Never Back Down

When Gore arrived at Miami in 2001, he did not walk into a running back room short on talent. In fact, he found himself at the bottom of one of the most stacked depth charts in college football history.

Miami featured a three-headed monster out of the backfield consisting of Najeh Davenport, Willis McGahee and Clinton Portis — all three of which went on to become stars in the NFL. Instead of accepting his spot on the totem pole and waiting his turn, Gore worked hard to earn a role in Miami’s ground attack that netted him just over 500 rushing yards as a freshman.

After the trio departed, Gore took over as Miami’s starting running back on a full-time basis. He took advantage of the spotlight that comes with being the featured back at one of college football’s best programs, playing his way onto NFL draft boards.