The UM newcomer who might play both ways. And the players making Cristobal say ‘My Oh My’
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Friday:
▪ There’s at least one member of this 2022 UM recruiting class that Mario Cristobal envisions playing on both sides of the ball:
Three-star Alabama-based linemen Anez Cooper, who signed with Miami on Wednesday.
He will primarily be an offensive linemen. But Cristobal told WQAM’s Don Bailey Jr. that he also expects to use Cooper on defense.
Cooper, listed at 6-6 and 358, “moves like a 300-pounder,” Cristobal said. “He looked like a polar bear out there [in high school], slapping people around. He’s a unique talent. So light on his feet. So much power.
“I said, ‘What do you want to play?’ He said right guard. I said I’m very happy, [but the] defensive line coach won’t be happy about that. But he’s a guy that in situations will play some defense.”
▪ One reason UM was so happy to land four-star Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons defensive tackle Ahmad Moten: It’s difficult to find elite defensive tackles in South Florida. The Canes hope they have found two with Leonard Taylor last year and Moten this year.
“Those guys are hard to find locally,” Cristobal told Bailey. “Typically you don’t see many large human beings playing at the line of scrimmage in Miami. Youth leagues have [encouraged] more big guys to play football.”
Cristobal said “whoever listed [Moten] as 280 must have weighed him on the moon where there’s no gravity. He’s more in the 320-pound range. He’s a dynamic pass rusher for a man his size.”
▪ Cristobal called tight end Jaleel Skinner and defensive end Cyrus Moss - two early enrollees - the “two best players at their positions in the country.”
Cristobal watches them and thinks “My Oh My. That’s what I know Miami to look like. Really explosive. Just incredible range. Can run like the wind. Jaleel is a mismatch. You flex him out, put him [inside], he’s going to get it done.”
He said both players are on “the thinner side” but said “all the great guys” arrived at UM needing to put on weight.
“You think of Greg Rousseau [when he came to UM at a light weight],” Cristobal said. “They’re chowing down, about to get a tremendous dose of Cuban food. They will be introduced to empanada and croqueta.”
▪ Here’s where the Hurricanes’ class ended up being ranked by the three prominent media companies that assess high school recruiting classes:
247 Sports: UM was ranked 15th; 10 of the Canes’ 14 commitments were rated four-star prospects.
Rivals: UM was ranked 34th, which seems way too low.
ESPN: UM was ranked 19th, with Craig Haubert noting that “Mario Cristobal inherited a smaller class in Coral Gables, but it was stacked with talent at the QB and skill positions. ESPN 300 CB [Khamauri] Rogers has top-level ball skills and lockdown speed and hips.
“No. 6 QB-DT Jacurri Brown has a strong arm and good mobility as a runner, and he shows Justin Fields flashes but still has a lot of passing development ahead of him. Cristobal’s return home included a big flip right before the end of the early signing period pulling rangy ESPN 300 TE Skinner away from Alabama. ESPN 300 OLB Wesley Bissainthe and safety Markeith Williams bring good length and range to the back seven.”
▪ By ranking UM 15th overall, 247 Sports rated Cristobal’s first UM class better than it ranked the first Canes recruiting classes of Al Golden (33rd in 2011) and Mark Richt (22nd in 2016).
Cristobal loves how UM’s staff “made sure everything looked like a five-star hotel” during recruiting visits. “People notice that.”
Here’s where UM signees ranked in ESPN’s top 300:
Cornerback Khamauri Rogers, 44
Defensive end Cyrus Moss, 74
Tight end Jaleel Skinner, 114
Defensive end Nyjalik Kelly, 115
Cornerback Chris Graves, 123
Running back TreVonte’ Citizen, 144
Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, 190
Quarterback Jacurri Brown, 192
Safety Markeith Williams, 240
Wide receiver Isaiah Horton, 280
▪ Cristobal said the transfer portal has made college football seem like the wild west. He discussed the situation in a conference call with Atlantic Coast Conference coaches but had to leave the call briefly when four-star running back Citizen informed UM he was signing with the Canes.
“We need to designate certain periods of time to organize it better so that everybody knows what they have to do because it does become a safety issue,” Cristobal said. “It does become a being able to practice issue and a field a good team issue. There are issues all over the place. It is something that coaches need to be held accountable to as well. It truly feels like the Wild, Wild West.
“You love the opportunity that it grants people, but at the same time there is an anxiety issue because you feel like you have a good team and then the next day you try and go out and get an empanada on Eighth Street and half your roster is sitting in the portal. There is a lot of unknown right now and there is not enough of a sample size to really assess what is coming with this. What is the future going to look like? How is it going to translate to the Power Five and Group of Five schools?”
