Hurricanes’ Kam Kinchens to skip Pinstripe Bowl to prepare for NFL draft

WELLINGTON — Miami Hurricanes standout safety Kam Kinchens has played his last game in green and orange.

Kinchens, an All-American in 2022, will skip Miami’s bowl game against Rutgers on Dec. 28 so he can prepare for the NFL draft, he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Saturday.

“That one was kind of tough because I didn’t play in a bowl game yet since I’ve been here at UM,” Kinchens said. “So it was kind of hard.”

Kinchens, who was signing autographs for fans at Palm Beach Autographs in the Mall at Wellington Green through a memorabilia contract with Clubhouse Authentics, was expected to enter the NFL draft, but had not previously made a public announcement.

Kinchens said he thought the decision to leave college early would be difficult, but after talking with UM coaches, he knew what decision was right for him, especially after earning his degree in broadcast journalism.

“At first, I thought it was going to be tough, but then after we had our exit meeting with our coaches and stuff, it made it way easier,” Kinchens said. “They weren’t too much trying to bring me back at all. They kind of said, ‘Graduating in three, you gave everything you had to the university all three years so it’s like there’s nothing more for you to do.’ They were like, ‘We’re not trying to push you out, of course. We’ll take you back.’ ”

Kinchens is going west to train with the agency Athletes First at their Southern California facilities. He wants to work on his running technique but thinks he is in a good position otherwise to get healthy and prepare for the draft.

“I know I can run fast, so it’s more of just perfecting the technique, make sure I run a good 40,” Kinchens said. “I think everything else I do with flying colors.”

Kinchens said he has a lot of great memories from his time at UM but his favorites are not big matchups at Hard Rock Stadium or road trips to hostile environments; his favorites are just times spent hanging out with his friends on the team.

“Really just arriving on campus was the biggest thing,” Kinchens said “I think mine aren’t really the big moments. I think mine are more the times with the guys when we’re just getting extra work in. When we were on the big stage, it’s like that’s supposed to happen. You work for it so it’s all good. But it’s nothing like those nights in there; we’re just kind of playing around in the indoor facility, just throwing the football around and having fun, just being kids again.”

Since the season ended, Kinchens has been involved in the community. In addition to the autograph session on Saturday, he spent time bringing toys to kids in school, which is important to him.

“It means everything, of course,” Kinchens said. “Everybody doesn’t get to do that. So people can see me doing it, it makes it that much better; it makes it that much better to the kids that are from my neighborhood … They can see it’s a way out.”

Kinchens played in 34 games across three seasons with the Hurricanes, racking up 162 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, 26 pass deflections and 11 interceptions. His 11 picks are tied for eighth-most in program history.

After a solid freshman season, Kinchens burst onto the scene in 2022, making six interceptions and earning All-American and all-conference honors.

He missed two games this season after suffering a concussion at the end of the Texas A&M game but he returned for ACC play and made 59 tackles with 10 pass deflections and five interceptions. He earned All-ACC honors again in 2023.

Without Kinchens and fellow departing safety James Williams, who is also headed to the NFL draft, Miami will need to turn to a new group of safeties to fill their spot. Kinchens said he is confident in the younger safeties’ abilities and in the Hurricanes’ program going forward.

“Bright future,” Kinchens said. “Just like coach has been saying: It’s a certain standard that you’ve got to have. Me and James, we set that standard. So (Jaden) Harris and Markeith (Williams) already knows it and (Brian) Balom already knows it. So Zaquan (Patterson) coming in, I might not be there, but they’re going to make sure there’s no drop-off.”

On the program as a whole, he said it’s headed in the right direction.

“In the meeting with coach (Mario) Cristobal, he was like, ‘Man, I ain’t trying to push you out. All this hard work, I don’t want it to be for nothing,'” Kinchens said. “But he said these years after you leave are going to be amazing.”