Miami tight end Cam McCormick said Thursday that he would return to play for the Hurricanes in 2024 — his ninth season of college football.
McCormick, who began his career at Oregon in 2016, missed significant parts of four different seasons due to injury, which along with his redshirt year and the COVID year of 2020 allowed him to petition the NCAA for an unprecedented ninth season of eligibility.
He announced his return on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday with the tagline “the pursuit of excellence has no goal line,” calling 2024 his “last ride.”
McCormick, 25, was originally a three-star prospect out of Bend, Oregon. He was part of the 2016 signing class at Oregon that included quarterback Justin Herbert and a national class that included Nick Bosa, Ed Oliver, Rashan Gary and Jalen Hurts — all now established NFL veterans.
After redshirting as a true freshman in 2016, McCormick played in 13 games as a reserve in 2017. Then came a string of injuries — a broken leg in 2018 followed by complications that cost him 2019 and 2020 and then a foot injury two weeks into the 2021 season. He was granted a sixth year of eligibility in 2019 then had another added in 2020 when the NCAA gave an extra season to all FBS players.
In 2022, McCormick finally was able to play a full season, appearing in 13 games with six starts and earning the Capital One Orange Bowl FWAA Courage Award for his perseverance. He was granted eighth and ninth years of eligibility ahead of 2023 before transferring to Miami, where he was reunited with coach Mario Cristobal. He caught eight passes for 62 yards for the Hurricanes last season, but he had to resubmit his waiver to the ACC for the ninth year this offseason.