Grandpa knows best. Miami TE Elijah Arroyo, back after 13 months, gets good advice
Elijah Arroyo couldn’t help but grow up a Hurricanes fan.
The Hurricanes are just glad he kept growing.
With his grandfather, Canes fanatic and Miami resident Marvin Hudson, taking him to Miami games when he was a little guy wearing green and orange and all the paraphernalia that grandpa could gather, no wonder the former blue-chip tight end from Frisco, Texas, chose the Hurricanes when it came time to announce his decision in May 2020.
“I remember before I committed I asked him, because I knew he was going to tell me an honest answer, ‘I’m thinking about coming here. Do you think it’s a good idea?’’’ the 6-4, 245-pound third-year sophomore said Tuesday of his grandfather. “’I know you want me to, but outside looking in, like, do you think it’ll be good?’’’
“Even now he tells me, ‘That’s a great decision you made. I don’t know how you made a decision that well at the age of 16, 17.’’’
Arroyo is grateful for the decision — and for learning patience along the way.
Arroyo, ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 4 tight end as a four-star prospect and 21st-best player in Texas, returned to the field for the first time in 13 months last Saturday at North Carolina after sustaining an ACL tear in his left knee Sept. 22, 2022, against Middle Tennessee State. He said a preseason “setback’’ with the injury kept him out until now, but he’s finally ready to make an impact as, hopefully, the next great UM tight end among many.
Miami (4-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) meets Clemson (4-2, 2-2) at 8 p.m. Saturday (The ACC Network) at Hard Rock Stadium.
“It was such a blessing just being on the field, being able to be out there with my guys,’’ said Arroyo, who wore compression leggings over a knee brace and played only six snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, but is expected to be integrated more heavily into the game plan. “It’s been a long time coming. I hadn’t been on the field in over a year. It just felt good to be out there with my brothers.
“Yeah, I feel good.’’
In 2021, behind then-future NFL tight end Will Mallory, Arroyo caught five passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in 12 games. Last season, Arroyo had five catches for 66 yards before he sustained the injury in the fourth game. This season, tight ends Cam McCormick, Riley Williams and Jaleel Skinner have combined for just five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.
‘Fired up’
“We’ve called their number a couple times and they weren’t targeted due to a pressure or a coverage or the ball was dictated to go somewhere else,’’ UM coach Mario Cristobal said this week. “But they are a big part of our offense, which hasn’t shown yet. We feel confident it will show in the coming weeks.
“Elijah is good to go. He’s 100 percent healthy and fired up. So, you’ll be seeing a lot more Elijah Arroyo.’’
Asked the importance of the tight ends contributing to the passing game in addition to blocking, Arroyo described his fellow tight ends as “selfless.’’
“We’ll do whatever it takes to win. We’re not worried about stats.”
Arroyo was born in Orlando and moved to Palmetto Bay when he was a baby. He attended baseball camps in Coral Gables and at age 7 moved to Mexico. He lived in Cancun until about age 12, when he moved with his family to Texas.
He was a left-handed quarterback for the freshman team at Independence High in Frisco, then started three games at junior varsity quarterback as a sophomore before being promoted to varsity and transitioning to tight end. As a junior he caught 48 passes for 648 yards and five touchdowns, and as a senior caught 31 passes for 690 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“Elijah is a great player,’’ said UM leading receiver Xavier Restrepo, who has 47 catches for 574 yards and four touchdowns this season. “Just glad he’s going to be on the field with us. He can block, catch, run routes, is fast and has heart.’’
Will Mallory
Arroyo still keeps in contact with Mallory, drafted this year in the fifth round by the Indianapolis Colts.
“I’m always picking at his brain because he’s at the next level now,’’ Arroyo said.
Mallory called Arroyo “ginormous” and a “freak’’ when he first got to UM. “I was always undersized,’’ Mallory said. “Him being so big already, he seems confident and smooth. He’s already way farther ahead than I was.’’
Arroyo reminisced about attending UM games as a youngster and complaining at times to his grandfather.
“He used to take us to a lot of the games,’’ he said. “And I remember as a kid, like, shoot, football games are kind of long. I’d be wanting to leave. I’m like, ‘Shoot, can we go?’ He’s like, ‘After this drive.’ A drive would go by and he’s, ‘After this drive.’
“But it’s cool.’’
Moral of the story: Always listen to grandpa.
“Yeah, I’m real glad he influenced me and helped me come here,’’ Arroyo said. “It has flown by. I tell the younger guys all the time, ‘Take advantage of it because it’s going to [go by] like that.
“It has been great.’’
