The Bank (10/24)

DMoney
DMoney
2 min read

Comments (168)

Idk just logically to me is seems Hanks, Pickett, Antoine, and Anding have clearly always been like the top 4 targets, but we never had the most traction with Anding. And They clearly are taking Ewald and Carter (maybe nickel) regardless. So It doesn't seem crazy to me for Merritt to see that and be more ready to move on imo.
I personally would do what we can to keep him, especially since we aren't guaranteed Hanks/Pickett.
Understood but i disagree with taking ewald over meritt and 3 of the 4 top priorities will be tough flips so i dont think meritt would move on unless we backed off
 
Understood but i disagree with taking ewald over meritt and 3 of the 4 top priorities will be tough flips so i dont think meritt would move on unless we backed off
But I don't think it's Ewald over merritt, regardless. Ewald is in. Remember there are more scholarship spots now.
And I'm not so sure merritt wouldn't move on. I mean I'm sure he isn't dumb and knows at best he's 4th on our board at CB this class. UTenn is ranked 7, they have money too, and their CB commits are currently rated .88, .89, and .89 on 247... Merrit is also rated an .88, but Being from a random CB recruit, I can see why you'd rather go into that class than potentially a class bringing in Pickett, Hanks, Anoine... and while some here may not like Ewald or Carter they are still ranked by 247 as a .90 rating... Just saying.

Hopefully we aren't moving on from Merritt when he wants to be here, as that would be dumb. But I'd bet he's leaning away, and we maybe just aren't going crazy trying to keep him. Maybe that is a mistake... If we don't get Pickett/Hanks, it definitely is...
 
@DMoney

Your tone regarding Pickett seems different. Before you would say that you expect him in the class and now it's that he is hard to read. Has your confidence in us landing him begun to slip? Getting either Hanks or Pickett would be huge but I always envisioned us getting both. I can't predict the future. It's more of a football fantasy lol. Getting Hanks, Pickett, Antoine, Stubbs, Fitzgerald, Wallace, Ewald and possibly Arnoux would be insane! Adding them to Patterson, Day, Thomas, Frederique, Mack, Stafford, Washington and Brown would literally transform our secondary. That's not even to mention to the portal help we will bring in to bridge the time till the young kids develop. The secondary in 2025 won't be recognizable.
 
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Idk just logically to me is seems Hanks, Pickett, Antoine, and Anding have clearly always been like the top 4 targets, but we never had the most traction with Anding. And They clearly are taking Ewald and Carter (maybe nickel) regardless. So It doesn't seem crazy to me for Merritt to see that and be more ready to move on imo.
I personally would do what we can to keep him, especially since we aren't guaranteed Hanks/Pickett.

Boggles the mind that Corey Raymond was actually on the market in November of last year and Cristobal chose to hire Chevis Jackson instead.
 
D can you elaborate more on the Merritt situation. Your comment was short and a huge curve ball.
 
But I don't think it's Ewald over merritt, regardless. Ewald is in. Remember there are more scholarship spots now.
And I'm not so sure merritt wouldn't move on. I mean I'm sure he isn't dumb and knows at best he's 4th on our board at CB this class. UTenn is ranked 7, they have money too, and their CB commits are currently rated .88, .89, and .89 on 247... Merrit is also rated an .88, but Being from a random CB recruit, I can see why you'd rather go into that class than potentially a class bringing in Pickett, Hanks, Anoine... and while some here may not like Ewald or Carter they are still ranked by 247 as a .90 rating... Just saying.

Hopefully we aren't moving on from Merritt when he wants to be here, as that would be dumb. But I'd bet he's leaning away, and we maybe just aren't going crazy trying to keep him. Maybe that is a mistake... If we don't get Pickett/Hanks, it definitely is...
I think you are agreeing with me somewhat but not connecting it

You’re saying a class with potentially two players we dont already have and you already mentioned anding being a top4 priority at db..That seems to mean we are prioritizing players over him and could mean we are confident in those players flipping to is so would be ok with moving on from merritt.

He probably has interest from other schools he likes of course but what recruit doesn’t? It would be on us to press to keep him and dmoney saying its a mutual split after saying they feel good about hanks and dj basically means we are ok with him going imo
 
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Hope we close strong. I don't share the confidence you have that we will land an elite class. Time will tell
 
Some might not know this but Merrit has played mostly QB this year for his team due to lack of talent at that position so that could be the concern the kid has speed and size and whereas he’s raw the talent is there someone said it earlier it’s hard to get Alabama players to come to Miami based on the thought process Miami is a fast city, Tennessee is safe in the eyes of their parents and they are doing well this plus they have Money,so it may not be on the coaches.
 
Why do you think we weren't aggressive? It's not accurate to make that assumption. We swung big. We missed. Would you rather we got no one or get the best of what we could at that moment?
Thank you thank you thank you. It’s like people think they weren’t trying to get the best. Many teams out there that were better than us trying to get the same top players.
 
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We should not have to rely on the portal in year 4 to wholesale restock position groups. We are not FSU. The DT, WR, and DB (especially) recruiting is very concerning. No reason the best recruiter in the country with Miami’s NIL support shouldn’t be able to sign a top 5 player in each of those position groups every year.
Are you talking 2025 class because we signed 8 DL in 2024. The #1 DL class in the nation I nicknamed "The Hateful 8." I don't question or worry about Mario. He's a closer. I expect multiple flips of top recruits by national signing day.
 
We should not have to rely on the portal in year 4 to wholesale restock position groups. We are not FSU. The DT, WR, and DB (especially) recruiting is very concerning. No reason the best recruiter in the country with Miami’s NIL support shouldn’t be able to sign a top 5 player in each of those position groups every year.

Hopefully the website ads don’t eat my response before I get finished.

1. WR. Mario’s first class 2022 bridge class he only signed Ladson and Colbie Young. Pretty terrible. That started the depth issues there. 2023 still much to sell and new coaches as well on staff he got 2 4 stars. Ray Ray still hasn’t developed and Washington now DB. 2024 class was his best and so will 2025. He has to bridge the terrible early classes with the portal. Hey, it happens.

2. DT keep in mind again his whole staff changed after year one. Kind of a wasted year on the field and with recruiting. 2022 he signed a good DL class but it fee apart. Kelly, Moss and Jackson all gone and only leaves Moten left with eligibility next year. 2023 again another strong rated group. Bain, Horton, Wayne, Collins, Bryant and a couple transfers. Well once again a few already are gone. New world of college football. Wayne and Collins both gone. 2024. Elite class. So you see a trend here. The 2022 bridge class is pretty much a wasteland. This is why you have gaps in this roster. Then add in the portal. Many teams are facing this. It’s not just a Miami thing. It’s the new age of college football. Rosters aren’t built the same where year 4,5,6 should be your strongest most veteran teams.

3. DB I’m not going to waste time typing. Terrible recruiting by a coach no longer on staff. Have to hit big on highschool and portal this year.
 
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Understood but i disagree with taking ewald over meritt and 3 of the 4 top priorities will be tough flips so i dont think meritt would move on unless we backed off
Don’t think Miami moved on - kid has been looking around. I’d bet they are trying to keep him but SEC is calling
 
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Saban misevaluated all the time. As does Kirby, as does Day. The secret is in always stacking talent so for every Wayne there’s a Bain, for every Samson there’s a Cici
This post isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but the above is the right synopsis.

Because we are so close to Miami we are intimately aware of the misses and how often they happen. It feels like a lot. When in reality, the hit percentages on evaluations are a lot lower than you'd expect at every school.

In the world of analytics, data isn't telling better than your eye test because your eyes are bad at the games you're watching. Data is better than your eyes because data can watch every single game/program/evaluation in the country, while your eyes can watch only one.

I liken it to the NFL draft, where a fan is keenly aware of the busts their team drafts. The data tells you that over 50% of first round picks bust and the draft becomes flat around pick 100 because the returns on picks after that are essentially even with any pick or priority UDFA after that.

It's an interesting study opportunity if someone wanted to put in the work. I did a study called Legs Race a few years back that looked at athleticism to All-Conference players, so All-Conference was kind of what I was testing towards. You'd need to define what metric or threshold satisfies a "hit" on an evaluation or a "miss" but it would be useful data for fans to understand just how often every single team misses.

Hopefully our coaching staff understands the percentages towards recruiting and realizes if you need two, recruit four, because you'll probably have two bust.
 
Fingers crossed we can flip both Pickett and Hanks to join Antoine at corner. All 3 are going to be needed since it sounds like Merritt is on his way out of the class.

The update about Merritt is very unfortunate. He's the most underrated player among our current commits and he's a far superior athlete to another corner in our class who's rated much higher. Tennessee's defense is playing at an elite level and I'd assume they're a more appealing option to him than Auburn is right now.

Hopefully both Bell and Osborne, the 2026 RB's from Texas who are visiting for this weekend's massacre of FSU, are major priorities for next year's class. Big time talents.
 
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Issue is that Hanks is a very tough flip because of the legacy and if UF somehow wins a few more Billy will stay and I don’t think he will flip. With Pickett difficult to read and Merritt seemingly on his way out that DB class goes to very average if you can’t get Hanks/Pickett to add to what we have committed. This room needs a full rebuild so it can’t just be one solid player in Stubbs and a few other developmental players.
 
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