79 Days to Miami football: Offensive lineman Bar Milo 2018 Preview
Bar Milo came was a four-star recruit Chaminade High School in West Hills, CA. He was a part of Al Golden’s last Miami football recruiting class in 2015. Milo has not made the impact with the Hurricanes that was initially expected.
Milo was ranked the 213th best player in the country, the 19th best offensive tackle and the 27th best player in California in the Class of 2015 by 247Sports.Com. The 6’6 300-pound offensive lineman has since seen numerous players join the Miami football program and pass him on the depth chart.
Milo redshirted as a Freshman in 2015 and will be a redshirt Junior heading into the 2018 season. Per former Palm Beach Post Miami Hurricanes beat writer Matt Porter in March, Milo is currently third string on the offensive line.
Milo’s lack of progress has to be disappointing for Miami Head Coach Mark Richt, Offensive Line Coach Stacy Searles and of course, Milo. Milo has been able to show some versatility on the offensive line. After being recruited as a tackle he played at guard some this Spring and he is listed as the fourth-string center.
Milo’s talent wasn’t just overrated by Golden as was frequently the issue. The national scouting services and numerous Power Five schools also had him highly rated.
Ten other Power Five schools plus perennial power Boise State all recruited Milo. Washington was listed as the most likely destination if Milo didn’t enroll at Miami.
In his two seasons of eligibility, Milo has appeared in just one game according to his official Miami Hurricanes Bio. Milo’s inability to live up to his recruiting profile had to be a disappointment to the many Jews in the Miami Hurricanes fanbase. Milo is a rarity as a Jewish College football player.
An April 2016 article by CaneSport reported that Milo worked security at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest. At the time Milo was the only Jewish player on scholarship on the Miami football team. His first language was Hebrew and his parents are both Israeli.
He spoke to CaneSport about the importance of getting to know some of the Jewish Community in South Florida.
"“That’s something where I just wanted to help,… I wanted to really get to know the Jewish community. I don’t have my family here…Now that I’m over here I’m trying to find a new family, a family away from home.And the football team has done that, but I also want to stay close to my culture, my roots, and that’s something that’s been a little hard for me. I’m trying to extend out, just do little things… meeting the families, just trying to stay close to my religion.”"
At this point in his career, it would be surprising for Milo to earn much if any playing time. This is going to be his fourth year on Campus. Richt has repeatedly spoken out publically about the offensive line being the weakest unit on the team and the need to upgrade it.
The O-line was repeatedly getting beaten during by the rebuilt defensive line during spring practice. Incoming Freshman Gregory Rousseau had nine sacks in the Hurricanes three Spring scrimmages.
Richt and Searles were looking for anyone to step up and make an impact up front offensively. The offensive line was shuffled around a few times. Right guard should still be open for competition in training camp.
Next: 81 Days to Miami football: Darrell Langham 2018 Preview
The two most likely player to compete for the starting job are Hayden Mahoney who is currently listed as the starter and Venzel Boulware who is a graduate transfer from Tennessee. Boulware will be eligible immediately and have two years of eligibility remaining.