2021 Brentwood Academy (TN) 4-star OT Eli Sutton recently released his top 7 schools last week. Included in that list was the Miami Hurricanes, who have made Sutton a top priority since offering him last spring.
Along with UM, the other 6 programs that made Sutton’s top group includes Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Northwestern.
“The Canes have been on me since the beginning,” Sutton said. “I went down there and visited, obviously I have ties to South Florida, and the Canes have treated me so well every time I’ve been there. I love bringing my family down there. Even with the new coaching staff, I’m starting to build a better relationship with coach (Garin) Justice and coach (Rhett) Lashlee.
“What I’ve realized during this whole recruiting process is that you commit to a school and not people. All the places that I’ve been have very, very young and upcoming coaches that could easily leave to go to other places. So I’ve realized that the ability to win is there at Miami, but that education is very important to me as well. That’s why the Canes are so high on my list.”
Of course, last month, the Canes made the move to switch out former OL coach Butch Barry for Garin Justice, and since the change, Sutton says he’s heard from Justice pretty much every day. Although he felt it was a challenge to completely start over with a new position coach, Sutton has already taken a liking to what Justice will bring to the Miami program.
“It was definitely different because I had a really good relationship with coach Barry, so starting a whole new one was definitely difficult at the time,” Sutton said. “But coach Justice is a great guy, he’s a great coach, he has a very, very smart mind for the game of football. Those are the people I usually gravitate towards, especially in the locker room at Brentwood Academy.
“I’m not the most athletic guy on the field most of the time, but I try and make up for it in the way that I do film study and the way that I prepare for opponents. So that way of preparing and winning the battle before it even starts is something I can appreciate from him.”
Along with a new OL coach, the Canes have also brought in Rhett Lashlee to run the offense this season, but the high-tempo, spread system of the former SMU OC will look familiar to Sutton.
“It’s a small world because my head coach is originally from Texas, so him and my OC went down there and actually talked to [Lashlee] when he was at SMU,” Sutton said. “Miami will be running a similar offense to what we do at Brentwood Academy, it’ll be very similar in the way that they’ll run it.”
As for upcoming visits, Sutton already has a tentative date in mind for his next UM trip; he also has Northwestern set up for March 7th and North Carolina on March 28th.
“Actually, I was originally planning on coming down to Miami this weekend, but I realized that the whole month of February is dead,” Sutton said. “So I’m planning on going down in the middle of March, still looking at flights for an exact date.”
His last Miami visit? That was for the Georgia Tech game at Hard Rock Stadium in October, a whirlwind contest that UM eventually lost and led to Miami’s 6-7 downward spiral. However, despite a down year in 2019, Sutton’s confidence in what the program is building towards hasn’t been shaken.
“It was crazy, the atmosphere was incredible - they filled up a pro stadium, which is very hard to do,” Sutton said of his GT game visit. “Obviously, being at a place like Hard Rock, a place that hosted the Super Bowl this year, is very incredible to me. And even though they lost, the reasons why Georgia Tech won were because they had a fake punt go for a touchdown, a strip fumble for a touchdown, and Miami’s kicker missed three game-winning field goals.
“Honestly, a guy like me, I don’t look at current wins and losses, I look at the future, because I’m not going to be there tomorrow, I’m going to be there in a year. So that’s why Miami really intrigues me, because I really believe Manny Diaz is the guy that’s going to turn it back into ‘The U’.”
Another reason the Hurricanes have figured into this recruitment so prominently is because Sutton’s grandfather lives in Fort Lauderdale and has been a Canes’ fan since he moved to the area; Sutton’s step-mother grew up in the South Florida area as well. The 6-7 285 pound prospect might be from out of state, but he is hardly unfamiliar with the region.
“My grandfather played basketball at Vanderbilt, graduated from Vanderbilt Law, moved down to South Florida, and he has always kept up with the Canes,” Sutton said. “Him and my step-mom used to go the Orange Bowl, had season tickets for like 10 straight years when Miami was beating everybody back in the early 90’s. So they’ve always been fans of the program and I’ve always thought of it as a really good spot for me.”
Once Sutton gets his spring visits out of the way, he says he’ll likely have a better idea of where he’s leaning; expect to see a summer decision from the Brentwood Academy star.
“I’m most likely going to be committed in the middle of June. Because the way that college football recruiting has been going, with the transfer portal and all that stuff, I don’t want to get into a situation where all of my school’s spots are filled up and I get stranded out in the cold. So, I want to be committed by my senior season and play with no worries.”
At the Opening Nashville Regional in May, Sutton posted a 5.03 shuttle time and a 23.10 inch vertical leap.
Along with UM, the other 6 programs that made Sutton’s top group includes Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Northwestern.
“The Canes have been on me since the beginning,” Sutton said. “I went down there and visited, obviously I have ties to South Florida, and the Canes have treated me so well every time I’ve been there. I love bringing my family down there. Even with the new coaching staff, I’m starting to build a better relationship with coach (Garin) Justice and coach (Rhett) Lashlee.
“What I’ve realized during this whole recruiting process is that you commit to a school and not people. All the places that I’ve been have very, very young and upcoming coaches that could easily leave to go to other places. So I’ve realized that the ability to win is there at Miami, but that education is very important to me as well. That’s why the Canes are so high on my list.”
Of course, last month, the Canes made the move to switch out former OL coach Butch Barry for Garin Justice, and since the change, Sutton says he’s heard from Justice pretty much every day. Although he felt it was a challenge to completely start over with a new position coach, Sutton has already taken a liking to what Justice will bring to the Miami program.
“It was definitely different because I had a really good relationship with coach Barry, so starting a whole new one was definitely difficult at the time,” Sutton said. “But coach Justice is a great guy, he’s a great coach, he has a very, very smart mind for the game of football. Those are the people I usually gravitate towards, especially in the locker room at Brentwood Academy.
“I’m not the most athletic guy on the field most of the time, but I try and make up for it in the way that I do film study and the way that I prepare for opponents. So that way of preparing and winning the battle before it even starts is something I can appreciate from him.”
Along with a new OL coach, the Canes have also brought in Rhett Lashlee to run the offense this season, but the high-tempo, spread system of the former SMU OC will look familiar to Sutton.
“It’s a small world because my head coach is originally from Texas, so him and my OC went down there and actually talked to [Lashlee] when he was at SMU,” Sutton said. “Miami will be running a similar offense to what we do at Brentwood Academy, it’ll be very similar in the way that they’ll run it.”
As for upcoming visits, Sutton already has a tentative date in mind for his next UM trip; he also has Northwestern set up for March 7th and North Carolina on March 28th.
“Actually, I was originally planning on coming down to Miami this weekend, but I realized that the whole month of February is dead,” Sutton said. “So I’m planning on going down in the middle of March, still looking at flights for an exact date.”
His last Miami visit? That was for the Georgia Tech game at Hard Rock Stadium in October, a whirlwind contest that UM eventually lost and led to Miami’s 6-7 downward spiral. However, despite a down year in 2019, Sutton’s confidence in what the program is building towards hasn’t been shaken.
“It was crazy, the atmosphere was incredible - they filled up a pro stadium, which is very hard to do,” Sutton said of his GT game visit. “Obviously, being at a place like Hard Rock, a place that hosted the Super Bowl this year, is very incredible to me. And even though they lost, the reasons why Georgia Tech won were because they had a fake punt go for a touchdown, a strip fumble for a touchdown, and Miami’s kicker missed three game-winning field goals.
“Honestly, a guy like me, I don’t look at current wins and losses, I look at the future, because I’m not going to be there tomorrow, I’m going to be there in a year. So that’s why Miami really intrigues me, because I really believe Manny Diaz is the guy that’s going to turn it back into ‘The U’.”
Another reason the Hurricanes have figured into this recruitment so prominently is because Sutton’s grandfather lives in Fort Lauderdale and has been a Canes’ fan since he moved to the area; Sutton’s step-mother grew up in the South Florida area as well. The 6-7 285 pound prospect might be from out of state, but he is hardly unfamiliar with the region.
“My grandfather played basketball at Vanderbilt, graduated from Vanderbilt Law, moved down to South Florida, and he has always kept up with the Canes,” Sutton said. “Him and my step-mom used to go the Orange Bowl, had season tickets for like 10 straight years when Miami was beating everybody back in the early 90’s. So they’ve always been fans of the program and I’ve always thought of it as a really good spot for me.”
Once Sutton gets his spring visits out of the way, he says he’ll likely have a better idea of where he’s leaning; expect to see a summer decision from the Brentwood Academy star.
“I’m most likely going to be committed in the middle of June. Because the way that college football recruiting has been going, with the transfer portal and all that stuff, I don’t want to get into a situation where all of my school’s spots are filled up and I get stranded out in the cold. So, I want to be committed by my senior season and play with no worries.”
At the Opening Nashville Regional in May, Sutton posted a 5.03 shuttle time and a 23.10 inch vertical leap.
