cornerback Jaden Davis (Oklahoma).

If they haven’t already, wide receiver transfer Shemar Kirk (Reedley College), cornerback Demetrius Freeney (College of San Mateo) and linebacker K.J. Cloyd (Louisville) are expected to enroll soon.

NCAA rules

The Hurricanes will attend summer-session classes and lift and work out under the supervision of strength-and-conditioning coaches. Like players in the past, they will practice informally among themselves with no coaches present. They’re given “not more than” two hours a week to review film with coaches and “not more than” two hours to spend on “noncontact skill-related instruction,’’ per NCAA rules. During skill-related instruction, it is impermissible for athletes to wear helmets or shoulder pads or any protective equipment, or use any football-related equipment except for the football itself.

The players, as you can imagine, are more than ready.

“I’m really excited about a new life, a new start,’’ Fort Lauderdale Dillard High grad, UM incoming tailback and Miami Herald Broward Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year Johnson told the Herald just before he defended two state track titles and subsequently enrolled at UM. One championship finish was the fastest 200-meter dash in state history (20.40 seconds) and the other a 10.25 in the 100 meters, two-tenths of a second faster than he won it in last year.

The 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds by Usain Bolt of Jamaica in 2009; The 200-meter world record is 19.19 by Bolt, also in 2009.

Johnson, a 5-11, 178-pound 18-year-old rated the nation’s 17th-best running back in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2023 class, said in May that he’d “been waiting too long’’ to arrive at the U, and was getting a bit impatient for his college start. “I’m looking forward to being around a lot of new people and getting affiliated with my teammates and coaches. I talk to Coach [Mario] Cristobal at least every other day.”

Johnson chose UM over finalist Ole Miss and said the best advice he’s gotten is to “stay focused on my goals and don’t get caught up in the wrong things.’’

“I know it’s my first year, but I want to make a big impact,’’ Johnson said of the upcoming season.

He said he’s interested in running spring track and looking forward to playing football with fellow incoming freshman running back Fletcher, his roommate who arrived on campus May 21.

“I’m lightning and he’s thunder,’’ Johnson said.

Thundering newcomer

“Thunder’’ spoke to the Herald before his May 20 graduation from Plantation American Heritage and just a couple of hours before his prom.

“I’ve been getting ready all day today,’’ said Fletcher, a 6-1, 226-pound former four-star prospect now rated by 247Sports as the nation’s seventh-best 2023 incoming running back. “I’m renting a little Corvette. It’s matte green — unfortunately no orange this time. My girlfriend is wearing royal blue. We’ve been dating for a little minute.’’

Fletcher, who wore an “all-black suit with a little turtleneck’’ to prom, ran for 4,124 yards on 7.7 yards per carry and 114.6 yards per game his past three years of high school, winning a Class 5A championship in 2019 and again leading American Heritage to the Class 2M title game in December.

This past season, he finished with 1,934 yards and 23 touchdowns on 226 carries. He caught 13 passes for 157 yards and another touchdown.

“I’m trying to get into sports medicine and study kinesiology — learning how the body moves,’’ Fletcher said, noting that academics are important to him.

“They’ve been working out and are ready to get on to this next chapter of their careers,’’ said American Heritage head coach Mike Smith of Fletcher and another newly arrived Heritage freshman, cornerback Damari Brown. “These are kids that are very driven, very focused. They’re both great kids.’’

‘Nonstop’ lives

Smith said he’s not concerned that his recent graduates, like the ones from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High, arrive on campus during the summer as opposed to those who enroll early and partake in spring practice. “We’ve got 14 guys in the NFL right now and they didn’t early enroll,’’ the coach said. “These kids from the time they’ve been in little league have been nonstop. There’s never really an offseason for them. These final weeks before college are the one chance they’ll have in their life to still be a kid, go to prom, go to graduation.

“Everyone knows that once you get to that next level it’s a business.’’

Fletcher, 18, said the end of his childhood years “had to happen someday.’’

“This is something I’ve been talking about with my dad since I was little,’’ he said. “I’m basically forming into a man and ready to be the best version of myself.’’