Miramar safety Brian Balom on commitment to Miami Hurricanes: ‘I’m about the future’

It was always going to be hard for Brian Balom to spurn the Miami Hurricanes if he was given the chance.

Balom grew up rooting for Miami and spent his first few years of high school pining for an offer from the Hurricanes. He knew he wanted to wind up at Miami if the opportunity presented itself.

The opportunity did arrive in June in the form of a scholarship offer from Balom’s hometown team. He needed a little bit of time to assess all his options, but after about three months of consideration he landed on staying home. A relatively shaky start of the season didn’t discourage the three-star safety from Miramar. Picking the Hurricanes was about more than just four games.

“Just Miami itself, just the whole program,” Balom said Friday in Hollywood after helping the Patriots beat McArthur. “I’m not going to just walk away from Miami because of how it’s going right now. I’m not a person who cares about right now. I’m about the future. I don’t care about how it is looking. I’m more about the program. I’ve cared for the program since I was a kid.”

Balom gave Miami’s coaching staff his pledge early last week, then publicly announced his oral commitment Wednesday. A three-star safety in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Balom was the 24th player to join the Hurricanes’ Class of 2020 and the ninth from the Miami metropolitan area.

Two days after Balom committed, he helped Miramar secure one of its biggest wins of the season, a 20-6 road victory against the Broncos.

A free safety for the Patriots, Balom was rarely tested against McArthur’s almost entirely ineffective passing attack. The senior helped break up one pass on the sideline by coming in at the end of the play to deck the receiver as he tried to make a difficult catch. A week earlier, he grabbed an interception in the Miramar’s loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale.

His playmaking instincts are part of why Balom became an interesting prospect to the Hurricanes in recent months.

Balom first impressed Miami when he and the Patriots came to Coral Gables for a 7-on-7 tournament at a camp in June.

He landed an invitation to Paradise Camp based on his performance, then returned to the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility later in the month for the Hurricanes’ marquee recruiting event. By the end of Paradise Camp, Balom had his coveted Miami scholarship offer.

“That was my dream offer,” Balom said.

By the end of the summer, Balom had narrowed his focus to two schools.

He took an official visit with the Louisville Cardinals last month, but then was at Hard Rock Stadium to watch Miami’s win against the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats the week after his trip to Kentucky.

On Wednesday, Balom revealed his commitment to the Hurricanes, less than a week removed from Miami’s ugly 17-12 win against the Central Michigan Chippewas in Miami Gardens.

“I just felt it. Why waste my time?” Balom said. “I know where I want to go, so I’m just going to stop playing and be committed.”

Although he’s a free safety for the Patriots, Balom said the Hurricanes envision him playing either safety spot at the next level. The 6-foot, 179-pound defensive back ran a 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds at The Opening regional in Davie in February and has the range to play the deep safety spot, but he is also physical enough to develop into a rover — Miami’s in-the-box, strong safety.

Balom is still excited about the Hurricanes’ defense in Manny Diaz’s first season as coach. Although it has taken a slight step back from truly elite status in 2018, Miami’s defense still has a clear identity and Balom believes he’s a perfect fit.

“The aggressiveness. You’ve just got to love to be aggressive,” Balom said. “That’s what I love about Miami.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2019 at 2:44 PM.