Podcast: The good, the bad and the ugly from signing day for the Miami Hurricanes
The finish continues to be unkind to the Miami Hurricanes on the recruiting trail.
While Miami’s Class of 2020 is still strong, the Hurricanes didn’t do anything to add to it on the first day of the early signing period Wednesday and actually had it get a bit weaker. Miami entered the day with 20 players committed. Eighteen signed, one is still waiting and one decommitted, and the Hurricanes didn’t make any new additions.
The Hurricanes began the day with the No. 14 class in the 247Sports.com composite rankings. They finished the day ranked No. 18.
The Eye on the U podcast recaps a mostly uneventful signing day for Miami by looking at the good, the bad and the ugly of the first day of the early signing period.
Let’s start with the good: The Hurricanes entered the signing period with 10 blue-chip prospects committed and finished the day with all 10 still a part of the class, and nine of those 10 signed. They landed a blue-chip quarterback in Tyler Van Dyke. They added a blue-chip tackle in Jalen Rivers. Miami very possibly put together the best group of running backs in the 2020 recruiting cycle by landing four-star running backs Donald Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton. Four-star defensive tackle Willie Moise is the only blue-chip prospect in the class still not officially in and he’s waiting to sign until National Signing Day.
Those signings were all old news, though. The bad news ruled the day for the Hurricanes, who missed out on four-star safety Jaiden Francois, who picked Nebraska, and five-star inside linebacker Justin Flowe, who signed with the Oregon Ducks. The early signing period came into existence in 2018 and Miami (6-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) still has never added a blue-chip commitment during the period.
There was ugly, too. The Francois saga at South Dade wasn’t pretty as the defensive back delayed his signing by an hour after spending more than half an hour deliberating with family and coaches. Neither was three-star outside linebacker Romello Height’s decision to flip to the Auburn Tigers after denying he took a secret visit in Alabama over the weekend.
David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, break it all down and take a look ahead to the Independence Bowl. The Hurricanes’ postseason matchup with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Thursday is just a week away.
