Miami OL coach Garin Justice is unknown as recruiter, but one big reason for optimism
It took until the penultimate year of the current decade, but the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels finally pried a player out of South Florida in the Class of 2019.
UNLV had gone more than 10 years without signing a player from the most talent-rich region in the United States before Courtney Reese signed a natinal letter of intent to play for the Runnin’ Rebels — and Garin Justice — as he came out of Southridge.
Justice was the point man for UNLV’s foray into Miami and he helped lure the two-star running back all the way out to the Mountain West Conference. Justice’s coaching career took off in Florida and, at least one time before he left Nevada, he made those roots pay off.
It’s a reason for optimism about Justice’s recruiting chops as he takes over as the Miami Hurricanes’ offensive line coach.
Miami hired the 37-year-old Saturday after he spent the last two seasons as the offensive line coach in Las Vegas.
The assistant coach proved himself as a capable position coach and even served as the offensive coordinator in Vegas last season, but his hire also signals a massive shift away from Butch Barry.
The former offensive line coach came from the NFL and was a stern voice in the offensive line room.
He handled himself like a professional coach and brought a nonexistent reputation as a South Florida recruiter to the Hurricanes. Justice has a reputation as a players’ coach and has spent his entire career as a college coach, including a five-year stop as the coach at Division II Concord University in Athens, West Virginia.
His energy could represent a dramatic shift on the recruiting trail and he’s well-respected in the Miami metropolitan area in part because of his time with the FAU Owls.
Before he headed out west for a brief stint with the Arizona Wildcats and then two seasons at UNLV, Justice was a promising young coach at FAU.
He came to Boca Raton after five seasons at the D-II level and two prior seasons as a graduate assistant for the Florida State Seminoles, and helped the Owls to their first 11-win season as an FBS program.
With Justice’s offensive line blocking for him, former running back Devin Singletary, now with the Buffalo Bills, ran for 1,918 yards and 32 touchdowns on 301 carries. Justice left after the 2017 season and Singletary’s numbers dropped to 1,348 yards and 22 touchdowns on 261 carries as FAU missed out on a bowl game altogether.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of Jusice’s offensive linemen with the Owls hailed from South Florida and the position coach lured offensive linemen from some of Broward County’s top programs in his two-year stint.
Justice played a key role in recruiting FAU’s Classes of 2017 and 2018, and four of the five high school offensive linemen he signed were in-state prospects, including two from the Miami metro area. The Owls also signed three junior college linemen with Justice.
Here are the two offensive line classes Justice helped sign:
Class of 2017: Richard Hawkins, 3-star G, Plantation American Heritage; BJ Etienne, 3-star T, St. Thomas Aquinas; Joey Palmer, 3-star T, JUCO Butler Community College (El Dorado, Kansas)
Class of 2018: Doug Johnson, 3-star T, Fort White; Dacoda Weaver, 2-star T, Lakeland; Marquice Robinson, Austin (Decatur, Alabama); Zack Bennett, 2-star C, JUCO Arizona Western College (Yuma)
Justice hasn’t been asked to recruit the sort of blue-chip prospects the Hurricanes covet, but Justice has the sort of local ties Barry and previous offensive line coach Stacy Searels didn’t, plus a more player-friendly approach.
Offensive line recruiting has been a trouble spot for Miami in recent years. While Justice hasn’t had a chance to prove himself as a recruiter yet at a Power 5 Conference school, he’ll present a dramatic shift away from previous recruiting approaches at the position.
