The Miami football program is taking a more deliberate approach in recruiting in the 2022 class. Head coach Manny Diaz does not feel pressure to win the recruiting battle during the summer. The Hurricanes signed the 11th ranked class in 2021. Miami currently has the 74th ranked 2022 class, but only three commits.
The average commit for Miami of 92.03 is among the best nationally. National recruiting expert Josh Pate of 247Sports.Com supported the approach the Miami football program and Diaz are taking in the 2022 class. Miami has often been compared to Florida State who currently has the fourth-ranked class.
Pate rightfully supported Miami and Diaz in their recruiting approach. Miami landed five-star signees safety James Williams and defensive tackle Leonard Taylor on July 21 and August 6, 2020, as the cornerstones of the 2021 class. Five-star 2022 defensive end Shermar Stewart is currently projected to eventually commit to Miami.
The Hurricanes might not sign a full class in 2022. There have been some reports Miami might sign 17 or 18 players in the Class of 2022 to leave open spots for transfers. Transfers, Running back Cody Brown from Tennessee and offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun will count towards the 2022 Miami class.
Brown was let out of his 2021 National Letter of Intent with the Volunteers after head coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired in January. Brown adds depth to the Miami backfield. Oluwaseun is expected to be a backup on the offensive line in 2021 and compete to be a starter in 2022.
on the 2022 Miami class.
"“What Manny Diaz is saying there, to skip past all the BS, what he’s saying is, ‘yeah, I don’t care what we’re ranked right now and what they’re ranked right now, we’re going heads up for a lot of kids…but we are taking a much more measured approach in the evaluation stage. ’Now this is not an apples to apples situation.Florida State, roster-wise, is in a worst spot than Miami is. I don’t think anyone’s under the illusion otherwise. So it very maybe, that at Florida State, they are taking a little bit different approach than they are at Miami.If I was Mike Norvell, I’d be going at it a little bit differently right now and my filter would be a little bit different than if I was Manny Diaz at Miami.What Manny is saying is stop comparing us and if you are trying to, you need to understand …is there are kids right now we could take if we wanted to, but we’re not (because) we’re taking a different approach, we’re taking a more a measured approach because we don’t have 100 spots to hand out.There’s a very weird roster situation in play and so we’re trying to adhere to that, so shut up about recruiting rankings in July. Well, the very nature of people who follow recruiting don’t shut up this time of year…There’s a word for what Manny Diaz is doing right now and that’s excuse making.He’s making excuses because they don’t have momentum on the recruiting trail. The thing about it is, if you define momentum by just having a bunch of commitments, Miami could have momentum tomorrow if they wanted it. What’s he’s saying is, it’s going to take awhile to find out the validity of.Manny Diaz is telling you essentially we’ll be there in the end…And we don’t really care about what’s happening right now. I like it selfishly because I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I really, really hope the collective tide is raised in the state of Florida for reasons I have stated over and over again.It is good for college football when the big three in Florida are recruiting as they should be.”"
When Diaz was elevated to head coach in December 2018 he stated a different approach to recruiting would be taken. Miami had frequently received commitments from players who then took visits to other schools. Diaz wants to be absolutely sure that has commits who want to be at Miami.
De-commitments were frequent for the Miami football program before Diaz moved one spot over from defensive coordinator to become head coach for the 2019 season. The measured approach paid off for Miami with the 17th ranked class in 2020, which was the first full one under Diaz and the 11th ranked 2021 class.
It’s inevitable for the Miami and Florida State classes to get compared. As Pate said, the Hurricanes and Seminoles are in different places. Florida State is recovering from the end of the Jimbo Fisher era and the failed 21 games under Willie Taggart as head coach. Miami has a more solid roster.
Although the Miami football program missed out on several players recently, the end of this week could gave the Hurricanes gain a couple of commitments. Athlete Chris Graves who Miami projects as a CB will announce his commitment on Friday. Linebacker Demario Tolan and CBs Jordan Alen and Nick Cull also announce in July.