Miami, Mario Cristobal sign local 4-star DL Nyjalik Kelly
It didn’t take Mario Cristobal long to make an impact for the
Miami Hurricanes on the recruiting trail. A little more than a week after taking over for Manny Diaz, Cristobal picked up The U’s first top 100-ranked recruit in the 2022 cycle when 6-foot-6, 240-pound four-star edge rusher Nyjalik Kelly signed a national letter of intent with the Hurricanes.
Kelly, ranked 84th in the 247Sports Composite, picked Miami over Florida State, Florida, Auburn and Georgia after being wooed by dozens of Power 5 schools over the past two years — including Oregon where Cristobal coached before coming to Miami.
Kelly racked up 25 sacks over his junior and senior seasons at Fort Lauderdale Dillard and ranks as the No. 13 defensive line prospect in the country. He used his last official visit to Miami last weekend, where he hung out with fellow Hurricanes signees such as Miami Central four-star linebacker Wesley Bissainthe.
Miami’s 2022 class entered Wednesday ranked 66th overall after Mandeville, La. three-star receiver Landon Ibieta flipped to LSU late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, three-star offensive tackle Falentha Carswell signed with Mississippi. Ibieta and Carswell weren’t players Cristobal met with after taking the job.
On Wednesday morning, the Hurricanes announced the signings of six four-star recruits who were already committed: quarterback Jacurri Brown of Valdosta, Ga.; cornerbacks Chris Graves of Fort Myers Bishop Verot and Khamuari Rogers of Lexington (Miss.) Holmes County; receiver Isaiah Horton of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; safety Markeith Williams of Orlando Evans; and Bissainthe. They added a seventh signee when three-star cornerback
Jaden Harris of Atlanta Riverwood picked the Canes over Georgia Tech Wednesday afternoon.
How important was it for Cristobal to get a top-100 local product so quickly?
Manny Navarro, Miami beat writer: It was very important for the Hurricanes, who entered the day with only one commitment from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in the 2022 cycle and needed to start to change the narrative locally. As good as Cristobal’s predecessor, Manny Diaz, did keeping local recruits home in the 2021 cycle, the Hurricanes were headed toward an underwhelming finish in this year’s cycle. Now, Miami has not only added a top-five talent in the area but remains in play for five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart, who will make his choice in February.
How does Kelly fit in on the Canes defensive line?
Navarro: Miami’s five-year run of having at least one player record eight sacks in a season is dangerously close to coming to an end, and the team’s two-leading sack artists (
Zach McCloud 5½ and
Deandre Johnson 4½) are gone after the bowl game. While second- and third-year rush ends
Chantz Williams and
Jahfari Harvey have flashed, the Hurricanes needed an influx of talent at the position to help bolster the situation going into next year. He could definitely find an early role in the rotation.