‘It’s exciting for me’: New Canes commit Malik Curtis embraces position change at Miami
A wink said it all for John Mohring. It was Malik Curtis’ first day practicing with Fort Myers Bishop Verot last year, and all he needed to do was run one route to fascinate the coaching staff.
Curtis, who had run a 100-meter dash in 11.13 seconds just a few months earlier across town for South Fort Myers, took off and ran by Bishop Verot’s entire secondary to haul in a long catch. Mohring just looked at Josh Vogelbach, his offensive coordinator, and winked.
“I was like, ‘Man,’” Mohring said, “’this guy’s going to be pretty special.’”
It wasn’t just offensive prowess which made Curtis’ first season with the Vikings special. The three-star athlete also scored five touchdowns as a return specialist to go along with eight on offense. He even logged 15 tackles and broke up three passes in spot work as a defensive back. Even now, there’s not a consensus about what Curtis can be at the next level — some schools like him as a true wide receiver and others like his upside as a versatile athlete.
The Miami Hurricanes, the first team to offer Curtis a scholarship in January, were quick to single him out for his defensive potential, even though it’s the side of the ball Curtis is least familiar with at this point. Strikers coach Jonathan Patke, the area recruiter for Southwest Florida, was the one to actually make an offer to Curtis, then he handed the reins to cornerbacks coach Mike Rumph, who coveted Curtis’ speed and length in the secondary.
Curtis never hesitated at the idea of playing defense at the next level. Although he never got to visit Coral Gables before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a recruiting dead period, Curtis still orally committed to Miami on Saturday.
Mohring said he thinks part of Curtis’ decision was actually because the Hurricanes like him as a defensive player, and Curtis is looking forward to the challenge. Curtis said his coach is right.
“I didn’t think nothing of it because I’m an athlete. I can play anywhere on the field,” said Curtis, whom the 247Sports.com composite rankings peg as the No. 72 athlete in the country for the Class of 2021. “It’s exciting for me.”
Although Curtis is still relatively inexperienced as a defensive back, Miami’s interest in him isn’t unprecedented. Instead, it fits in with a recent trend Rumph has focused on for the last couple recruiting cycles.
In the Class of 2020, Rumph signed Winter Park three-star cornerback Marcus Clarke, who had mostly been a speedy offensive weapon before his senior season. Clarke, 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, fits an extremely similar profile to Curtis, a 5-11, 160-pound junior.
“He’s just an electrifying player. He can play anywhere on the field,” Mohring said of Curtis. “Whether it’s offense, defense or special teams, he’s going to make an impact on the field.”
Rumph has honed in on these types of prospects after last season, when Miami’s relative lack of speed in the secondary was exposed as the defense’s most apparent weakness. Rumph has traditionally valued bigger, physical corners capable of using their size to jam wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and their length to cover receivers down the field in press-man coverage.
The Hurricanes want to continue playing press-man on the outside — Diaz has previously mentioned he feels Miami should always be playing man-to-man defense — but they need better speed to do it. They hope Curtis, who only has one other offer from a Power 5 Conference team, can be a hidden gem at a position where he has mostly been untested.
“They liked my speed and they think I can really be a good DB,” Curtis said. “With my kind of speed, I can be able to press and still keep up with fast receivers.”
The Hurricanes making an offer first mattered, too. Curtis said he was left speechless when Miami first made an offer, and he has viewed the Hurricanes as something of a favorite since the moment they offered. He spent the last week or so seriously thinking about his decision with the coronavirus outbreak leaving recruitments across the country in limbo, and eventually sat down with his mother and grandmother. They decided Curtis was ready to commit to Miami, where he could stay relatively close to home and play for a traditional powerhouse.
Somewhere along the decision-making process, Curtis had a long conversation with Mohring, too, and the coach leaned on the Hurricanes’ storied history when advising his star.
Mohring reminded Curtis about Devin Hester, who dazzled South Florida on offense, defense and, most notably, special teams. Even though he was never really a true wide receiver, Hester didn’t let it stop him from being one of the most dynamic playmakers in the nation. Curtis, Mohring said, has the same sort of mentality.
“He’s always up for a challenge. That’s the kind of player he is,” Mohring said. “Guys think, ‘Oh, I play defense. I’m not going to get the ball.’ His mentality is like, ‘I’m going to go and get it, and take it to the house.’”
