Mark Fletcher Jr., a junior running back for the University of Miami Hurricanes, has faced significant personal and professional challenges over the past year. Fletcher lost his father, Mark Sr., on October 24, 2024, a moment that deeply affected him and shaped his outlook both on and off the field.
Fletcher described the moment he learned of his father’s passing: “I just asked, ‘My dad’s dead?’ and my auntie nodded her head yes. She didn’t have any words. She just nodded and I lost it. I just lost it.” He recounted how he ran from the news until collapsing in tears at Cobb Stadium, where several coaches and staff followed to support him. “If they wouldn’t have chased after me, I don’t know what I would have done in that moment, honestly,” Fletcher said. “So, thank God for them. I didn’t know where I was going or what I was going to do. They just had to really hold me and thank God for them.”
Despite his grief, Fletcher chose to continue practicing with his team that day. “I said, ‘I’m going to practice. We’ve got practice today and we’ve got FSU this week,’” he told head coach Mario Cristobal. “And the only reason I went to practice is because, real talk, what would my dad want me to do? It wasn’t about what I wanted to do. What would my dad want me to do right now?”
Two days later, Fletcher played against Florida State University and scored Miami’s first touchdown in a decisive win. His gesture of pointing skyward after scoring has become a regular tribute to his late father. “That’s my why,” Fletcher said earlier this year while referencing a shirt bearing his father’s photo. “I don’t know [if] I can tell you what my why was before. I guess I just loved playing football. But this is definitely my why now and it’s going to forever be that.”
A year after his father’s death, Fletcher continues to find motivation in his memory but also works toward maintaining positivity among teammates as one of the more experienced players on the roster.
Fletcher’s mother Linda described her son as joyful and a natural leader from an early age: “From the moment he was born, he was full of life, joyful, smiling… And even as a little thing, he was always a leader… He was the leader from the get-go.”
His football journey began at age seven with the Lauderhill Lions before excelling at American Heritage School in Plantation where he became a four-star recruit who attracted interest from major college programs including Florida State University and Ohio State University.
Initially committed to Ohio State before changing course, Fletcher explained: “I think I was caught in this period of super excitement that this other big college I’d never really looked into wanted me… But in my heart…I just didn’t feel the way I was supposed to feel… And God put me in the right position…I knew I would be perfectly fine [at Miami], and I would excel.”
As a freshman at Miami in 2023, Fletcher appeared in ten games with four starts—leading the team with 105 carries—and posted multiple 100-yard performances before suffering a Lisfranc injury during the Pinstripe Bowl season finale.
Recovery required surgery and months of rehabilitation which took an emotional toll on him: “But I will say, the first two, three months in trying to recover and do my rehab…it definitely hit me like, ‘Dang, this is something serious.’”
During recovery when participation in spring drills wasn’t possible, Fletcher focused on studying film and learning more about college football strategy while relying on faith-based support systems for encouragement.
He returned for Miami’s season opener against Florida with limited carries but managed two touchdowns despite not feeling fully recovered physically: “It was definitely emotional…for me it was just so much joy…even though…I still wasn’t myself.”
Following his father’s death later that fall—and bolstered by teammates’ support—Fletcher admitted considering quitting football but ultimately decided against it: “The reason I didn’t quit was really because I didn’t want to quit on these people who I built these great connections with… And it was definitely the knowledge of knowing my dad would not want me to quit.”
Coach Mario Cristobal praised Fletcher’s resilience: “His energy, his spirit, his heart, his leadership…Mark Fletcher is a special young man…Big Mark is watching him from above…I know he’s extremely proud of his son…Mark’s come a long way.”
As Miami prepares for its regular-season finale against Pittsburgh—with Fletcher leading all rushers at 655 yards and ten touchdowns—the running back remains focused on honoring both family legacy and team commitment.
