Star tight end Brevin Jordan ‘healthy’ as Hurricanes get set for North Carolina State
Brevin Jordan is healthy and ready to return to the lineup Friday when the Miami Hurricanes face the North Carolina State Wolfpack in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The star tight end is healthy after missing the last two games because of an injury, Manny Diaz said.
“Brevin is healthy, like what we expected for this game,” the coach said.
Jordan was Miami’s leader in catches, receiving and receiving touchdowns when he went down with an apparent right arm or shoulder injury in the second half of the Hurricanes’ blowout loss to the No. 1 Clemson Tigers last month.
No. 11 Miami listed the receiver as questionable for each of its next two games against the Pittsburgh Panthers and Virginia Cavaliers, but held him out for both of the victories. With the bye week providing Jordan an extra week to get ready, the Hurricanes (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) expect to have him against North Carolina State.
Without Jordan, Miami scored a total of just 40 points in two games, and the passing game particularly struggled against Pittsburgh. The junior still ranks second on the team with 243 receiving yards, is tied for second with 18 catches and is tied for the team lead with three receiving touchdowns.
Fellow tight end Will Mallory started in Jordan’s place in each of the past two games, catching a pair of touchdowns against the Panthers and totaling 109 receiving yards on four catches.
Diaz declined to provide an update on the six freshmen who missed the Hurricanes’ 19-14 win against Virginia for undisclosed reasons, but a source told the Miami Herald the Hurricanes are currently dealing with COVID-19 issues within the program.
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, defensive lineman Elijah Roberts, linebacker Corey Flagg Jr., safety Brian Balom, and wide receivers Xavier Restrepo and Michael Redding III were all unavailable against the Cavaliers, and a source told the Herald on Saturday the number of Hurricanes in quarantine is now well beyond the six who were unavailable for Miami’s last game.
The Hurricanes’ policy is not to disclose whether players have tested positive or been exposed to the coronavirus, and players can be placed in isolation either because of a positive test or close contact with someone who has tested positive.
Miami’s recruiting numbers game
Miami’s Class of 2021 is already close to full with more than a month until the early signing period begins and about three months until National Signing Day.
The Hurricanes hold oral commitments from 22 players in the 2021 recruiting cycle and Miami expects most of them — if not all — to sign national letters of intent in December.
Typically, teams are limited to signing 25 players in a recruiting class, although there are ways to fudge the numbers by counting early enrollments back to the prior class. The Hurricanes have also made a recent habit of leaving an initial counter or two available for transfers.
Miami’s activity on the recruiting trail suggests a few priorities the Hurricanes still have in this cycle. Their top target is four-star quarterback Jake Garcia, who’s currently orally committed to the USC Trojans, and last month they offered unranked cornerback Marvin Covington.
There’s a clear path to 24 players, but Diaz said he isn’t necessarily set on keeping the 25th spot open because he expects additional rule changes from the NCAA, stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s still some rulings coming down the road here that could come at the turn of the year where you could get more initial scholarships,” Diaz said, “so I think everybody is, again, in a holding pattern, waiting to find out.”
One rule coaches expect to come later this year is an allowance for players to transfer one time without having to sit out a year. Couple this expected rule change with the NCAA’s decision to grant all athletes an extra year of eligibility and there are probably going to be too many players on the move in the coming months for the current initial counters to cover.
It makes it impossible for teams to prepare for any specific numbers in the upcoming recruiting class, so Diaz is just keeping it simple.
“We’re just trying to sign the best recruiting class,” Diaz said. “We still are on some really high-profile high school targets that we hope to close on, but I think — probably like most colleges — we understand that we have to be fluid because the rules are changing as we already are in mid-flight.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
