Miami Football Surge ’19: The three most important recruits to sign
There has been a lot of discussion about the Miami Football Surge ’19 recruiting class not being as highly ranked as past Hurricanes recruiting classes. Surge ’19 is currently ranked 32nd in the 247Sports composite rankings.
There has been a lot of consternation from the Miami football fanbase and media when the early signees inked their National Letters of Intent in December. Manny Diaz and his staff did an outstanding job adding to Surge ’19 with transfers.
The six players who are going to Miami through the transfer portal don’t officially count as part of a recruiting class. The Hurricanes did significantly upgrade the talent on the Miami football roster with the addition of the players through the Transfer Portal.
Coaches are ultimately judged by how the players perform on the field. How well they can recruit is secondary, but still important. Three potential Surge ’19 signees would increase the profile and ranking of the Hurricanes 2019 recruiting class.
Running back/athlete Mark Antony Richards, defensive end Khris Bogle and cornerback Christian Williams would provide a huge boost to Surge ’19. Those three are all four-star players in the Class of 2019.
Miami is also recruiting five-star wide receiver, George Pickens. Pickens appears to be a very strong hard commit to Auburn. It’s an extreme long shot that the Hurricanes would be able to add him at this point.
Richards is a Miami legacy. He is the brother of former Miami wide receiver Ahmmon Richards. Surge ’19 already lost one legacy recruit when Kenny McIntosh, the brother of former Miami defensive tackle R.J. McIntosh signed with Georgia.
Richards is the 90th ranked player overall, the fourth-ranked athlete (or multi-position player) and the 12th ranked player in Florida in the Class of 2019 according to 247sports.com.
Richards is projected to go to Auburn by 71 percent of the 247 prognosticators. He is scheduled to announce his college decision at approximately 12:15 PM ET on Wednesday.
Bogle has been a player that Miami has been pursuing throughout the 2019 recruiting cycle. He would be the second highest-ranked recruit in the Surge ’19 Class. Bogle committed to Alabama at the Army All-America Game in San Antonio on January 5. A lot has changed with the Crimson Tide in the month since his commitment.
Alabama Defensive Coordinator Tosh Lupoi left to take the Defensive Line Coaching job with the Cleveland Browns. Former Miami Defensive Line Coach Craig Kuligowski was let go by Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
Lupoi and Kuligowski were the two main recruiters that lured Bogle to Alabama. Kuligowski is considered one of the best Defensive Line Coaches in college football.
Miami also has one of the best defensive minds in College Football in Diaz and Defensive Line Coaches in Simpson. If Bogle does decide to flip from Alabama his new destination is like to come down to Miami and Florida.
Bogle is not the only Alabama commit that the Miami football staff is trying to flip. Four-star cornerback Christian Williams is currently committed to the Crimson Tide but expected to flip to either Miami or LSU.
Williams is ranked as the 90th best player, the 20th best cornerback and seventh best player in Alabama for 2019. He is reportedly leaning towards flipping to LSU.
The 247 Crystal Ball has 64 percent of their 14 prognosticators projecting Williams to Miami. Miami currently has four-star Chaminade-Madonna teammates safety Keontra Smith and cornerback Te’Cory Crouch as the only defensive backs in Surge ’19.
Next. Miami football Surge '19 could flip several recruits on NSD. dark
Wednesday could be one of the biggest days in Miami history if they can flip at least one of these players to Surge ’19. If they cannot, the transfer portal and currently stellar class of 2020 become even more vital.