WR commit Lamar Seymore plans Miami visit, hopes to build relationship with Cristobal
Lamar Seymore has been orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes for nearly two years — by far the longest-tenured member of their two-player Class of 2023 — but a lot has changed in Coral Gables since the three-star wide receiver first pulled the trigger with a commitment back in 2020.
Back then, Rhett Lashlee and Rob Likens hadn’t even coached games as assistants at Miami, and Manny Diaz was heading into his second season already on something of a hot seat. Since then, Lashlee has left to become the SMU Mustangs’ coach, Likens has followed the former offensive coordinator to Dallas be continue as his wide receivers coach and Mario Cristobal has replaced Diaz. It has made the past few months challenging for Seymore, whose older brother is an offensive lineman for the Hurricanes.
“It was because of the chemistry I have with the coaches, but now there’s a lot of coaches leaving,” said Seymore, who transferred from Miami Central to Miami Northwestern earlier this month. “I just really don’t know.”
For the time being, Seymore remains committed to the Hurricanes, but contact with the new coaching staff has been minimal beyond a trip to campus in January for Miami’s massive junior day event.
“I haven’t been talking to Coach Cristobal right now,” Seymore said and he hasn’t even had a chance to meet offensive coordinator Josh Gattis yet because the Hurricanes only hired him Feb. 9, a few weeks after the junior day.
Seymore is working to set up a return trip to Miami again in the next few weeks.
“It’s most likely going to be in March,” he said.
In the meantime, schools from across the country are trying to court Seymore, who’s the No. 540 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2023 recruiting class.
Seymore said he has been in contact with the Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Penn State Nittany Lions, Indiana Hoosiers and Illinois Fighting Illini. He already visited the UCF Knights last month and has a trip to Florida State scheduled for Saturday. The 6-foot, 170-pound receiver is also planning to visit the Florida Gators, Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes in the coming months.
After earning third-team all-county recognition from the Miami Herald last season at Central, Seymore is up past a dozen scholarship offers and could be poised for a breakout senior year with the Bulls. At Northwestern, he will play opposite three-star wide receiver Andy Jean, who also committed to the Hurricanes in January, and catch passes from Taron Dickens as the quarterback guns for Miami-Dade County’s career record for passing yards.
As a junior, Seymore caught 26 passes for 550 yards and seven touchdowns, including one on in the Class 5A championship, and he has had an impressive few months of 7-on-7 action with South Florida Express. The Bulls, however, are most excited about the energy he’s already bringing to their program.
Northwestern wide receivers coach Chaviss Murphy has seen Seymore play plenty from the opposite sideline and recalled watching how excited the receiver would get about blocking.
“He made a block on their first drive,” Murphy said, recalling one of the Bulls’ meetings with Central from last year, “and he was the most excited player on the field. He jumped — Lamar’s head could’ve hit the ceiling because he was just so excited about the block he had just made. That stood out.
Murphy also called Seymore “a technician,” which is a reputation the junior embraces.
“I’m really not that fast, so I’ve just got to win off the ball,” Seymore said. “I just worked on getting off the ball faster, so I can get separation. So the ball can get out of the quarterback’s hand faster.”
From afar, Seymore is hearing good things about Cristobal and Co., too.
Laurence Seymore, the wideout’s older brother, is a freshman lineman, who redshirted for Diaz last year and is now going through Cristobal’s offseason program to get ready for his second season. He’s telling his brother good things about the direction of the program.
“He said that it’s changing,” Seymore said, “that the mentality that the coaches bring is winning.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 12:50 PM.
