Several 2021 WRs still high on Miami football program

The Miami football program remains on the radar of several highly coveted wide receivers in the class of 2021. College football programs across the nation have had to adapt their recruiting pitches with an extended dead period through May 31.

With a moratorium on traditional college football recruiting through at least May 31 college football programs across the country have had to adapt their way of pitching to prospective players. The Miami football program remains high on the list of several wide receivers in the 2021  recruiting cycle.

The addition of new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, offensive line coach Garin Justice and wide receivers coach Rob Likens has created a buzz around the offense for the Miami football team. After initially losing four-star running back Thad Franklin as a de-commit, he is back in the fold with the Hurricanes.

The Miami football program is trending up after finishing with the 13th ranked recruiting class in 2020 despite finishing the 2019 season with a 6-7 record. The 2021 class currently ranks fifth. Several WRs who are considering Miami would be a big boost for 2021. Lashlee will likely make an impact on offensive recruits.

Four-star WR Romello Brinson and Jacolby George de-committed from Miami the day after the Hurricanes loss to FIU in November. Both are still warm on Miami according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Georgia, Brinson is also warm on Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M according to 247Sports.

The recruitment of Brinson will be competitive. The hiring of Lashlee and LSU losing passing game coordinator Joe Brady to the Carolina Panthers could help put the Hurricanes over the top The staid offense that Miami was running under former OC Dan Enos and prior head coach Mark Richt was not imaginative enough

Brinson would provide Miami with good size at 6’2 180 pounds. Dee Wiggins is the tallest of the returning WRs for Miami at 6’3. None of the Hurricanes 2020 signees are as tall as Brinson. George named Miami as one of his top six schools last month.

The five competing schools are for Brinson are Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, West Virginia Penn State and UCF. No crystal balls have been forecast for Brinson. Penn State is worth watching. Former Miami WR coach Taylor Stubblefield left the Hurricanes for the same position with the Nittany Lions.

Four-star athlete Yulkeith Brown is another position player warm on Miami. Brown will be another tough recruitment. Brown is considering similar schools to Brinson and George. LSU, Penn State and Texas A&M rank high on Brown’s list. Inside the U reported recently that Brown was also considering Alabama, Florida and Nebraska.

Brown told Andrew Ivins of Inside the U that head coach Manny Diaz is leading the recruitment for the Hurricanes and that he is glad the offense for Miami is going to be more wide open.

"“He’s a cool head coach. He’s a nice guy to be around. His message to me is that if I come to Miami, I can help make it great again. They are opening it up, so it should be better because that’s all the receivers are going to get the ball, so I just want to see how it goes.”"

Brown played WR and cornerback at Miami Central as a junior in 2019 for the Rockets 6A State champions. Another player projected as an athlete with the potential of playing either CB or WR in college is four-star Tar’varish Dawson. Dawson has Louisville and Maryland high on his list in addition to Miami.

According to David Lake of Inside the U, Miami initially wanted Dawson to play defense. With the Cardinals and Terrapins as the main competition before recruiting visits went dark through at least next month, that put Miami in a good place to receive a commitment from Dawson, but that seems a long way off.

Three-star athlete Malik Curtis of Fort Myers plays WR in high school. Curtis currently only has offers from Miami, Boston College, Georgia Southern and Western Kentucky. At 5’11 160 pounds, Curtis relies on his speed. Curtis returned four punts at a kickoff for touchdowns in 2019 and had 34 receptions for 680 yards and eight TDs.