Four-star OL Olaus Alinen discusses Miami football as one of 4 finalists

The Miami football program was named a finalist with Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State for four-star Finnish offensive tackle Olaus Alinen on Friday. Alinen attends The Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut which is less than 10 miles from Suffield Academy where current Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went to school.

Alinen is the 127th ranked player, 14th ranked OT and top-ranked player in Connecticut for 2023. Two 247 Sports Crystal Balls project Alinen to commit to Alabama, which includes one from National Recruiting Analyst Brian Dohn. Alinen is projected at 71.8 percent to commit to the Crimson Tide from On3.Com.

Ohio State is second at 21.7 from On3. No one else is projected at even three percent. Miami has a lot of catching up to do. Working in the favor of Miami is having head coach Mario Cristobal who played OL and position coach Alex Mirabal. Cristobal has been praised as a tireless teacher and worker by the current Miami OL.

Alinen spoke with Adam Friedman of Rivals.Com about each of his four finalists. They spoke about how long Alinen has been connected to Cristobal and Mirabal, the frequency of their correspondence, his feelings about potentially playing for the Miami football program and their future and his plans to visit Coral Gables.

"“I mean the most attractive things for me is the coaching staff. The coaching staff really is new (to) Miami but they’re not new to me. Coach Cristobal and coach Mirabal started recruiting me my freshman year when I was still in Finland.They must have been my second scholarship offer and they’ve stayed in touch really frequently ever since. It has never stopped their…school multiple times and it was always been a great relationship. I feel like there really some people that I could see myself playing for. I also think that it’s a program on the rise.If they can keep some of that talent from South Florida in there and get some other high prospects from around the country that they’re gonna do really well. I haven’t been there (Miami) yet. I have an official visit plan(ned) and then I hopefully will do an unofficial visit before as well. Official visit will be the first weekend June.June 2…the unofficial visit I might go through a spring game maybe it’s by the 16th of April”"

Four-star interior offensive lineman Antonio Tripp is one of four 2023 commits for Miami and the only one on the line of scrimmage. Cristobal set the goal of improving the Miami play on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Recruits on the OL will be aware of the presence of Cristobal and the importance he places on the OL.

The Miami football program has offered nearly three dozen OL scholarships in the Class of 2023. About five of those players are highly considering Miami. Cristobal has pledged more physicality and an emphasis on the OL. The hands-on coaching that Cristobal has taken with the OL should help Miami recruit upfront in the future.