Riding high off first TD, Miami freshman Jaleel Skinner will get homecoming at Clemson
Jaleel Skinner could have chosen to go just about anywhere in the country for college and when he was orally committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide, people around Greer, South Carolina, grudgingly accepted it, even if they would have preferred he go play for the nearby Clemson Tigers.
When Skinner flipped his commitment and signed with the Miami Hurricanes last year, the people back home — the ones who maybe only knew him in passing — didn’t quite get it.
“A lot of people that didn’t know Jaleel well were like, ‘What the heck is he doing?’” said Greer wide receivers coach Thomas Wilkes, who used to drive Skinner back and forth from practice when the tight end was in high school. “They don’t know what goes into picking a college. ... They don’t know how good of a coach [Mario] Cristobal is.”
A few months into his college career, Skinner has no regrets. Even though Miami (5-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) is struggling just to qualify for a bowl game, Skinner is part of an exciting youth movement in South Florida. He has been the backup tight end for most of the season and caught his first touchdown Saturday in Atlanta, on a throw from freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown, who’s his roommate in Coral Gables.
Skinner is one of five players from the Hurricanes’ Class of 2022 already playing a major role — Brown, offensive lineman Anez Cooper and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe are all starters, and defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly has four sacks as a reserve — and the biggest moment of his freshman year came just in time for a homecoming reception at Memorial Stadium.
Skinner’s hometown is just about an hour from Clemson, and Wilkes conservatively estimates there will be a group of at least 50 people making the 50-mile trip to watch Skinner face the No. 9 Tigers at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Everybody’s excited to see me in the orange and green for the first time,” Skinner said Wednesday, “so I can’t wait to go back home.”
Some of what they will see is unrecognizable.
A little more than a year ago, Skinner left home to play his senior season at Bradenton IMG Academy. IMG Academy was promising him the chance to essentially play wide receiver and Skinner, as a high school kid, thought it would be fun. He did not think much about what would be asked of him in college.
As a result, he was not ready for the blocking he had to do in those early days at Miami. Early in training camp, he sent Wilkes a video of a touchdown play in practice, with Skinner getting blown up by a linebacker right in the middle of it.
“Coach, see what these boys are doing to me down here?” he joked in a text message.
A few months later, Skinner prides himself on how he has developed into more of a complete tight end. His first touchdown last weekend came out of a bunch formation, with Skinner coming out of the backfield and pretending to block on a play-action pass before leaking out for a 4-yard score in a 35-14 win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
He credits tight ends coach Stephen Field and tight end Will Mallory for helping him develop — “He thinks the world of Mallory,” Wilkes said — and his progress, along with an injury to fellow tight end Elijah Arroyo, has helped him get on the field more often as the season has gone on.
“When I got here, I wasn’t really the best blocker. I couldn’t really pass set or things like that,” he said, “and I’ve just been able to explode onto the field.”
There were still frustrating moments, though. After catching passes in four straight games from the end of September through the middle of October, Skinner went back-to-back weeks without even getting targeted against the Virginia Cavaliers and Florida State Seminoles. As someone who was used to being a star in high school, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound receiver was getting antsy.
After the Florida State game, he texted his Wilkes and lamented, “another game with no targets,” the position coach said.
“I told him, You’ve got to realize you’re a freshman, you’re playing Power 5 football at one of the most prestigious schools in the country. You’ve got to learn that’s going to happen.”
In only took another week for him to finally catch his first touchdown in the Hurricanes’ most complete performance of the season. In seven games, Skinner has nine catches for 129 yards and the touchdown.
Clemson (9-1, 7-0) will be his toughest challenge yet. The Tigers are still harboring hopes at sneaking their way back into the College Football Playoff and Miami is as big an underdog as it has been all year.
There has never been a better time for Skinner to prove to everyone why he chose the Hurricanes.
“I told him,” Wilkes joked, “‘I hope he has three touchdowns and Miami loses by one.’”
