Miami football one of three finalists for Earl Little Jr. ahead of Early National Signing Day

Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports stated that Alabama, Florida State and Miami are the finalists for high four-star cornerback and Hurricanes legacy Earl Little Jr. Little Jr’s father played for the Miami football program in the 1990s. Miami is back in the recruitment for Little Jr. after hiring Mario Cristobal on Tuesday.

Signing high-level local players like Little Jr. who plays for Patrick Surtain Sr. at Fort Lauderdale American Heritage is critical for the future. Surtain’s son played for Nick Saban at Alabama and was the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Alabama is still the favorite to sign Little Jr.

The Miami football program could have all its CBs returning in 2021. Third-year sophomore Tyrique Stevenson has a decision to make regarding returning to Miami or entering the 2022 NFL Draft. The Hurricanes already have a pair of high-level four-star CBs committed for 2022, Chris Graves and Khamauri Rogers.

Little Sr. spoke to Wilftong and provided him with a summary of where Alabama, Florida State and Miami stand with his son’s recruitment. The Miami football program currently has the 58th ranked 2022 recruiting class. The Hurricanes would move up to 48th between Boise State and Texas Tech if they sign Little Jr.

"Regarding Miami: “He’s been to a lot of games as a kid. We have family members that graduated from The U, not just me. Just the whole thing about Miami, you have the great tradition. You can go on and on about the history and tradition. It’s right down the street. It’s local, great education. It’s home but at the same time you got Mario.You have a guy that’s ben (Sic) in the trenches, knows what it takes and you have a guy that’s run out of the smoke and knows what it means playing as a Miami Hurricane. We’ve been missing that for the past 20 years. It’s time for our program to get back to that elite level. It’s going to take time but it’s not far away.I know Mario is the guy. He was a hell of a recruiter at Alabama. He turned the program up at FIU and got them in a bowl game. For him to go to Oregon and have top classes and win the Rose Bowl and win the conference, he’s certified, he’s qualified and most importantly and he’s my friend.”"

Alabama is the prohibitive favorite to sign Little Jr. If Cristobal can essentially flip Little Jr. from Alabama he would be a huge recruiting win in the Class of 2022. Cristobal had only eight days from when he was officially introduced as the new Miami head coach to Early National Signing Day.

This is the worst class Miami has since recruiting classes began being ranked in the late 1990s. In recent classes, the 2019 Class that was 27th ranked nationally was previously the lowest-ranked Miami class. In less than a week, Cristobal is beginning to gain interest from high-level recruits. Little Jr. would be a critical signee.