If you were astonished that University of Miami underclassmen Marcus Forston, Lamar Miller, Tommy Streeter, Olivier Vernon and Brandon Washington all bolted Coral Gables to enter the 2012 NFL Draft, so was head coach Al Golden.

In a phone interview Thursday, the Hurricanes coach spoke about their departure, as well as those who remain and the future of UM football — namely, its soon-to-be signing class currently ranked among the nation’s best by recruiting analysts.

“I was surprised,” Golden said of the exodus of four juniors and one sophomore. “Any young man that leaves our program and wants to pursue an NFL career, we’ll support him. But I was surprised at how quickly the decisions were made and that many of them signed [with agents] prior to getting any feedback from the NFL [Draft] Advisory Committee, which I had never seen before in my 17 years of coaching.”

The deadline for underclassmen to leave for the draft is Sunday, though Golden said he doesn’t expect any more departures.

The coach has little time to look back.

At this moment, it’s all recruiting all the time. Signing day for the 2012 class is Feb. 1. But at least seven new players are expected to enroll early for the spring semester that begins Monday, and participate in spring practice that starts March 3 and ends with the spring game April 14 at Sun Life Stadium. The early enrollees will count toward last year’s signing class.

Because so many of last year’s seniors and letter winners left, the loss of the five former starters especially hurts UM with scholarship numbers. The NCAA scholarship limit is 85, but Golden confirmed the Canes will be well under that number, considering at least 32 are gone from the 2011 roster.

The NCAA sets a limit of 25 new signees each year, regardless of a team’s total scholarship count.

“The student-athletes leaving early came at a disadvantageous time for us,” Golden said, “because our senior class was so big to begin with.”

He said in November that “quarterback, cornerback and the secondary in general,” as well as receivers, were important to recruit.

Golden said he’s pleased with the process thus far. He said he will not quit his efforts until the fax machines start humming Feb. 1.

Golden said UM still needs cornerbacks “terribly. We’re not done in the secondary.”

He added: “We’re still looking ahead at a big-time linebacker, still looking at a big-time defensive lineman, still looking to see if there’s a tight end that fits …”

The coach always tries to leave one or two scholarship spots open for late additions, but he said he “would be more inclined at this juncture to go ahead and try to finish this class off given the momentum and strength that we’ve received here in the last couple of weeks. I would strike while we’re hot. We’re on a roll now. We’re doing very well.”

Regarding the quarterback competition to replace Jacory Harris, Golden was asked if junior Stephen Morris had an advantage over Memphis transfer Ryan Williams, who is eligible to play this season.

“Sure,” he said. “Stephen served a year basically as an apprentice. He has learned the offense. I think there’s definitely an advantage there.”

However, Golden was adamant that the spring quarterback competition is wide open to those two and the two freshman quarterbacks, whom he is prohibited from naming (they are Preston Dewey and Gray Crow) but said will compete for the job.

“It’s always going to be open with me,” he said. “It’s always going to be earn-it-on-the-field. End of story.”

Etc.

Golden said receiver Rashawn Scott (shoulder) and offensive tackle Jon Feliciano (knee scoped) had surgery. Former linebacker C.J. Holton has moved to fullback, and former receiver Davon Johnson is now a defensive back.