To say that Al Golden and his Miami Hurricanes coaching staff are on a roll is a gross understatement. In a twenty-four hour span, UM has reeled in two four-star verbal commitments from local defensive players.
Friday brought the commitment of cornerback Nigel Bethel and today’s verbal comes from defensive end Chad Thomas, both out of Booker T. Washington, Miami’s twenty-third and twenty-fourth additions to the 2014 class.
The back-to-back commitments from Tornadoes also dispels any talk of a rift between Miami coaches and Booker T. Washington head coach Tim “Ice” Harris, which some saw as frayed due to some confusion and drama back in February.
For those who don’t remember, Golden and staff offered four-star offensive lineman Denver Kirkland, supposedly pushed for a verbal, didn’t get one (or felt they were being played, as happens in the process) and rescinded the offer. Harris went ballistic to the media, threatened to not send future player to UM.
Miami coaches had a sit-down with Kirkland, put the offer back on the table and the offensive lineman still chose Arkansas on Signing Day, where former Canes head coach Randy Shannon now coaches linebackers.
The snafu gave folks critical of Golden some ammo and reason to bash. Short-sighted fans quickly criticized the New Jersey native for not understanding the culture in South Florida (despite Golden’s effort to rebuild bridges Shannon burned), stating that the rift with Harris would do him in and would be detrimental to local recruiting efforts.
Not quite.
Prior to the addition of Bethel and Thomas, Miami already had a top five class, courtesy of a slew of additions over the last month due to Golden’s successful summer camp – one of which reeled in a half dozen recruits over a two-day span. Two new defensive four stars will most certainly push the Canes up the list when the newest recruiting assessments are made.
Both Bethel and Thomas had been visiting other programs, both having recently seen Alabama and Florida State, which would up working in Miami’s favor as the local prospects felt even further drawn to the hometown program, the university itself and being a part of something special.
Bethel and Thomas also stated that they are fully committed and consider the recruiting process over – which still remains to be seen, but is better to hear than those who commit, yet keep their options open.
Bethel is a 5-foot-9, 170-pound corner with offers from upwards of two dozen universities, including Florida State, Tennessee, Texas Tech and West Virginia. He’s the 28th-ranked overall corner and the 43rd-best in-state prospect.
Thomas measures 6-foot-5 and 229-pounds, but bigger than his build is the position he plays and the need Miami has for defensive lineman. Thomas boated offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, LSU, NC State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin, to name a few, and is considered the 11th-best defensive end nationally and 29th-best overall in-state prospect.
Bethel and Thomas mark the second and third pick-ups for Miami from Booker T. Washington as the Canes earned a verbal commitment from two-star defensive end Demetrius Jackson in late June, though it went somewhat unrecognized as Jackson is yet to play a down of high school football and has made his mark thus far on the basketball court.
Inevitably, there are always some fans who are quick to point out that these are just verbal commitments, that there’s no reason to get excited and that these kids could easily bow out – but it begs the question, why can other big-time programs get jazzed over verbals but Miami shouldn’t?
Furthermore, it’s an insult to a number of players who committed early over the years and stuck to their word.
For every Alex Collins who got cold feet, there are guys like Duke Johnson, Deon Bush, Antonio Crawford, Ereck Flowers, Malcolm Lewis, Rayshawn Jenkins, Kevin Olsen, Artie Burns, Jamal Carter, Standish Dobard, Alex Gall – the list goes on – who said they were in, stayed on board and went on to be ambassadors for The U during the recruitment process.
The University of Miami football program has had a dark cloud cast over it since a certain snitch created a world of trouble two years back. Golden, his staff and his players have been fighting and clawing their way back ever since – so when moments like this present themselves and good kids get on board to be part of the rebuilding process, celebrate it and believe them at their word, without any typical cynicism.
Don’t doubt until given reason to do so. An incredible class of talented, hard-working kids with character is getting on board. Sit back and enjoy the process as Miami is finally on its way “back”.