Top Miami QB recruit Jaden Rashada decommits from Hurricanes and flips to Florida Gators
Among the most impressive achievements of the Miami Hurricanes’ Mario Cristobal era has been to keep a strong recruiting class intact despite the mounting team losses — until now.
Early Friday morning, just a few minutes after midnight, that changed when four-star elite prep quarterback Jaden Rashada announced on Twitter that he has flipped his commitment from Miami to the Florida Gators.
Rashada, 6-4 and 185 pounds, is from Pittsburg, California, and rated the nation’s seventh best quarterback in the 247Sports composite rankings. The tweet was accompanied by a video of Rashada in a Florida Gators jacket doing the Gator chomp, with lots of footage of a filled Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, better known as The Swamp.
According to 247Sports, Miami still had 19 “hard commits” for 2023 as of Friday morning and was ranked ninth in the nation in recruiting for that class. Hurricanes fans and recruiting gurus will be watching closely if and how Rashada’s decommitment affects the rest of the vaunted class.
The Canes (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who still have 6-4, 190-pound three-star quarterback Emory Williams out of Milton, Florida, committed to their 2023 class, are in the midst of one of their worst seasons. They are coming off a 45-3 home loss to Florida State, their fourth consecutive loss at Hard Rock Stadium. They leave Friday for a 3:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Georgia Tech (4-5, 3-3).
Miami’s current quarterbacks include third-year sophomore starter Tyler Van Dyke, who recently sustained a shoulder injury and has not been as effective this season; redshirt freshman Jake Garcia; and true freshman Jacurri Brown. The possibility remains that Van Dyke and recently struggling Garcia could transfer. Either way, Cristobal will be looking hard to replace Rashada in the transfer portal or with a prep recruit — or both.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been weighing my options heavily...’’ tweeted Rashada. “I have dreamed of playing SEC football since I was a little kid.
“After a lot of prayer, conversations with my family and those close to me, I have decided to change my commitment and play for the University of Florida.
“I have tremendous respect for Miami and what they are going to accomplish there but I have watched this season and Coach Napier and his team are building something very special in The Swamp and I want to be a part of it.
“I’m incredibly grateful for Coach Gattis, Coach Ponce, Coach Cristobal and his entire staff at the U for giving me the opportunity to be a Hurricane.’’
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 6:28 AM.
