With the end of the regular season on Saturday, the Canes will now shift their focus to recruiting and things are coming down to the wire to make Surge19 a top class. As they await their bowl game opponent, the UM staff will be out on the road making the all-important in-home visits with various prospects this week. While the foundation of a recruitment is laid throughout the spring, summer, and fall, the best recruiters know that the winter is the key time period of the cycle and it’s where classes are made and broken. Coffee is for closers.
**Miami just had their second big official visitors weekend of the cycle for the Pitt game, bringing in OT Michael Tarquin, RB DJ Williams, and DE Adisa Isaac. The Canes definitely made positive moves with each prospect on their visits, and I have varying takes on how likely UM is to land each as of now.
**On Isaac: As Matthew reported going into the weekend, a source close to the recruitment told CIS that Isaac has legitimate interest in Miami and that his trip was not simply a vacation for the New Yorker. Miami took advantage of that opportunity and really made an impression here. As a big city type, Isaac can see himself playing and living in Miami. A feather in the cap for Miami is that DT commit Jason Blissett is close with Isaac and is constantly in his ear trying to get him to Coral Gables. I still have Penn State running in front, but this will be one to watch until the very end, and he is certainly not a lock to the Nittany Lions.
**On Tarquin: I have stayed relatively quiet on Tarquin since he started making trips to Florida (3 in total during the season). I have been very close to making a Gators pick here, and a lot of that has to do about how adamant Tarquin was that he didn’t need to take any more visits when we talked after he committed to UM in the spring; he was speaking from the heart, not just saying a line. So simply put, Tarquin is not the type to take visits just for the scenery and I felt that the Gators were in the lead heading into this weekend. I have reason to believe the Canes pulled back out in front with a great visit this weekend, but a lot of that can potentially be attributed to visit high. As such, I have decided to hold off on making a pick on the 4-star O-Lineman at least until after his OV to UF this weekend, to see if the Gators are able to make up that ground. Any pick before that time would just be an educated guess, as a source close to the recruitment says no final decision has been made.
**On Williams: Of the three official visitors, I think Miami made the most headway with Williams. The Sebring back has a lot of ties to the Canes and I believe he ultimately wants to be in Miami; sources close to the Williams recruitment felt good about UM’s chances even before the visit. Landing Williams will be about him getting over the fact that UM ignored him for so long and Miami took steps in a positive direction on that front this weekend, really showing Williams and his family the love. In addition to Miami being in a good spot with Williams, the primary competition here (UGA and Auburn) has a lot of question marks. UGA has really pushed hard with Williams and have been treating him like a priority, but there is a chance the Bulldogs fill up at RB before Williams even makes his OV to Athens on the final weekend before Signing Day, while Auburn is close to an entire staff overhaul with their head coach on the verge of being fired. Confidence is high in Coral Gables that Williams signs with the U.
**As I touched on in the Freshman 15 two weeks backs, the Bama rumors with DE Khris Bogle were a bit premature. Bogle made his fourth visit to UM for a game week this weekend against Pitt; Miami continues to lead here and Jess Simpson is going in-home with the Cardinal Gibbons product today. Comparing Bogle to a kid like Tyrique Stevenson, someone who has also made a lot of visits to Miami that I don’t see coming to UM, I see very clear differences in personality type and interest in making business decisions. You always have to keep an eye on the Tide whenever Bama is involved, but I have heard nothing to move me off my Miami pick here as of yet.
**With the recent Michigan buzz following around Miami linebacker commit Anthony Solomon, I checked in with a source at St. Thomas, who says he still expects the 4-star to end up at Miami. Solomon was also in attendance with the aforementioned prospects at the Miami-Pitt game this weekend. Either the Wolverines are just a lot of smoke or Solomon is simply playing things really close to the vest, but I’m not ready to make any flip predictions just yet. This is one to keep on the radar for now, and nothing more.
**Staying at St. Thomas: If you’ve been reading the tea leaves, this is something you’ve already suspected, but a source close to S Jordan Battle’s recruitment has told CIS that the Canes are out of the race with the St. Thomas Aquinas 4-star. Battle will be choosing between Bama and Ohio State, with the Tide having the recent momentum.
**In preparation for missing on a QB in 2019, Miami is readying to expand their QB board for 2020 and evaluating a few out of state signal-callers for offers in the hopes they will land two guys in the class. Names to watch for include Tyler Van Dyke, Caleb Holstein, Luca Diamont, and Ethan Garbers.
