2021 Miami Northwestern (FL) 4-star safety Kamren Kinchens released his top 5 schools today, and the Miami Hurricanes made the cut for the local star, along with Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, and Nebraska.
“I feel like those 5 schools have separated themselves enough from the rest,” Kinchens said. “I put Miami in because, first, it’s home, and then second, because my relationship with them has grown so much, so I felt comfortable putting them in there.”
The Canes keep in touch with Kinchens every day, and the Miami Northwestern product said that his bond with safeties coach Ephraim Banda has flourished over the past few months.
“My relationship with UM has grown a lot, personally and as far as football-wise too,” Kinchens said. “I’ll get two calls a week and text with them every day. With communication, on a scale of 1-10, it’s a 9.
“Coach Banda keeps it real with me, saying he is here to build a relationship with me and that if he felt they didn’t need me, they wouldn’t be recruiting me. He says I will be able to play all over the field for them because I’m very versatile.”
Although the Canes stumbled to a 6-7 season in Manny Diaz’s first year at the helm, Kinchens feels UM is on the verge of breaking through in 2020.
“I feel like you need at least three years to actually turn a program around,” Kinchens said. “So I feel [Diaz] is on the right track to have a great year this year.”
Ever since Kinchens was offered by Miami back in February of 2019, he has been a frequent visitor to UM’s campus, last tripping to Coral Gables for their Junior Day event back in late January.
In fact, three of Kinchens’ teammates at Miami Northwestern are UM commits in TE Kahlil Brantley, CB Tim Burns, and LB Ja’Corey Hammett, and they have all been working to get Kinchens on board as a Hurricane.
“They tell me to come, that they need my help, that we can win a natty together just like we did at the West,” Kinchens said. “They tell me to make that move and that they know I’m coming eventually and I might as well get it out of the way.”
From the beginning of his recruitment, the 5-11 190 pound prospect has had his eyes set on making his decision the summer before his senior year, but with the coronavirus shutdowns altering the playing field, Kinchens is uncertain if he will follow through with that plan.
“I’m not entirely sure because I wanted to get some more visits in before making my decision because two of those schools (in my top five) I haven’t been to yet,” he stated.
In 2019, Kinchens had a monster junior season on the way to another state title for the Bulls, recording 74 tackles, 11 INT, 3 TFL, and a punt return TD.
“It went great, I had 11 picks so can’t complain,” Kinchens said of his junior year. “I feel like I showed my versatility because sophomore year I was hitting and catching picks in man, now this year I dropped back as a deep safety and showed I can do my thing back there.
“My mindset on the field is to just have fun doing what I love and giving my all for me and my teammates. My game is very similar to Ed Reed, but I’m just a rangy, ball-hawking safety that will take your best WR out of the game from the jump and still help control the run game.”
Since Kinchens compares his own game to Reed’s, what are his thoughts on the Hurricanes legend and NFL Hall of Famer returning to Coral Gables in the Chief of Staff role?
“It feels great to have a legend back on campus.”
Back at the Opening Miami Regional in February 2019, Kinchens posted a 4.68 40-yard dash, 4.40 short shuttle time, and a 31.70 inch vertical leap in testing.
