Mario Cristobal and Miami close out the first official visit weekend with big commitment

You knew Mario Cristobal was not leaving the first week of the official visit season without getting a commitment and DeMarco Jenkins came through.

The four-star defensive lineman became the 16th member of Miami's 2027 recruiting class, choosing the Hurricanes over SMU and TCU among others. Jenkins' decision likely puts a cap on the defensive line class after Cristobal turned up the heat on his recruitment with the hopes of getting a commitment during his official visit.

Jenkins joins four-star recruit Ezekiel Ayangbile and in-state prospect Josh Johnson on the defensive line class, and it's a nice bounce back for Cristobal and the staff after suffering tough losses on defensive line recruiting this month when blue-chip linemen Xavier Muhammad (Michigan) and David Folorunsho (Notre Dame) committed elsewhere. The moves shifted the attention to Jenkins, who had been leaning toward SMU heading into the past week, but wanted to take a visit to Coral Gables before making a decision later this week.

4-star DL DeMarco Jenkins commits to the Miami Hurricanes

Filling out the class on the interior defensive line was something that the Hurricanes had to do before the summer dead period and Jenkins is a big body that's going to be put right in the center of that front four. 

Jenkins' commitment caps off an exceptional second half of May where Cristobal and Miami bounced back from some disappointing recruiting news to gain some major pledges, including five-star defensive back Donte Wright, who flipped from Georgia, four-star linebacker AJ Randle and in-state edge rusher Jayvon Dawson. This surge put Miami's recruiting class back in the top five nationally. 

What's next for Miami Hurricanes recruiting? 

Jenkins' commitment likely closes the door on the interior defensive line class, and it's been suggested that the Hurricanes will keep the class under 25 players. Miami made up some major ground this weekend with five-star edge rusher Jaiden Bryant, who is committed to LSU, and in-state recruit Kaden Henderson, the top-ranked inside linebacker in the country. It's all gas and no brakes for Cristobal now as he's looking for some major names to complete this class and challenge for the top ranking nationally.

Next weekend will feature another loaded slate of visitors with four-star quarterback Israel Abrams on the schedule, coming off of a successful week at the Elite 11 camp. Another interesting name to keep an eye on is linebacker Drew Williams, who seems to be between Miami and Florida right now. 

One name to always look out for is DJ Jacobs. The five-star edge rusher in the country moves in silence and will sometimes simply join his younger brother, 2028 four-star Dawson Jacobs, on a trip. Miami expects Jacobs to be on campus one of these weekends, but it's doubtful anyone will know which weekend that is until he actually gets there. 

But with one official visit weekend in the books, it feels like everything is coming up gold...or shall we say orange and green...for Miami. The Hurricanes got a big commitment from a major target and there's no doubt that more good news is coming. 

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