Five-star tackle Samson Okunlola talks Miami, Cristobal and more after official visit
Samson Okunlola heard a pitch from Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes’ old coaching staff.
At the same time, he was hearing a pitch from Mario Cristobal while was coaching Oregon Ducks.
There were things to like about both. At Miami, there was the draw of a major city and a deep college football tradition. At Oregon, there was Cristobal’s history of developing offensive lineman and his unique hands-on approach with the position group.
Now, those two concepts are colliding with the Hurricanes and it’s why Okunlola — a five-star tackle from Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts — picked Miami for one of his five official visits, spending the weekend in Coral Gables around Cristobal and the Hurricanes’ new coaching staff.
“It went pretty great,” said Okunlola, who’s the No. 20 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2023. “Overall, it’s just how they produced linemen in the past. Having the head coach as an O-line coach is a major plus. ... The head coach is at every O-line practice when they go to [individual drills] and stuff, so that’s also a plus.”
After taking three official visits in June, Okunlola isn’t ruling out a commitment coming sometime in July, although he still has a lot to sort through and doesn’t expect to make a decision anytime soon.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan State Spartans also hosted him for official visits earlier in the month, and the Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma Sooners, Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions and Ducks are all vying to get him on campus later in the year.
“I don’t know if I’m ready enough yet to commit this summer, but I might be,” the 6-foot-5, 305-pound lineman said. “You never really know about these things.”
The Hurricanes’ pitch largely hinges upon Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, and their track record for putting linemen in the NFL, both at Oregon and, in Cristobal’s case, as an assistant coach at Alabama.
At Miami, Cristobal has already made it clear the trenches will be a priority. Of the nine players Cristobal added to the Hurricanes’ Class of 2022 after he took over late last year, seven were linemen and another was a tight end. All throughout spring practices, it was routine for Cristobal to hop in and individually instruct the offensive linemen.
“It’s unique,” Okunlola said, and added it’s something several players, including offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun, mentioned to him throughout his weekend in South Florida.
Largely, the respect Cristobal has already gathered from the current roster — and across Miami — stands out, too.
On Saturday, he hung around at Legends Camp and got to talk to former Pro Bowl tackle Bryant McKinnie, who played for Cristobal when the coach was a graduate assistant for the Hurricanes in the late 1990s. For the rest of the weekend, he spent time around the current players and coaches, and could feel the excitement around the program.
While the record in Cristobal’s first season won’t mean too much to Okunlola, the offensive lineman still said a productive year would be telling for the future.
“To see how you connect and build a program from Year 1 is really good to see or show how you bond with the dudes,” Okunlola said, “from knowing no one to really connecting with these dudes and getting relationships with these dudes.”
As for his other priorities, Okunlola said academics are No. 1 on the list, followed by the offensive system and feedback from current players about what it’s like to play at the school.
Although Josh Gattis hasn’t called a single play yet at Miami, Okunlola likes what he saw from the offensive coordinator with the Michigan Wolverines and previously with the Crimson Tide.
The Hurricanes’ recent run of commitments doesn’t hurt, either. With Jaden Rashada now in the fold after orally committing Sunday, Okunlola knows he could have an elite quarterback to grow with and protect for years to come.
“It’s good to see good talent coming in because you want to come in with good talent,” Okunlola said. “I want to play next to great players. Having a good guard by my side would really help me, so it’s great to have great players around you in the program and when you have great players around you, you kind of feel motivated to keep working hard because everyone around you is working hard.”
