BLU'S BLOG: CANES MAKE IMPACT AT ARMY ALL-AMERICAN GAME
With less than a month before national signing day, a time when athletes across the country are taking those final trips and making that important decision, the University of Miami and second year head coach Al Golden have started to get the attention of players and coaches across the country.
The great thing about what has happened in this current recruiting class, is that nationally-televised games like the Army All-American contest last weekend in San Antonio, usually reserved for the Alabama's, USC's and Notre Dame's, is starting to see the Hurricanes jump into that elite company.
Not that 4 or 5-star athletes mean that you will national championships after national championships, but it’s finally great to see the “U†back in that company they long belonged in - before there were all-star events that would somewhat validate how well you recruited.
It seems that Miami has been missing from that podium that has the nation watching what athletes would head off where - using the 5 minutes of fame to perhaps launch a career.
What Golden and his staff have done is identify the players who want to be part of a rich tradition and an NFL pipeline that very few schools can boast. The Hurricanes are doing all this with the NCAA gathering all the information on what sanctions, if any, there school will have. They are also doing this with other coaches “bad mouthing†the program, talking about its decline.
The gratifying thing about landing Miami Christopher Columbus defensive back Deon Bush and Tampa Jefferson defensive end Tyriq McCord is that these are not players who people were running from. These are not athletes that you are taking a risk on by making part of this class.
Like Duke Johnson, Ereck Flowers and other standouts already in this class, the latest two signings are impressive. Athletes who have made a difference since they arrived at their respective high schools.
The decision on national TV certainly helped the Hurricanes and the future of the program. It is once again fashionable for the elite players to come to the “Uâ€, and that signals that this program is on the way back up.
Bush is a safety who can cover, play the run and make huge plays. He reads the flow of the play as well as anyone we’ve had the pleasure of watching. He is a four-year starter in Miami-Dade County, which produces more quality athletes than any other region of the country.
One of the areas catching up to the “305†is Tampa Bay, where the Hurricanes plucked Anthony Chickillo from last year, and got one of the most athletic play-makers in Florida, McCord, to come in and continue that youth movement.
McCord (6-3, 220) led the Dragons to the 3A state title last year. Ironically, it came against his future teammates, Duke Johnson and Ereck Flowers.
This is an athlete who covers well, plays the run and gets into the backfield, chasing down anyone who has the ball.
In bringing the current total of 31 signees in this class, the ‘Canes received two other commitments in defensive tackle Jacoby Briscoe (6-4, 290) of Lafayette, La. and receiver Robert Lockhart (6-2, 180), who played his high school ball at West Boca High.
