Keelan Marion had already caught five passes, already gotten himself wide open behind the secondary for a long touchdown catch. When Miami’s season and its hopes for a championship were hanging in the balance, quarterback Carson Beck knew where to look.
“Ultimately, he’s a playmaker,” said Aaron Smith, a former UConn receiver and coach who recruited Marion to Storrs in 2020. “He’s very technical with his routes. He knows how to get himself open. The biggest thing you notice, when the game was on the line on that last drive, Carson Beck was looking for Keelan. He targeted him three times on that drive.”
Marion finished with seven receptions for 114 yards, the biggest were two for first downs on the winning drive, during which he also drew a penalty as the Hurricanes, the 10th seed in the 12-team playoff field, stunned Mississippi 31-28 on Jan. 8. The ‘Canes advanced to the national championship game vs. Indiana, next Monday night in Miami.
“We just put the work in and trusted the process,” Marion told reporters afterward. “Coach told us from day one, we knew we could do this, trust the process.”
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This process for Marion was about as long, and required as much trust, as one can imagine. His college career began with a 1-11 season at UConn, in which he was one of the few standouts in a bleak landscape, was derailed by a shoulder injury in the 2022 season opener and now, as 2026 dawns, will end with a chance to play for a national championship.
Smith, who played for UConn from 2004-06, was part of Randy Edsall’s coaching staff from 2017-21 and is now the receivers coach at Army, lured Marion out of Atlanta to sign with UConn during the pandemic, in December 2020.
“We had space for another receiver and we were looking for a guy with a little bit of length and some playmaking skills to pair with Cam Ross, who was coming off a really good freshman year,” Smith recalled. “I saw his film along with a lot of other guys, and (defensive coordinator) Lou Spanos knew people in the area he brought film to me and I said, ‘Lou, I saw that film, I think he’s a pretty good player.’ So we agreed and we brought him up for an official visit. Right away, you saw he was going to be special. Really dynamic ball-catching skills, loved football, and Keelan has just an awesome personality. Everyone who was around Keelan loved Keelan.”
That includes Smith’s son, Cash, who was 5 at the time and always gravitated toward the exuberant, fast-talking Marion when he was around the players at practice, or when the receivers would gather at the Smith home. “We have pictures of them playing video games,” Smith said.
As a true freshman, Marion moved into the starting lineup when Ross, who has just finished his career at Virginia, got hurt. The Huskies’ first season as an independent was a crazy patchwork schedule of power conference teams, mid-majors and FCS opponents, but Marion stood out with 28 catches for 474 yards, the 16.9 per catch still his career high, and five TDs. He made a spectacular catch, wrestling the ball from a defender in a way that’s familiar now, for a touchdown against Vanderbilt.
“That Vanderbilt game was the game where I (said), ‘OK, this guy is for real,’” Smith remembered. “That touchdown, he caught over the top of the guy, and that’s SEC competition.”
Marion caught a 63-yard TD from Steven Krajewski for what proved to be the winning score against Yale, UConn’s only win that year.
The next season, Smith moved on to West Point. Marion stayed and started the new era with a spectacular TD catch at Utah State, but fractured his collarbone on the play. It appeared his season was over, but he worked to get back on the field for the finish, including, yes, the bowl game against Marshall at Myrtle Beach.
UConn played at Army in the last regular season game, and Marion, Ross and Kevens Clercius reunited with Smith for a photo.
“(Marion) was talking about making the move away from UConn,” Smith said, “and I didn’t want to see him leave UConn, I’m a UConn guy, I played for UConn. “I just told him, ‘make sure you go somewhere where you’re in an environment where you’re cared about and you’re going to have a chance to play.’”
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Marion went to BYU, where he caught 44 passes in two seasons, and stood out as a kick returner, leading the Big 12 with 26.2 yards, including two TD returns, in 2024. He had the same conversation with Smith about finding a place for his last go-around, and Miami coach Mario Cristobal quickly convinced him. “I committed here without my parents even knowing,” Marion said.
“… Why wouldn’t you want to play for the best offensive in the nation?” he said last summer. “You’ve got Carson coming over here. I was looking for a team that had an established offense, got a QB and an established system that’s going to throw the ball down the field. UConn to BYU to Miami, this is obviously the deepest room, the best room since I’ve been in college.”
Miami wide receiver Keelan Marion (0) runs with the ball against Mississippi cornerback Jaylon Braxton (2) during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Marion is averaging 25.3 yards on kick returns and has become a key to the Hurricanes’ offense, with 56 catches for 740 yards. He caught five passes in the first-round playoff victory over Ohio State, and had his best game last week. In addition to his big catches, he threw a big block to spring Malachi Toney for a fourth-quarter score.
“I told Carson, I’m hot, I’m hot already, adrenaline running, I’m feeling it, let’s go,” Marion said. “… That’s the trust I built with Carson. He can count on me.”
So what started with an epically brutal season in Connecticut ends in a blaze of glory for Keelan Marion, and one has to believe that only his college career will end Monday night in Miami. Smith and his family will be glued to the TV.
“He has put in the work and put himself in a position to compete for a national championship, and I’m just so proud of him,” Smith said. “(NFL scouts) are going to turn on the tape and see him do it, from being a freshman at UConn to his time at BYU to his time now at Miami, and see him making plays on biggest stage. Any time you do that at that level, you open doors for yourself to continue playing. He’s shown can play against the best in this country, so I believe he’ll get a shot and I’ll definitely be rooting for him.”