27 Days to Miami Football: CB Nigel Bethel 2018 Preview

Nigel Bethel comes joins the Miami football team as a three-star Freshman in the Class of 2018 according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Bethel was not ranked nationally. He is the 113th ranked cornerback in the Class of 2018 and the 201st ranked player in Florida.

Bethel was a two-way player at legendary Miami Northwestern in high school. Bethel is one of two former Bulls on the Miami football roster. Mike Smith also attended Northwestern. Former Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris is another Northwestern alum.

Bethel also ran track in high school. According to his bio on HurricaneSports.Com Bethel ran a 10.78 in the 100 meters and 21.57 in the 200 meters. On offense, He was a wide receiver and second on Northwestern in receiving last season.

Bethel is part of a deep Miami football recruiting class in the secondary. He could be a prime candidate to redshirt this season.

The Hurricanes have three starters back in the secondary. Michael Jackson is an All-American candidate at cornerback back. The other starter is almost definitely going to be Sophomore Trajan Bandy or Senior Jhavonte Dean.

The Hurricanes have three four-star cornerbacks in the Class of 2018 ahead of Bethel. Al Blades Jr, D.J. Ivey and Gilbert Frierson are all top 35 cornerbacks in the Class of 2018.

Miami Cornerbacks Coach Mike Rumph praised Bethel in an interview with the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. Rumph was a starting cornerback on Miami’s 2001 National Championship team. He played corner and safety in the NFL. Bethel has been battling injuries this summer.

"“So his first month and two on campus have been taking care of his body. He will be ready [for August camp]. Nigel is long — long limbs and long arms. He’s a jam guy. Tremendous speed. He and Jhavonte are our two fastest corners.What I like about Nigel is he played offense last year [at Miami Northwestern] but if the other team had a great receiver, he shadowed that guy at corner. He can play man to man. In seven on sevens, he covered some of the best receivers we saw and it shocked us how well he did.”"

The secondary and wide receivers were the deepest part of the Miami 2018 recruiting class. The battles over at least the next three to five seasons in practice and seven-on-sevens can only make the players better.

Miami Head Coach Mark Richt spoke during the ACC Kickoff about how tough the competition was is in practice when he was a Hurricanes quarterback from 1979-82.

"“Back when we were here, the toughest day of the week was the week of practice, and the hardest games we played were in Greentree Practice Field. And then when we got to the real games, they weren’t as tough because of the competition level that we had.So it’s about bringing in great players and having coaches that will guide and direct them properly.”"

One of the great things about Miami is passing down the tradition. Bethel and his Storm ’18 Classmates will get to learn from two exceptional talents in the secondary. Jaquan Johnson was the Miami football MVP in 2017. Both Jackson and Johnson are preseason All-Americans and All-ACC.

To be able to learn from Jackson, Johnson, Dean and Senior starting safety Sheldrick Redwine should help Bethel’s career. With the talent that Bethel and his classmates bring in the secondary, the Hurricanes will be strong on the backend for at least the next three years.