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This offseason, CanesInSight.com will be looking back on the recruiting classes that led to Miami's rise and fall. Let's start with a class that provided the foundation of a championship offense, Butch Davis's class of 1999.
QB- Ken Dorsey
HB- Clinton Portis
HB- Jarrett Payton
FB- Talib Humphrey
WR- Andre Johnson
WR- Kevin Beard
WR- Jason Geathers
WR- Anthony Johnson
LT- Bryant McKinnie
RT- Vernon Carey
RT- Jim Sikora
DE- Kendrick Barrett
DT- Larry Anderson
DT- Marquis Johnson
DT- Courtney Young
OLB- Jerrell Weaver
OLB- Jermell Weaver
S- Maurice Sikes
S- Antwain Joyce
S- Julian Battle
CB- Phillip Buchanan
CB- Tory Mitchell
Offense- No surprise with a Butch Davis class: three first rounders (Carey, AJ, McKinnie) and three Pro Bowlers (AJ, McKinnie and Portis). The 2001 offense starts here-- Ken Dorsey at QB, Portis at RB, AJ at WR, McKinnie at LT, role players like Beard and Geathers. Butch is known for his defensive recruiting, but this is the best offensive recruiting class Miami has had in two decades.
Defense- Not Butch's finest defensive effort. Of eleven signees, only Buchanon and Sikes became starters. The Weaver Twins out of Northwestern were the centerpieces with all the hype, but they ended up making their biggest contributions on special teams. Julian Battle didn't qualify and wound up as a third-rounder with Tennessee.
Starpower- This was the first class of the Rivals.com era, and two of the five-star players (AJ and Carey) became first rounders. The third blue chipper (Jason Geathers) never found his position. The most valuable player in the class, Ken Dorsey, was a four-star player who decided to go to Miami when five-star Chris Simms committed to Tennessee (he ended up at Texas). Phillip Buchanon, a two-star unranked football/baseball player from Southwest Florida, was the biggest find of the group.
Biggest Miss- Anquan Boldin, Mr. Football from Pahokee, was close to becoming a Cane but was swayed by Bobby Bowden's promise that he'd get a shot at quarterback. Of course, he ended up at receiver. If things worked out different, he would've started opposite Andre Johnson on the 2001 team.
Grade Problems- Six of the 22 signees never made it onto UM's campus. A seventh (Talib Humphrey) only ended up there after a stop in JUCO. Even in this kind of cornerstone class, 40% of the signees never contributed.
Ultimately, this class should be remembered as the spark of the greatest three-year stretch of offense in Miami history. And it starts with a skinny kid from Orinda, California.
QB- Ken Dorsey
HB- Clinton Portis
HB- Jarrett Payton
FB- Talib Humphrey
WR- Andre Johnson
WR- Kevin Beard
WR- Jason Geathers
WR- Anthony Johnson
LT- Bryant McKinnie
RT- Vernon Carey
RT- Jim Sikora
DE- Kendrick Barrett
DT- Larry Anderson
DT- Marquis Johnson
DT- Courtney Young
OLB- Jerrell Weaver
OLB- Jermell Weaver
S- Maurice Sikes
S- Antwain Joyce
S- Julian Battle
CB- Phillip Buchanan
CB- Tory Mitchell
Offense- No surprise with a Butch Davis class: three first rounders (Carey, AJ, McKinnie) and three Pro Bowlers (AJ, McKinnie and Portis). The 2001 offense starts here-- Ken Dorsey at QB, Portis at RB, AJ at WR, McKinnie at LT, role players like Beard and Geathers. Butch is known for his defensive recruiting, but this is the best offensive recruiting class Miami has had in two decades.
Defense- Not Butch's finest defensive effort. Of eleven signees, only Buchanon and Sikes became starters. The Weaver Twins out of Northwestern were the centerpieces with all the hype, but they ended up making their biggest contributions on special teams. Julian Battle didn't qualify and wound up as a third-rounder with Tennessee.
Starpower- This was the first class of the Rivals.com era, and two of the five-star players (AJ and Carey) became first rounders. The third blue chipper (Jason Geathers) never found his position. The most valuable player in the class, Ken Dorsey, was a four-star player who decided to go to Miami when five-star Chris Simms committed to Tennessee (he ended up at Texas). Phillip Buchanon, a two-star unranked football/baseball player from Southwest Florida, was the biggest find of the group.
Biggest Miss- Anquan Boldin, Mr. Football from Pahokee, was close to becoming a Cane but was swayed by Bobby Bowden's promise that he'd get a shot at quarterback. Of course, he ended up at receiver. If things worked out different, he would've started opposite Andre Johnson on the 2001 team.
Grade Problems- Six of the 22 signees never made it onto UM's campus. A seventh (Talib Humphrey) only ended up there after a stop in JUCO. Even in this kind of cornerstone class, 40% of the signees never contributed.
Ultimately, this class should be remembered as the spark of the greatest three-year stretch of offense in Miami history. And it starts with a skinny kid from Orinda, California.
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