But he insists Miami isn’t out of it.
Certainly UM keeps pushing as hard as anyone.
“I talk to (Mario) Cristobal every day, talked to the running backs coach yesterday,” Baxter said. “With coach Cristobal it isn’t always about football, it’s just how the day is going, stuff like that. He’s a great dude.
“Coach (Kevin) Smith – he knows my commitment is coming up, he was just like just keep paying attention to the players we’re getting in the next couple of weeks, that I can come in and be an immediate impact.”
Baxter says he is indeed keeping an eye on who the Canes and the other programs on his list are landing.
He’s impressed with what UM has done, and more could come before he makes his announcement.
“It makes a difference because you want to be around great players,” Baxter said, adding that “The coaching staff there is great. They have a lot of coaches who have played at the highest level and excelled at it. And the high school I go to, the offense we run here is like the exact same Miami runs.”
Asked about where Miami stands with him as of now, Baxter begins with “They’re definitely at the top, definitely at the top.”
Of course, that’s with others.
But it shows how he feels about UM’s program.
“In this process it’s something where you have to look into what you like, what your family likes, then from a football aspect just look at how much those coaches develop players, how much they get guys to the league, how much they use you,” Baxter says.
Baxter will be an early graduate and says after he announces “I’ll be shutting down my recruitment, that will be it.”