Miami football dominating 2021 in-state recruiting

The Miami football program is dominating in-state recruiting in the 2021 cycle.  The Hurricanes currently have more four- and five-stars commits from Florida committed than Florida and Florida State combined.

Recruiting well in Florida is essential for the success of most college football programs. For the Florida, Florida State and Miami Football programs it’s critical. The Hurricanes are dominating in-state in the 2021 recruiting cycle thus far. Miami has more four and five-star commits than the Gators and Seminoles combined.

Miami currently has the 10th ranked recruiting class for 2021. A commitment from three-star wide receiver Brashard Smith on Sunday pushed the Hurricanes past Florida. Smith had previously been commited to the Gators which made the commitment from the speedy receiver an even bigger catch.

Miami currently has 21 Commits for 2021 with an average rating of 89. The Hurricanes have one five-star player commited for 2021, nine four-star commits and 11 three-star commits with a total rating of 244.03. Florida has no five-star commits, 11 four and three-star commits with an average rating of 89.23.

The 22 commits to Florida have a cumulative rating of 241.86. New Florida State head coach Mike Norvell has gotten off to a slow start recruiting in Tallahassee. The Seminoles have 14 commits. FSU has four four-star commits and 10 three-star commits. FSU’s players average 88.26 for a total of 195.75.

Miami has benefitted from the pandemic by receiving commits mostly from players in South Florida The biggest commit came from five-star athlete James Williams who will likely play either linebacker or safety in college. Williams is the top-ranked player in Florida and top-ranked athlete in the Class of 2021.

The commitment by Willams to Miami surprised recruiting analysts throughout college football. All eight analysts who had a crystal ball for Williams projected him to sign with Georgia. The commitment by Williams to the Hurricanes was reminiscent of safety Avantae Williams who chose Miami over Florida in February in the 2020 Class.

Miami has received commitments from Williams and four-star prospects, WRs Romello Brinson, Jacolby George and Smith, defensive ends, four-star Jabari Ishmael and three-star Thomas Davis and four-star safety Kamren Kinchens since the beginning of June. Manny Diaz and his staff have had a lot of hard work pay off.

Florida has been unable to take advantage of Miami despite the Hurricanes’ 13-13 record over the past two seasons. In the 2021 recruiting cycle it has been quite the opposite. Miami has been winning head to head recruiting battles against Florida and several of the Gators’ SEC rivals. Five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor is next.

Taylor named Miami and Florida his finalists and will announce his college destination on August 6. Taylor had previously been nearly unanimously crystal balled to Florida. More recently Taylor has been trending to Miami. Five of Florida’s four-star commits are in-state. DT Tyreak Sapp from St. Thomas Aquinas is the best from South Florida.

Florida has the potential to pass Miami with several Palmetto stars. Taylor, four-star DT Savion Collins who is commited to Miami and five-star cornerback Jason Marshall are all considering Florida. Keeping Collins and securing a commitment from Taylor should be enough for Miami to stay ahead of Florida.

The biggest battle for the Florida, Florida State and Miami football teams is with out of state teams coming into the Sunshine State for recruits. With three four-star commitments from players in Florida, Clemson is tied with Miami ahead of Florida and FSU.

Crystal balls project six of the top 10 Florida players to play college football out of state. Recruits leaving Florida has recently been the trend. Miami recruiting South Florida well with four and five-star prospects has reversed the recent recruiting cycle trend. Nine four and five star South Florida prospects are commited to Miami.