Miami football commit Don Chaney Jr. shuts down recruiting
Class of 2020 running Don Chaney Jr. the top commit in the Miami football program’s third-ranked recruiting class announced over the weekend that he was shutting down his recruitment and would enroll early with the Hurricanes at the recruiting event The Opening.
Chaney had a great weekend at the Miami regional event of The Opening. In addition to announcing he was shutting down his recruitment and committing to the Miami Football Program, Chaney was named the outstanding running back this weekend.
Chaney ran a 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds and measured 39.2-inches in the vertical leap to earn the RB MVP. His performance earned him an invitation to the national event of The Opening later this year at a time, place and venue to be announced.
The Miami regional event was held at American Heritage High School in Plantation. There are 12 more regional events through May before the finals take place.
Chaney is graded four-stars by the 247Sports Composite rankings. He is the 52nd ranked player, the eighth-best running back and seventh best player in Florida in the Class of 2020.
Chaney is the only running back committed to Miami’s 2020 recruiting class. He is one of seven four-star players of the nine players currently committed to the Hurricanes for next year. That matches the 2019 class that has 17 signees.
Miami RB commit Don Chaney said he ran a 4.55 today. Also had a 40-inch vert. He says he will enroll early and is not planning to take other visits. Georgia came in second.
— Andrew Ivins (@Andrew_Ivins) February 17, 2019
Chaney’s addition could make for a very crowded backfield in 2020. Miami Football Head Coach Manny Diaz, Offensive Coordinator Dan Enos and Running Backs Coach Eric Hickson will have a tough decision on whether or not to redshirt Chaney as Freshman.
Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes offensive backfield in 2020 will definitely include Asa Martin, Cam’ron Davis and Lorenzo Lingard. Davis and Lingard will be Juniors, while Martin will be a Redshirt Sophomore. Also potentially on the roster in 2020 will be DeeJay Dallas and Robert Burns.
Dallas could leave for the NFL after this season. Burns has the potential to transfer if he graduates early. Dallas is Miami’s leading returning rusher in 2019. Chaney was asked about his recruitment this weekend at the opening. He was quoted in the Miami Herald.
"“I’m done…Miami is sealed tight.”"
Chaney sounds to be solidly committed to Miami and backed up his words about being done. He has the potential to be the leader of the recruiting class and help secure more players. Dallas did the same with his Class in 2017. Chaney spoke about his vision for the Class of 2020.
"“It was like, We are on top. We will be on top eventually…We’re going to make them pay. We’re going to make everybody pay for they’ve done, what they’ve said about UM. All that’s going to be out of the way once we come in, once 2020 hits.”It just felt like I was at home. Once I got there, I felt this feeling. I was like, I need to be here. I’ve got to be here no matter what and that’s what just set the trigger for me, basically.It’s not really about the coaches that make the program, it’s the players and knowing that I can make the program better, it’s a real great opportunity.”"
Chaney also has confidence in Hickson as his position coach. He spoke to the Herald about Hickson and then Enos.
"“He’s a pretty good change, knowing that there’s another great guy that’s going to be there in that position, knowing that this is a guy that I can trust, stuff like that… It’s a real strong bond from the start.“He’s a really intellectual guy, a very smart guy who knows what he’s doing…I’m grateful that he’ll be my offensive coordinator.”"
Getting a rock-solid commitment from Chaney was important in a few ways. Chaney’s commitment locks down one of the best players in the 2020 Class in Dade County, gives them sorely needed momentum after a mediocre 2019 Class of high school Seniors and he will be a selling point to future recruits.
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Diaz and his staff have done a good job in a short period of time bouncing back from the subpar class under Mark Richt and his staff offensive. The defensive players Miami signed for 2019 under Diaz previously as the Defensive Coordinator rate Much higher than the offensive players signed.