How a three-star tight end became the Miami Hurricanes’ recruiting secret weapon in 2021
Kahlil Brantley pined for a scholarship offer from the Miami Hurricanes unlike anyone else in their Class of 2021. He grew up worshiping Miami and knew he would orally commit to the Hurricanes pretty much as soon as he had an offer. In 2019, he finally got one and he committed the next day.
For the next year and a half, he tried to show every other player in the 2021 recruiting cycle why it was a great time to go to Miami and, in the end, his commitment was rewarded with one of the Hurricanes’ best recruiting classes in years surrounding him.
“Building this class with me was just crazy because we can really do something, and another class behind us can come in and help us do that,” Brantley said Saturday ahead of the Florida vs. Georgia All-Star Game in Miami, “so it was big for me and I know it was big for the classes.”
The Hurricanes’ class currently ranks No. 11, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and Brantley was instrumental in helping Miami land two of its top-ranked prospects.
Two moments still stick with the three-star tight end more than a month after the early signing period began: the day five-star James Williams hopped back into the Hurricanes’ 2021 class and the early signing day itself, when four-star quarterback Jake Garcia finally committed to Miami.
Williams, the No. 1 safety in the country, picked the Hurricanes over the Georgia Bulldogs last year and Garcia picked Miami after he spent more than a year committed to the USC Trojans. Brantley was a secret weapon for the Hurricanes in both recruitments.
“I just worked my way to get him not to go to Georgia and to come back to us, and that happened, so it was crazy,” Brantley said, “and then for Jake to commit to us on signing day was big — real big.”
When Brantley first committed to Miami, he was the ninth member of the class. Of those other eight, only four-star guard Laurence Seymore and three-star outside linebacker Tyler Johnson stuck with the Hurricanes the whole way, though.
Williams was in the class, too. The defensive back was one of the earliest players to commit to Miami in the 2021 cycle before basically every team in the country made him a priority. At one point in 2020, Williams put out a top three without the Hurricanes included. It never deterred Brantley from trying to convince him.
Brantley, who played his final three seasons at Miami Northwestern, grew up in the same neighborhood as Williams, so they’ve been friends since they were about 10. When Williams was deciding where he wanted to play his senior season, he narrowed his choices down to Northwestern and Plantation American Heritage before ultimately settling on American Heritage.
The process was similar with Garcia, even though the two didn’t have the same long-lasting friendship.
Brantley was already committed to the Hurricanes when Garcia took his first visit to Coral Gables in 2019. The two met during the official visit and Miami started to single out Garcia as its quarterback of choice for 2021. Brantley started a texting relationship with him and it really started to ramp up last year after four-star wide receiver Romello Brinson, a teammate of Brantley’s, committed to the Hurricanes. Garcia, who was looking for somewhere to play high school football as a senior with California delaying the season to 2021, started joking he was going to come play for the Bulls before he ultimately wound up at Grayson in Loganville, Georgia.
After he committed to Miami, Garcia said his relationship with Williams, Brantley, Brinson and four-star Northwestern safety Kamren Kinchens was one of the biggest reasons he picked the Hurricanes.
“When he gets settled in, we’re going to start working out with each other and stuff like that,” said Brantley, who is not early enrolling. “I’ll be able to go down there and work out with him.”
Although Brantley is far from the highest ranked player in the class, his attitude is infectious and Garcia said he realized Miami was a fit once he saw how like-minded he was with some of the other players in class.
Brantley doesn’t know if everyone shares his attitude, but he’s optimistic.
“Probably so, but if not I’m going to get on them about it. We’re going to get it right when we get in that building,” Brantley said. “I’m very passionate about what I do. ... We need ballplayers to come to the University of Miami — dogs — and dominate, so that’s what we’re trying to build up.”
