When you start a new season, there is always a ton of optimism in the air and you expect to be better than you were the year before. Well, the Miami Hurricanes are no exception to that and have already began talking about the improvements they believe the team will make this season.

When Chad Thomas was asked about the expectations of the defense on the first day of camp, he quickly smiled and said, “Big expectations .. We’re going to be a good defense. A dominant defense.”

Dominance is a word that Hurricanes fans are familiar of but that hasn’t been the case the last decade or so, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But some players believe they can turn things around.

Thomas isn’t the only player throwing out the word “dominance” when speaking about the defense:

“We’re going to be real good this year,” Senior defensive tackle Michael Wyche said after being asked about the defense’s expectation, “We’re going to be dominant good,” he added.

Paul Williams wasn’t ready to throw out the word dominant out there, but he did say that the team, especially his defensive backs group, will be better this season.

“We just have a lot of experience back there now. We have a bunch of juniors and seniors that really understand it.” Williams also added that getting Rayshawn Jenkins back and having Dallas Crawford with a year under his belt will help the defense.

Defensive Coordinator Mark D’Onofrio is entering his fifth season on the job at Miami and his defense has been very underwhelming throughout his tenure, but he believes that the added depth is something that’s going to help this defense improve.

“Play fast, play hard, play physical and pissed off,” is what the defense is focused on, said Wyche.