Miami football program can recover from latest two de-commitments

Following the loss to FIU the Miami football program has been losing players seemingly daily. There is plenty of time to recover and build strong 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes.

The Miami football program lost the commitments of three-star linebackers 2021 Cortez McKenzie late on Monday night and 2020 A.J. Mathis on Wednesday morning. Mathis became the fifth Hurricanes commit in the 2020 and ’21 recruiting classes to back out of their declarations to the U since Saturday night’s loss to FIU.

The de-commitments are aesthetically a bad look but ones that Miami can recover from. The 2021 recruiting class for the Miami football program remains elite despite the loss of three commits since Saturday’s shocking loss to FIU. Nine players remain committed to Miami for 2021. The class is fourth nationally and leads the ACC.

Several of those commits took to social media to pledge their dedication to the Hurricanes and that they are still planning to be a part of the Miami football program. According to Andrew Ivins of Inside the U, edge rusher/tight end, Chamon Matayer, TE Khalil Brantley and kicker Andres Borregales all have the Hurricanes back.

The irony with Borregales is that his brother kicked three field goals and converted three-point after touchdowns for FIU in the victory over Miami. Jose Borregales has had his struggles with the Panthers this season. He has made only 15 of his 22 field goal attempts. Andres should be a big boost to the Miami offense in 2021.

Matayer is listed as an LB in his recruiting profile but as an edge rusher seems destined for defensive end in the Miami 4-3 defense. At 5’11 185 pounds, McKenzie would be considered undersized for an outside linebacker. McKenzie committed to Miami over Western Michigan following Paradise Camp this summer.

After a season in which he recorded 40 tackles, 13 sacks and 11 tackles this season, McKenzie recently earned a scholarship offer from Arizona State. Miami has plenty of time to replace the nation’s 41st ranked LB for 2020. The loss of Mathis is much in the same breath. Miami has built some depth at LB for 2020.

Miami currently holds commitments for 2020 from three three-star LBs. Romello Height is expected to be moved to edge rusher at Miami. Height lives up to his name at 6’5 216 pounds and has been compared to redshirt freshman Greg Rousseau. Height had 64 tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 17 sacks this season.

Tirek Austin-Cave and Corey Flagg are projected as inside LBs with Miami and should help the Hurricanes replace Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney in the future. Austin-Cave is the 26th ranked ILB and Flagg is the 38th. That is far ahead of Mathis who is ranked 61st. Miami is a finalist for the top 2020 LB, Justin Flowe.

Several LBs remain high on Miami’s list for the 2020 recruiting class. Four-star OLB Keshawn Green who is currently committed to Florida State is projected as a player Miami could flip. Several LBs remain in play for 2021. That includes four-stars Terrance Lewis and Brandon Jennings, the brother of UM LB Bradley Jennings.