Inside Cam Ward, Xavier Restrepo Relationship: What Tennessee Titans Are Getting In Udfa Wr

Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo get along.

It might not look like they do. It definitely won't sound like they do. But rest assured: There's a real connection there.

"They’re real friends," says David Cooney, former Miami director of recruiting and assistant receivers coach. "If Cam’s saying ‘Hey (expletive) get your (expletive) where it needs to be,’ (Xavier’s) not taking it as an insult or he’s not getting mad being that way. No. It’s like ‘This is my brother.’ They compete in everything they do. They go fishing. They do it all together. Seeing their relationship off the field, the on-the-field stuff is just a by-product."

The on-the-field stuff is what the Tennessee Titans are investing in. The Titans drafted Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, installing him as the franchise's quarterback of the present and future. Restrepo, once thought of as a potential Day 2 draft pick, fell to the Titans as an undrafted free agent despite breaking records held by the likes of Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss and Michael Irvin to because Miami's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. In one year as teammates, Ward and Restrepo combined for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns as both earned All-America honors.

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Expectations on the reunited duo are high, especially given the success Titans coach Brian Callahan had parlaying quarterback Joe Burrow's college chemistry with receiver Ja'Marr Chase into immediate pro success for both. But unlike Chase, Restrepo doesn't come into the NFL with generational physical tools. The 5-foot-10 Restrepo doesn't have the size to play outside and disappointed observers by running a 4.8-second 40-yard dash at his pro day.

Still, people who've spent time with Restrepo have no doubts about his future.

"X is going to be very productive. He’s going to make it in the NFL. I have absolutely no doubt," says Rob Likens, a 35-year coaching veteran who was Restrepo's receivers coach at Miami from 2020-21. "Get ready, Tennessee, because I’m telling you he’s going to outwork everybody on the field. If you’re lazy, you’re not going to want to hang around X. He’s going to make you look really bad with his work ethic."

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Miami signed four receivers in their 2020 college football recruiting class. Restrepo, a local kid from Broward County, was the smallest and least-heralded. But two things he had going for him were his love for football and his singular commitment to his craft. Mike Redding III, another one of Miami's Class of 2020 receiver signees and one of Restrepo's early roommates, remembers showing up for dinner at Restrepo's family home and seeing a large crew of personal athletic trainers, chiropractors and support staffers gathered with him.

Cooney remembers times early in Restrepo's time at Miami when the receiver worked himself to his detriment. He'd be the first player at the facility and the last to leave, then he'd go home and train more. He'd work himself raw and be stuck with the soreness. Then, once Restrepo learned how to handle his recovery time, his career started to take off.

Likens credits a lot of that to Restrepo having an advanced football IQ even as a freshman.

"A lot of receivers always say ‘Hey man, I’m wide open on every play’ and you watch the film and there’s three guys all over him. It’s just his information he gave you was always reliable," Likens says. "He’s really smart. He understood defensive structure... which is really big for a slot receiver because those guys have got to understand defensive structure a lot more than outside guys do because those guys have got to find holes in the zone and where they’re aligned and whether a safety’s covering them. He was really smart in that way, and it really helped him out."

Restrepo might not have known it at the time, but Likens says he would've been comfortable throwing Restrepo onto the field at any receiver position even as a freshman. In the first game of Restrepo's sophomore year, he proved why. When an injury forced Restrepo in off the bench against preseason No. 1 Alabama, Restrepo tallied three catches for three first downs, 55 yards and a touchdown.

By 2023, Restrepo was a bona fide star, amassing 85 catches for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns in his first senior season.

Then Ward transferred to town.

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The Cam Ward effect

Cooney talks about watching Ward and Restrepo run a two-minute drill in practice the way high school art teachers talking about a trip to The Louvre.

"The studying, the timing and time commitment that they had to one another just showed up every single day," Cooney says. "They were call-it periods, but (offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson) would also give Cam the ability to check to some stuff. He had a lot of freedom within the offense. ‘If I see this, go here. This is called; I’ll check to this.’ The way everything was designed, it looked like poetry in motion in our two-minute drills."

Ward's leadership traits are no secret at this point. Cooney remembers being blown away that one of Ward's first requests upon transferring to Miami was for a picture book with every Hurricanes staffer's name and face in it so he could introduce himself to everyone in the building by name when he arrived on campus. Outside receiver Jacolby George was most instrumental in recruiting Ward to Coral Gables, so the expectation was he'd be Ward's favorite target too.

Then a funny thing happened: Restrepo just kept getting open. And Ward, who clearly never turns down the opportunity to build a relationship, noticed.

"Cam always got with the receivers to build that chemistry and it showed on game days," Cooney says. "There were a few games and situations where you’d look and you’d be like ‘Was this called or was it just something Cam came up with?’ And there were a couple of times where, yeah, it was a called play, but Cam checked the audibles and the guys made it work."

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Will Cam Ward, Xavier Restrepo make it work with Titans?

Restrepo's hardly guaranteed a roster spot in a crowded Titans receiver room that also features 2025 draft picks Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor. Restrepo does profile as the most prototypical slot target on the squad, and his built-in chemistry with Ward is a bonus. But the physical limitations are there too.

Throughout Restrepo's career, his dedication and football IQ have won out over physical deficiencies. As Redding, his former roommate, points out, Restrepo isn't just a figurative coach on the field. He's someone who's dedicated enough to football that he used his spare time in college to coach his little brother's 7-on-7 team.

Details like those are why Cooney and Likens aren't concerned about their pupil's chances of making it in the league, especially not with Ward by his side.

"At a young age, I remember telling coach (Manny) Diaz that’s the type of dude that’ll end up going somewhere," Likens says. "Even though maybe looking at him as a true freshman he may not have had the perfect body type of a 6-foot-1, 205-pound type guy, he loves football so much and he trains so hard that he outworks everybody on the field... He just loves football. A lot of guys out there love to get recruited and they love to play on Saturdays. But X loves the game of football. That’s going to take him very far."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at  nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Titans can expect from Xavier Restrepo, Cam Ward's Miami teammate