It’s been a week of good press for the Miami Hurricanes, despite falling to Boston College less than a week ago. Late in the fourth quarter of that 24-17 turnover-fest, it was announced that head coach Al Golden received a four-year contract extension and the lone upside of no bowl game this year; the fact that players were back in the weight room on Sunday while coaches were back on the recruiting trail – and the tenacity is paying off.
Jorge Milian of the Palm Beach Post chimed in this morning with a piece that explained how the Canes have weathered the storm of Nevingate and are on par to sign a better class than anyone expected and recruiting expert Tom Lemming agreed.
“You would have thought this class was going to be a disaster after all the allegations and everything, but I have them tenth in the country,” said Lemming. “Considering everything that was going against them, Miami has done an unbelievable job.”
Scout has the Canes ranked sixth, ESPN currently has Miami at seven and Rivals has UM ninth, with two months to go.
Scandal doesn’t usually spell good news. Ohio State had top five classes three of the past four years, but in the wake of all that’s going on in Columbus, the Buckeyes aren’t even in ESPN’s Top 25. North Carolina and Penn State are also reeling on the recruiting front.
The difference? According to the recruiting analysts and supposed experts, Golden, as Miami has only lost one oral commitment since the Yahoo! Sports bomb dropped last August.
That decommit? Miami Norland linebacker Keith Brown, who is said to now be reconsidering ‘The U’ after committing to Illinois, which fired Ron Zook last week.
Milian states that recruiting gurus credit Golden’s extension as a big reason the sales pitch isn’t as difficult as it could’ve been. Analysts believed rumors of Golden replacing Joe Paterno at Penn State were more detrimental than the NCAA investigation.
“When he goes into living rooms and says he’s staying until 2020, that really impresses recruits and speaks to the stability of the program,” said Mike Farrell, analyst for Rivals.
“They see 2020 and think coach Golden is going to be there forever. That’s the important thing, the perception.”
Odds are the NCAA investigation won’t be complete by Signing Day in February, but Golden is preaching, “that the worst part is behind us and we have a chance to move on now.” What that truly means, remains unknown for the time being.
There could still be some fallout with eight-plus weeks remaining before Signing Day, but even if some potential Canes bag out, analysts still expect Miami to close strong.
The Canes have a dozen recruits set to visit this weekend, including four-star defensive tackle Dante Phillips, a Florida commit who will head south with two high school teammates, undecided offensive lineman Forrest Lamp and current Cane commit, three-star running back Danny Dillard, who hopes to flip his Gator-pledged teammate.
Whether Miami turns Phillips at this point of the process remains to be seen, but culturally you can feel a shift on the recruiting front, especially with the Canes thriving despite being in the press for all the wrong reasons prior to the season opener.
“Golden’s a great recruiter, there’s no doubt about it,” reiterated Farrell. “Under their circumstances, it takes twice the effort to recruit kids than it would normally take. If they stay in the top ten, that would be a miraculous job.”
With two months to go, that top ten could even turn into a top five should the Canes close strong.
It all starts this weekend. Let’s see who’s sold. – C.B.
Wondering what your opinion is of the AJ leggit issue. Do you think the academic standards of miami hurts them in terms of recruiting? Do you think a certain amount of scholarship exceptions should be made?
VA – Here’s the story.
Personally I think this is a bum out. I respect UM’s stance on academics, but this is a kid that obvious has good grades and has always dreamed of playing for the Canes.
Not sure why he bounced around so much, but attaining proper transcripts from four schools is no small feat.
Hopefully it can be worked out, but when it comes to UM’s stance, it has to be respected. Especially in a day and age where football factories bend over backwards to make allowances for athletes.
This may indeed be a case where Leggett is getting a raw deal, but in the end, rules are rules, core values are core values and UM needs to do what it thinks is best.
Honestly, callous as it may sound, if Leggett’s dream were truly UM and nowhere else, go to prep school for a year and get it right. In the grand scheme of a teenager’s life, a year seems like ‘forever’, but it will blow by and before he knows it, he’s at UM as a sophomore and is game-ready.
Or he can go to rival Florida State, get in their system and play the, “I’m gonna show UM every time I play them that they made a mistake”, faux bitterness to get him by.
If I’m his dad, I’m gauging his true love for UM and if that were my son’s life goal, we’d have a heart to heart about paying a year of dues elsewhere and then living his dream.
Finish strong! Go get em!!!!
I bleed orange and green, but if I were in this kid’s position I move on to FSU. He hasn’t done anything wrong and should not be penalized for the decisions that his parents made. Prep school is for kids who don’t have good grades, not kids who transferred around. UM better get its stuff together or learn to be happy with 6-6 seasons. You need the horses to compete with the suppose football factories.
Carlos – Agree that if his goal is to see the field as quickly as humanly possible and the option is prep school in 2012 or Florida State, then head to Tallahassee. Can’t argue with that.
The caveat of course is his desire to play for UM. If this is a life-long goal and he’s wanted to be a Cane since he could walk, then as a parent you have to give the speech on working towards goals, nothing coming easy, paying dues, etc.
One year is absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of life and if Leggett goes to FSU, passing on a dream, simply because of impatience, I don’t think that’s right.
If he’s torn between UM and FSU and the hometown team says prep school while the arch rivals says he’ll play in 2012, then Trailerhassee makes sense.