How the NFL Draft — and the NFL in general — helped Miami find its new O-line commit

The 2019 NFL Draft made history by coming to Nashville for the first time and Tennessee wanted to be as hospitable a host as it could in April, putting its own local spin on the annual spring proceedings. One idea was to have all Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools send up one representative from their football teams to accompany the Tennessee Titans for their first- and third-round picks on Broadway.

One of those Nashville schools was Overton and the Bobcats decided to make their representative a player they thought could wind up playing in a Power 5 Conference and maybe, if everything went right, even get selected in the NFL Draft one day. They decided on Chris Washington, a promising tackle in the Class of 2020, and the 6-foot-7 offensive lineman towered over everyone he shared the stage with.

“Right around then, Virginia Tech came in, Miami came in, Missouri came in, Auburn came in, Virginia came in,” Overton coach Cole Peeples said. “Right around that time period, there were just a lot of people coming in, like, Hey, we’re here to talk about Chris Washington.”

The Miami Hurricanes were one of those teams, as Washington’s telling goes. Director of player development Jorge Baez noticed Washington on stage as the Titans announced their third-round pick and he knew he was just the sort of prospect Butch Barry loves, so he passed the name along to the offensive line coach. Barry was understandably intrigued by Washington’s 6-7, 269-pound, so he — along with about half a dozen other coaches — made his way to Nashville to see Washington.

Barry was able to stand out in a way most of the other coaches who came through Overton couldn’t. Even though his college track record is limited to a brief stint with the Central Michigan Chippewas, Barry spent four years an assistant offensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He understands what the NFL is looking for in its offensive linemen and he knows how to craft offensive linemen in a professional mold. It all helped Barry land an oral commitment from Washington on Saturday.

“The thing that kind of sold it for me was with Coach Barry working in the NFL for so long. He can show me what I need to do exactly or coach me up the right way,” Washington said. “He was talking to me about people he was comparing me to, like Eric Fisher and some of those guys who were like 6-6 or 6-7, and 240 coming into Central Michigan. Now he’s like 310 or 320 in the NFL.”

The only stipulation was Barry needed to get Washington down to a camp. The assistant coach actually first offered a scholarship to Washington in the spring, but reaffirmed the offer last week before Washington was slated to attend Paradise Camp. Before a commitment could happen, Barry still needed to go through drills with Washington, though.

Peeples urged his start lineman to make the trek. A three-star tackle in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2020 class, Washington only held one other Power 5 offer from the Ole Miss Rebels and hinted at a commitment after attending a camp in Oxford, Mississippi, last month. Once Miami reamped up its interest, Washington’s thought process flipped.

“I said, ‘Chris, here’s the thing about Miami, man. It’s an up-and-coming program,’” Peeples said. “’They used to be great. They’ve gone through some rough patches here in the last couple years, but it’s coming back around.’”

Washington saw it in person last Friday and Saturday. The camp the senior picked to attend was Paradise Camp, annually the Hurricanes’ biggest recruiting event of the summer. On Friday, he attended Miami’s Paradise Party at Hard Rock Stadium, then he got to work hands-on with Barry at the actual camp Saturday. As soon as the camp wrapped up, Washington told the coaching staff he was ready to commit.

Even though interest could pick up for Washington as more schools get their eyes on the lengthy tackle, Washington insists he’s all set with the Hurricanes.

“I’m focused on Miami,” Washington said. “I’m not going to be going anywhere else.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2019 at 5:13 PM.