MIAMI — Miami Hurricanes special teams analyst Ferras Isa is the guardian of the unit’s secret weapon.
One of his tasks is to prepare small shots of Cuban-style espresso for the staff and for the special teams players, who do a quick shot of cafecito before each game.
“Ferras makes the best coffee on the staff,” said UM coach and Miami native Mario Cristobal. “It’s part of his obligations and duties as an assistant coach. And he does, he makes the best one. In terms of the other ones, I don’t want to get into a competitive warfare in Miami as to who makes the best coffee, but it’s certainly an offseason project that I look forward to delving into.”
The Hurricanes’ special teams players have been caught on camera, drinking Isa’s coffee as they get ready for each game.
“He likes to call himself the Cafecito Coordinator,” UM special teams coach Danny Kalter told The Athletic.
Miami things ☕️
The Canes took shots of cafecito before the semis 😂 pic.twitter.com/q4DYsJEiis
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) January 8, 2026
Miami’s special teams players have done well throughout the season. Punter Dylan Joyce is averaging a career-long 44.2 yards per punt. Long-snapper Adam Booker has not made waves — except for when he sprinted down the field on a punt and made a tackle against Louisville. Kicker Carter Davis is 17 for 23 on field goals this season. When he did not do a pre-game shot of cafecito against Texas A&M, he went 1 for 4 on field goals (though the swirling winds may have been the bigger factor).
“It definitely gets you moving, though,” Davis told The Athletic. “You can feel it.”
Not every player is into the pre-game ritual, though.
“I’ve become familiar with the Cuban coffee and cafecito throughout my year here at Miami,” said center and Texas native James Brockermeyer. “And obviously it’s really good stuff, but I don’t do it with all those guys before the game.”
Cristobal shares memories of ’83
Cristobal often moves on to other topics when asked if the Hurricanes are “back” to their championship ways of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
But Cristobal does have plenty of memories of those title-winning teams. He watched the 1983 team win the program’s first title and saw Jimmy Johnson win the 1987 championship. Cristobal was a player on Dennis Erickson’s two title-winning teams, and saw the 2001 team get put together when he was a graduate assistant on Butch Davis’ staff from 1998-2000.
But the 1983 title game stands out to Cristobal for the way it brought Miami together.
“I was watching it at my grandfather’s — he had a black-and-white TV, antenna was all screwy, so it was coming in and out, but I remember every bit of it,” Cristobal said. “I remember every bit of it, all the way down to Calhoun, Kenny Calhoun, deflecting that two-point conversion. It started it, right? People don’t realize the extent that Howard Schnellenberger went to to change the image of the University of Miami, both in attracting great players and then to the outside world. He’s like the godfather of it and was able to pass it down to some unbelievable coaches.
“But I remember it vividly, and certainly — and for us the focus is, of course, 2026.”
