Miami DT commit Allan Haye lays out senior goals, weighs in on Thad Franklin recruitment
Allan Haye didn’t show up to Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna’s preseason workouts in the sort of shape he hoped to. How could he?
Dameon Jones saw it as a common trend for all of his linemen when Chaminade-Madonna started conditioning in July: They were all a little bit overweight after spending months at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even Haye couldn’t escape the “COVID 15.”
“Conditioning by yourself’s not the same,” Haye said Friday after helping Chaminade-Madonna open the season with a 27-14 win against Champagnat Catholic in Hollywood. “When you’re by yourself, it’s like you give yourself breaks, you do this and that.”
At those first workouts, Haye weighed in at about 320 pounds and he has since gotten back down to about 310 in less than two months since. As a senior he has a handful of goals on his mind before he joins the Miami Hurricanes in 2021. He wants to win a second straight Class 3A title, he wants to double his stack total to 12 or at least crack double digits and he wants to get in even better shape with a target weight of 295 pounds.
Really, those goals all go hand in hand. For Chaminade-Madonna to win another state championship, it would help if Haye is dominant. Dominance means increasing his sack total beyond the six he had in 2019. To increase his sack total, he wants to get even quicker.
“I’ve just got to get faster, really, because I can get back there,” the 6-1 defensive lineman said. “It’s just catching the quarterback, so I’ve got to work on my speed and work on my pass rush — stuff like that.”
Haye’s blend of size and quickness has always been what intrigued Miami. Haye was a basketball player most of his life into he tried out football as a sophomore at Coconut Creek, so he had natural footwork and agility before he even set foot on a football field. It’s what led the Hurricanes to offer him a scholarship in January after a promising junior season for Chaminade-Madonna and the crux of the pitch they used to land his oral commitment in April.
On Friday, he managed to stand out even on a defensive line loaded with future college players. The three-star defensive tackle recorded a sack, batted down a pass and logged about half a dozen tackles to help Chaminade-Madonna beat the defending Class 2A champion.
Although Miami didn’t make him one of the recruits coaches called pregame Thursday, Haye said he talks to defensive line coach Todd Stroud and defensive line graduate assistant Jake Swalley “every day.”
Haye was also pleased with what he saw from the No. 17 Hurricanes in their 31-14 win against the UAB Blazers in Miami Gardens.
“They came out slow first quarter and stuff, but defense and offense really cranked up,” said Haye, the No. 48 defensive tackle in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2021. “I think D’Eriq King’s something special, too. That’s another level of being mobile. I like D’Eriq King a lot.”
Haye remains entirely locked in with Miami and he said he believes four-star running back Thad Franklin, a teammate at Chaminade-Madonna, is “locked in,” too, despite constant overtures by the Florida State Seminoles.
“None of that Florida State stuff,” Haye said. “I think he’s locked in. We talk all the time. He likes Miami a lot.”
Haye said he’s still getting to know most of the rest of Miami’s 2021 recruiting class, but the prospects do have a group direct message chain on Twitter they use to communicate.
On Friday, he’ll get to go up against a player who has fashioned himself as a sort of leader of the class. Chaminade-Madonna is set to host Plantation American Heritage at Vince Zappone Field, which means a showdown with five-star athlete James Williams, the top-ranked player in the Hurricanes’ class.
Haye is just most concerned with revenge, though. He went up against American Heritage once when he was sophomore playing for the Cougars. They lost by 40.
“They smacked us,” Haye said, “so I’m trying to get that back.”
