Miami football plan B if Cormani McClain signs elsewhere

Five-star cornerback Cormani McClain remains committed to the Miami football program after not signing a National Letter of Intent during the Early National Signing Period last week. Gaby Urrutia of Inside the U reported on Thursday that Miami has an alternative if McClain signs with another college football program.

Four-star CB Rodrick Pleasant from Gardena, California, Junipero Serra High School has communicated with the Miami football program during his recruitment per Urrutia. Pleasant is unsigned and does not have any 247 Sports crystal balls logged for him. USC is projected as the favorite to sign Pleasant per On3.

The Trojans have an 82.3 percent chance to sign Plesant per On3. Oregon is second at 5.5 percent. Pleasant has taken official visits to Boston College, California, Oregon and UCLA. That leaves him with one more official visit. Pleasant has taken seven unofficial visits to USC which is the most of any program.

Pleasant is the 86th prospect, ninth CB and seventh player in California per the 247 Sports composite rankings. The On3 consensus rankings have Pleasant 94th, eighth and seven overall. Pleasant had 45 tackles, two tackles for loss, 15 tackles for loss and four interceptions in the past two years combined per Max Preps.

Miami did sign CBs Damari Brown and Robert Stafford. Antione Jackson who also signed in the 2023 Miami class is listed as a safety. The 2023 Miami class is ranked fourth nationally behind Alabama, Georgia and Texas. With McClain in the class, Miami would have 294.85 recruiting points.

If Pleasant replaced McClain in the 2023 Miami football class, the Hurricanes would have 291.09 recruiting points. Miami would remain the fourth-ranked class nationally if Pleasant replaced McClain. Without McClain or Pleasant Miami would have 286.88 recruiting points. That would drop Miami to seventh behind Ohio State and LSU.

Miami needs to add depth in the secondary after losing eight defensive backs to graduation, the NFL Draft and the transfer portal. Miami also added Central Florida CB Davonte Brown, the brother of Damari, through the transfer portal. The Miami staff will keep working trying to add more CBs for the 2023 roster.