Miami draws consensus top-20 class on early signing day despite some late misses
The Miami Hurricanes have their quarterback of the future and his blind-side bodyguard to protect him and help open holes for their two newest elite running backs.
Day One of the three-day NCAA early signing period for college football brought the Hurricanes 18 signed letters of intent among the 20 recruits who began Wednesday committed to the Canes. One player defected to Auburn and another decided to wait until National Signing Day — Feb. 5, 2020 — to sign his scholarship papers.
UM’s 2020 signing class, nicknamed #Category20, is strong on offense, an area in which the Canes have struggled. And 13 of the signees, including quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, offensive tackle Jalen Rivers and gifted running backs Donald Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton, will be heading to Coral Gables to begin classes in January so they can take part in spring practice.
The Canes entered the day ranked as high as No. 9 by Rivals.com and as low as 14 by 247Sports and 16 by ESPN of 130 FBS teams. As of 5:30 p.m., after all the signees were done for the day, UM was ranked No. 16 by Rivals, 17th by 247 and 19th by ESPN.
The Canes lost former commit and three/four-star linebacker Romello Height to Auburn, while four-star Hollywood Chaminade defensive tackle Willie Moise opted to wait until Feb. 5 to sign.
But the 18 others who entered the day committed all stuck by their pledges and love for the Hurricanes program by signing national letters of intent, which more than anything was what impressed coach Manny Diaz.
“The 18 men that signed scholarships with us today,’’ Diaz said, “from the time that they committed they never took another visit. They never wavered. And when we went into their homes over the course of the month of December, the reception we got back from them was, ‘Coach, not only are with with the Canes, we’re coming to solve the problem... We’re coming to get this thing right.
“A class with a mentality like that from top to bottom is very rare... When you consider the ups and downs of our season and all the things they had to go through, and all the negativity that I’m sure they went through, for them to not blink and not flinch and to say, ‘I’m a Miami Hurricane...’ makes us as a coaching staff as proud to call these guys Miami Hurricanes as certainly their attributes on the field.’’
The headliners on offense: four-star Belen Jesuit tailback Chaney Jr., four-star Deerfield Beach tailback Knighton, blue-chip quarterback Van Dyke from Glastonbury, Connecticut; and one of the state’s best offensive linemen in 6-5, 329-pound four-star tackle Rivers from Orange Park Oakleaf.
“Oakleaf pride,’’ UM senior linebacker Shaq Quarterman said of Rivers and fellow Oakleaf signee Chantz Williams, a highly rated 6-4, 240-pound defensive end. “I’m excited for them. I’m excited for the whole class we have coming in so far. I think it’s a class full of talent that’s going to help the program tremendously.’’
Miami rounded out its offensive class with four-star wide receivers Michael Redding III and Dazalin (pronounced daZAlin, said receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield) Worsham, three-star athlete Xavier Restrepo, three-star tight end Dominic Mammarelli and three-star tackle Chris Washington.
On defense, the Hurricanes landed four four-star prospects: Williams and Elijah Roberts, and safeties Jalen Harrell and Keshawn Washington. They also signed three-star defensive end Quentin Williams, three-star cornerback Marcus Clarke, three-star safety Brian Balom, and three-star inside linebackers Tirek Austin-Cave and Corey Flagg.
Seven who signed Wednesday are from South Florida and five more are from elsewhere in the state.
“I stuck with it because all the losses really don’t mean anything to me. It’s football, you know?” said Roberts, who orally committed out of Columbus in June. “Any team can get beat on any night if you don’t bring your A game. I feel like if I just come in and work hard, have the right mindset, I’ll have a chance to play early, I’ll have a chance to compete and I’ll have the U back where it used to be.”
They did not, however, make any new additions among the undecideds who were considering the Canes. South Dade four-star safety Jaiden Francois committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers after delaying his announcement by more than an hour because of last-minute deliberations with his family. Five-star linebacker Justin Flowe, as expected, decided to stay on the West Coast and signed with the Oregon Ducks after reaching for a Miami cap at his signing ceremony in California. A public announcement from five-star athlete Darnell Washington, who has the Hurricanes in his final group, is coming to the Under Armour All-America Game next month.
“Fairly or not fairly, I think signing day is always judged by the ones that decide toward the end, and I think that unfortunately devalues the guys like a Donald Chaney or Dom Mammarelli, who have been with us from Day 1,” Diaz said.
“We haven’t mentioned our recruiting rankings since we’ve been here and it’s not something we really pay a lot of attention to, but to have our class ranked where it’s ranked given our record, in my mind, means we can recruit. And what that says is if we can dial up the wins, I think that’ll dial up the recruiting class.
“...But I’m not going to shortchange these 18 guys that we’ve got right here, because we’ve got something special.’’
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 7:14 PM.
