UM will have to hold off SEC suitors, but OL Laurence Seymore is ‘locked in 100 percent’
Laurence Seymore has been orally recruited to the Miami Hurricanes longer than anyone else in their Class of 2021.
He committed to the hometown team two offensive line coaches ago and has stuck by his commitment for more than two years, even as other players have decommitted and, in many cases, recommitted to Miami.
The four-star guard’s relationship with Garin Justice is just as good as it was with Butch Barry and Stacy Searels before him. Seymore said he talks with the offensive coach nearly every day and likes what he’s seeing from the Hurricanes’ overhauled offense. He also, however, said he talks with coaches from a handful of Southeastern Conference schools regularly, too.
While Seymore says he’s “100 percent” committed to Miami, the Hurricanes will have to fend off pushes from the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs to lock up the Under Armour All-American when he signs his national letter of intent in December.
“There’s some interest, but I feel as though Miami’s got it. Whenever that day comes, it comes. When signing day comes, it comes,” Seymore said. “I’m still locked in 100 percent.”
Florida and Georgia have their appeals, too, though.
“They produce linemen the way how they play,” Seymore said, “and it’s SEC football.”
Seymore was still a freshman at Miami Central when he committed to the Hurricanes. Nicknamed “Big Baby,” Seymore burst on to the Hurricanes’ radar when he was only in eighth grade, picking up an offer from Searels after dominating a Mark Richt Football Camp in 2017.
Midway through his freshman season at Central, Seymore took over as the Rockets’ right tackle and he has been in their starting lineup ever since.
The 6-2, 293-pound senior has been a part of the Hurricanes’ future plans for basically his entire high school football career and Justice has made him feel wanted.
“It’s a great relationship we have. He said whenever I get a chance, just call him and talk to him. He asks me about practice, I ask him how the games been going,” Seymore said. “I’m just ready to get there. They always tell me I need to come now, start now.
“I’ve got in my mindset to get up there, get the spot and just hold on to it.”
It hasn’t been an easy year for Seymore, though. Early in the summer, the offensive lineman got in a serious car accident, tearing a muscle in his left shoulder, and injuring his back and head. He was unable to do much of anything for almost four months before Central started practicing earlier this month.
He poured most of his preseason focus into conditioning, trying to make up for lost time. His shoulder still nags at him, but Seymore said he felt like he “was the same player” last Friday when he opened his senior season with a 21-14 loss to Miami Northwestern at “Traz” Powell Stadium.
“My shoulder’s still messing with me, but it’s football. You’ve got bumps and bruises,” Seymore said. “I feel like I’m strong, but I was already strong, so I felt like I had to get back into conditioning shape.”
Seymore’s blend of strength and quickness — which led Davie University coach Daniel Luque to dub him “a unicorn” in March — has made him heavily coveted despite being relatively undersized. He’s the No. 1 offensive lineman in Miami-Dade County, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and the No. 2 guard in South Florida.
He’s the sort of prospect the Hurricanes can’t afford to lose. Wide receiver Lamar Seymore, the lineman’s younger brother, orally committed to the Hurricanes’ Class of 2023 in April and the whole family is made up of Hurricanes fans. Seymore has been picturing himself suiting up at Hard Rock Stadium as long as he has been in high school.
The offensive line is still one of the Hurricanes’ most unsettled positions and Seymore is the sort of polished prospect who can help out early in his career.
“I feel as though wherever they need me,” Seymore said, “put me there and I’ll just play it.”
