CORAL GABLES, Fla. _ It's official _ Tate Martell will be able to play this season for the Hurricanes.
Martell, a transfer from Ohio State, has been granted a waiver from the NCAA that will make him eligible to play immediately, instead of forcing the quarterback to sit out the typical year required of most transfer athletes, a source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday afternoon.
Not long after that, the Hurricanes formally announced Martell's waiver had been approved, with Miami athletic director Blake James praising the NCAA's decision.
"We are pleased with this ruling and appreciate the NCAA recognizing that this waiver met the criteria under the membership established guidelines," James said in a statement. "We would like to thank the NCAA, as well as Ohio State University, for their assistance and support throughout the waiver process. We look forward to seeing Tate compete for the Hurricanes this season."
The waiver means the former four-star prospect out of Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman will be one of three quarterbacks this spring _ and potentially five this fall _ competing for Miami's starting job, along with redshirt sophomores N'Kosi Perry, redshirt freshman Jarren Williams and signee Peyton Matocha, who is scheduled to arrive in Coral Gables this summer.
And there's no doubt adding Martell to the mix could be a boon for the Hurricanes, who were unable to get consistent quarterback play last season from Perry and Malik Rosier, who graduated and exhausted his eligibility in December.
Perry and Rosier alternated starts during Miami's 7-6 season, with Perry making six starts and appearing in 11 games. He completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,031 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He is the only one of the Hurricanes' quarterbacks with any kind of significant playing time at the collegiate level.
While Martell didn't see much playing time at Ohio State, he did complete 23-of-28 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. Rated the nation's No. 2 dual-threat quarterback coming out of Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High in 2017, Martell also ran 22 times for 128 yards and two more touchdowns.
In high school, the former U.S. Army All-American earned Player of the Year honors from Gatorade, MaxPreps and USA Today. At Bishop Gorman _ where Martell played with current Hurricanes tight end Brevin Jordan and safety Bubba Bolden _ Martell threw for 7,507 yards and 113 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. He also rushed for 2,294 yards with 35 additional touchdowns for the Gaels.
In his brief tenure at Miami, he has already earned praise from both coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Dan Enos, both of whom say Martell has the potential to be a force.
"Tate is a person that if he was standing in this room, within 15 minutes there would be 15 people standing around him. He's just got that personality people gravitate to. He's a natural leader of men. He's a guy that, when he was in seventh grade, drew up his own playbook. He just loves ball. He loves playing the position of quarterback," Diaz said in February.
"Obviously, he has some really, really impressive physical abilities, but, more than anything, he's a guy that wants to come in and just compete for our quarterback position. He understood our situation on this roster. And to be able to work with Dan Enos and get coached by a guy that's got an amazing track record for developing quarterbacks, it was just a great fit between us and him and the fact that we've got a couple other Bishop Gorman guys here helps him feel at home."
