CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Brad Kaaya threw for more than 3,000 yards last season. He finished second in the league in passing. He threw a league-low five interceptions.

These are all notable accolades for a quarterback. But last season was not notable in any way for Kaaya or Miami. The quarterback fought through a serious concussion at the same time coach Al Golden was fired, and Kaaya felt rattled once he returned to play.

Miami made a bowl game despite the turmoil but flopped in the snow with the game on the line against Washington State to close out an 8-5 season. Kaaya describes 2015 as a roller coaster ride.

“We were from the highest highs to the lowest lows -- we had been to hell and back, honestly,” he said.

But there is a brighter outlook now, with new coach Mark Richt in charge. Kaaya could not be in a better situation.

He returns as a third-year starter, a savvy veteran with a skill set perfectly suited for what Richt wants to do. Kaaya is arguably the second-best quarterback in the ACC behind Deshaun Watson, and he could be a first-round pick in 2017 should he choose to leave early.

When Richt had elite quarterbacks at Georgia, he had his most successful seasons. He has an elite quarterback now, and that is the biggest reason why expectations have started to climb for Miami.

“I just want to win,” Kaaya said recently. “Good quarterback play helps winning.”

Kaaya has been good his first two seasons with Miami, the best quarterback the Canes have had in more than a decade. But being good has not been enough. Especially with constant distractions swirling around the program.

When Miami arrived at its home stadium to play Clemson last October, banners flew overhead urging the administration to fire Golden. Kaaya and his teammates had grown used to seeing them, both home and away. For Miami to have any shot at upsetting the Tigers, Kaaya would need to have an incredible performance.

But early in the second quarter, he took a jolting hit from defensive end Shaq Lawson. Kaaya had sustained a concussion and missed the rest of the game. Miami lost 58-0. The following day, Golden was fired.

“It was rough. I’m not going to lie,” Kaaya said. “A lot of guys questioned how much they love the game. They had to. It was hard on everyone, hard on the players, hard on the coaches, the families of the coaches, hard on the parents. It was hard on my mom. It was hard on me.”

Kaaya could not attend the team meeting in which Golden addressed his players for the final time. Instead, Kaaya was in bed for five days in a dark room. No school. No film study. No traveling to play Duke – the only game in his career he failed to start.

What unfolded at the end of that game is still hard to believe, as the Canes scored on a lateral kickoff return the ACC later said should not have counted. Once Kaaya returned, though, he felt jittery on the field.

“It was just a little bit nerve-wracking when I had to get back on the field,” Kaaya said. “Like, ‘Oh I hope this doesn’t happen again.’ I wouldn’t say I was hesitant, but it was in the back of my mind for a couple weeks after that.”

Now, though, everything is behind him and the arrow is pointed up. Because Richt has brought a scheme that should put Kaaya in position to have the most successful season he has ever had. When asked whether Kaaya is the most polished quarterback he has had since Aaron Murray at Georgia, Richt smiled and said, “He’s being polished right now.”

Richt demands perfection out of his quarterbacks, so Kaaya has been studying film and his playbook to be sure he has everything down the way his coach wants it.

“For having a new offense put in place this spring, he’s done a phenomenal job of retaining information also being able to process fast and play fast,” Miami offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said. “It starts with Brad and he’s done a great job of commanding the ship like a quarterback should. He’s a special talent.”

A special talent who will have an NFL draft option if he has a productive, healthy 2016.

“It just depends on what happens after this year,” Kaaya said. “I love college football. It’d be awesome to break every record that a quarterback has had at Miami and be able to break Tajh Boyd’s ACC record of 12,000 yards. Just to be able to have my name in college football record books would be awesome.

“I’m just focused on this year right now. Just to be able to do something big in college, hopefully win an ACC championship, hopefully get to a big bowl game, hopefully playoff or Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl. I just want to win something big and hopefully break some records.”

Surely he has an idea about what he would do if he was considered a first-round pick?

“I haven’t thought about that yet,” Kaaya said. “I haven’t even thought of myself in that light yet. I feel like I need to win something big before I can be considered for a first- or second-round draft pick.”

Perhaps this is the season that finally happens, with a veteran coach leading a veteran quarterback.