Miami commit Chamon Metayer is making full-time move to WR. He says Canes are OK with it
Chamon Metayer always felt like playing defense was just a temporary diversion. Sure, Metayer’s play as an edge rusher for North Miami is what initially intrigued college coaches and got him a spot in the Miami Hurricanes’ Class of 2021. It didn’t mean he didn’t always think of himself as a receiver first.
Last year at Central, Metayer made the move primarily to wide receiver and tight end, and was a first-time all-county pick in Miami-Dade County by the Miami Herald, helping the Rockets win the Class 6A championship. Now he doesn’t plan to move back to defense.
“Me going into college,” Metayer said, “it’s going to be finalized as a receiver.”
Metayer said he has already talked about his new plan with coach Manny Diaz and tight ends coach Stephen Field, who has been his primary recruiter. Although he’s regarded as a three-star outside linebacker in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2021 and was initially offered by former defensive line coach Jess Simpson, Metayer said going back to receiver for the Rockets last season was a move back to his natural position.
Metayer, who is now back with the Pioneers for his senior season, said the Hurricanes are OK with his position change. He was only playing defense at North Miami because it was what the Pioneers needed him to play.
“It’s the place where I feel most comfortable and I feel like I can most dominate for them,” said Metayer, who now holds more than a dozen offers. “They have no problem with it.”
Metayer’s rise as a defensive prospect began inside the gymnasium at North Miami High School. Ahead of his freshman year, Metayer was playing in an Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournament at the school and Pioneers coach Pat Colon was there to watch, salivating over Metayer’s blend of size and mobility.
Colon, whose background is on the defense, immediately slotted in Metayer as a linebacker for varsity as a freshman. He played there for two years and landed an offer from the Hurricanes after his second. A few days later, he orally committed to the Hurricanes and has stayed committed since making his initial pledge in 2019.
Miami has been recruiting Metayer since he was in eighth grade, first when Mark Richt was coach and then when Diaz took over. Metayer said he quickly hit it off with Diaz and has built a particularly strong relationship with Field.
“He’s always on top of me,” Metayer said. “You just need that top of person and Field’s been that person. ... He’s the main man.”
Colon said he’s open to the idea of Metayer playing receiver, too, but he has stressed to the junior a need to put in the work. He said Metayer envisions himself in a similar mold as Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and plans to spend the offseason doing speed training to get quick enough to play wideout at the next level.
Colon doesn’t doubt his ability. Last year, Metayer was out sick with the flu on the day North Miami was supposed to do its combine-style testing at the end of offseason workouts and Colon didn’t realize it. He called Metayer asking where he was and Metayer insisted he should run over to the school to run a 40-yard dash. He showed up in cut-off jean shorts, hopped in line and ran it in 4.67 seconds.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior proved then he has the potential to succeed anywhere on the field, especially because he’s still juggling his time between football and basketball.
“Since he’s gone to Central and come back, he’s shared a lot of stories with me about wanting to stay on the offensive side of the ball exclusively,” Colon said. “That’s his dream. Who am I to tell him otherwise? But I did tell him, ‘Hey, these are things that you need to do if that’s the plateau you want to be on,’ so he understands that, but he understands also a lot of colleges have kind of pitched him to either a tight end or defensive end-slash-outside linebacker. So he’s understanding of that entire process of what he wants to do and what his dreams are, versus how he’s being viewed and how he’s being evaluated.
“I think when this story finally unfolds, it’s going to be about what his primary interest is.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 4:02 PM.
