As Miami recruiting struggles, Diaz suggests AD’s October comments gave opponents ammunition
The Miami Hurricanes still haven’t added a new recruit to their Class of 2022 since August, even as they have turned their season around and become a legitimate contender to reach the 2021 ACC Championship Game.
Four losses in their first six games — Miami’s worst start since 1997 — certainly didn’t help matters, and the lingering uncertainty about coach Manny Diaz’s long-term job status, even after three consecutive wins, is a topic ripe for opposing coaches to use for negative recruiting purposes.
Last month, athletic director Blake James conducted an interview with the Miami Herald and wouldn’t commit to Diaz remaining the Hurricanes’ coach beyond this season. Diaz said he “would imagine” other schools are using this to recruit against Miami.
“If I was coaching at another team — I’m sure our players are getting peppered with those type things, but what we can control right now is winning a game, and that’s what we did against NC State, then Pitt and then Georgia Tech,” the coach said. “The thing about college football is that where you stand today is temporary.”
Since losing a sixth consecutive game to an opponent from a Power 5 Conference last month, the Hurricanes (5-4, 3-2) have won three in a row, including two against top-25 teams, to become an unlikely contender for a New Year’s Six bowl game and, perhaps, save Diaz’s job. If Miami wins its final three regular-season games, and the winner of a Nov. 20 game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and Virginia Cavaliers loses one other conference game, then the Hurricanes would go to the ACC Championship Game for only the second time in their history. A win in Charlotte, North Carolina, next month would guarantee Miami a spot in a New Year’s Six game.
In all, it’s a reminder of how quickly fortunes can shift in college football and, in turn, on the recruiting trail.
Miami was in good shape coming out of the summer, with nine players committed, including six blue-chip recruits, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. Since then, the Hurricanes’ highest-ranked commit — four-star cornerback Tre’Quon Fegans — decommitted, and Miami has missed out on multiple four-star targets.
Many of the Hurricanes’ top targets, however, remain uncommitted — especially those from South Florida. Of the top 12 prospects in South Florida for the 2022 recruiting class, nine remain uncommitted, and Miami is still actively pursuing most of them, including five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart and four-star linebacker Wesley Bissainthe.
Diaz still said he expects this class to lean heavily on the transfer portal, but recruiting is a fickle game and he knows he can still swing some momentum back in his favor. While the fall hasn’t been good, it also wasn’t altogether crippling because of how many local players remain uncommitted.
“The players see what’s real,” Diaz said. “It’s a strange time for recruiting. I think some of the things that go into their decision process is a little bit different now than what it was then. They have a lot shorter memory than we think, the recruits of this day and age.”
Diaz optimistic about Harrison-Hunte
Jared Harrison-Hunte went down with an apparent lower-body injury in the second quarter of Miami’s 33-30 win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday and limped heavily as he came off the field at Hard Rock Stadium. The defensive lineman did not return in the second half, but Diaz is optimistic he’ll be available this weekend when the Hurricanes travel to Tallahassee to face the Florida State Seminoles.
“Jared looked a lot better yesterday,” Diaz said. “We expect him to be available for Saturday.”
Van Dyke, Rambo honored
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is the ACC Rookie of the Week for the third consecutive and wide receiver Charleston Rambo is joining him this time in the conference’s weekly-awards list.
Van Dyke went 22 of 34 for 389 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Miami’s win against Georgia Tech. The second-year freshman is the Hurricane since former quarterback Bernie Kosar to throw for at least 325 yards in three consecutive games.
Rambo is the ACC Wide Receiver of the Week after his own historic performance over the weekend. The junior caught seven passes for 210 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s win at Hard Rock Stadium. The 210 yards were the second most in a single game in program history and he moved into 10th on the Hurricanes’ all-time single-season receiving yards list with 859 so far in 2021.
