Miami football recruits get in home visits and set announcement dates

The Miami football staff has been busy in the last week making in-home visits and having some key recruits setting their announcement dates of where they will be attending school.

The Miami football recruiting Class of 2019 continues to fall in the rankings. The Hurricanes are currently ranked 25th nationally according to the 247Sports Composite. That’s a drop from eighth in 2018. The Hurricanes 2020 Class is currently ranked second nationally.

Miami’s Class of 2019 currently has eight players that have verbally committed to the Hurricanes with a four-star ranking or higher. Miami is in danger of losing one of those players, offensive tackle Michael Tarquin who is considering flipping to Florida.

Miami’s highest ranked targeted recruit is wide receiver, Jadon Haselwood from Ellenwood, Georgia. The five-star wide receiver is the nation’s fourth-ranked player. Haselwood is projected to sign with Miami by 68 percent of 247’s consensus experts.

The highest ranked Miami football recruiting target to make news this week is five-star offensive tackle Evan Neal from IMG Academy in Bradenton. Neal is the nation’s 25th ranked player overall and the fifth best offensive tackle.

Neal is being projected by 81 percent of the 247 consensus to sign with Alabama. The other 19 percent have him signing with Miami. Neal posted on Twitter that he will be making his announcement about where he will attend college on December 19.

Neal would be a huge signing for a Miami offensive live that struggled with consistency this season. The Hurricanes are especially short at tackle. They also lose Tyree St. Louis after this season.

Another key Miami recruit is tight end Keon Zipperer from Lakeland, Florida. Zipperer is ranked the nation’s 136th ranked player overall and the nation’s fourth-best tight end. He is graded at four-stars.

Zipperer would potentially join three-star tight end Larry Hodges who is committed to Miami but 247 lists and 50 percent with Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes have a strong roster of tight ends returning for next season led by Freshmen Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory.

Head Coach Mark Richt and assistants, Tight Ends and Special Teams Coach Todd Hartley and Cornerbacks Coach Mike Rumph had in-home visits with Zipperer earlier this week.

In addition to meeting with the Miami football contingent, Zipperer also shared a meal with Richt.

Richt cannot comment on recruits by name, but he did retweet Zipperer’s post from their meal and a reference to his whereabouts.

Another of the key targets for the Surge ’19 Miami football recruiting Class is Khris Bogle from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. Bogle is the nation’s 57th ranked player overall, the third best weakside defensive end and seventh best player in Florida.

Defensive end is Miami’s strongest position thus far in the Surge ’19 Class. Three players have given verbal commitments to Miami that project as defensive ends in college. Four-star Jahfari Harvey and three-star Cameron Williams are weakside defensive ends. Jason Munoz is a strongside defensive end who could move to tackle.

Diaz tweeted a picture of himself with Richt, Outside Linebackers Coach Jonathan Patke, Defensive Line Coach Jess Simpson and Safeties Coach Ephraim Banda visiting Bogle. The 247 Crystal Ball has 87 percent of the prognosticators projecting Bogle to sign with Miami.

Although a lot of the focus this season has been on the frustrations by the fans and media that follow the Miami football team with the inability of the offense, the Hurricanes have to restock a defense that’s going to lose several key players.

The Hurricanes will definitely lose three-quarters of their secondary, star defensive tackle Gerald Willis and potentially defensive end Joe Jackson and possibly, but not likely their entire linebacking corps.

Landing Neal would be an enormous boost to the offensive line. If Neal signs with Miami he could be the starting left tackle in Orlando against Florida next September.