Going into the season, the Miami Hurricanes had all of their recruits post messages that they were shutting down their recruitment in a show of full commitment to Mario Cristobal's program. But in recruiting, nothing is guaranteed, and Jatori Williams has decided to back away from his pledge to the Hurricanes and take his recruitment in a different direction.
Williams confirmed his decision in a post on his social media accounts earlier Tuesday.
— Jatori (JT) Williams 4⭐️ OL (@JatoriWilliams) October 13, 2026
Williams, a four-star recruit and one of the top interior lineman prospects in the 2027 class, always seemed very thoughtful and mature. His statement reflects that. I think he would have been a great addition to Miami's class and I expect he'll do well wherever he goes. There's already buzz he could be ready to find a new home soon, too, but we know a move to Coral Gables is now off the table for him.
Miami couldn't beat out home cooking for 4-star Jatori Williams
With the Hurricanes seemingly out of the picture, Williams is an overwhelming favorite to commit to Auburn. The Rivals/On3 predictor puts the Tigers at a 94.7% chance of landing the top-200 national recruit from Phenix City, Ala. Auburn's campus is less than an hour from Williams' hometown and the Tigers were able to get him on campus a few weeks ago. It seems like the writing may be on the wall here.
Sometimes the draw to playing closer to home is hard to pass up. We don't know a lot about Williams' family situation. Maybe he's honoring a wish from his parents or grandparents to stay closer to home, so they can see as many of his games as possible. It's possible that Auburn made Williams such a priority that they put together an NIL package and Miami chose not to meet. For now, your guess is as good as ours.
It can be a million things, but there are two often-popular narratives that I don't believe are true in Williams' case. I don't think Miami had any interest in moving on from him and I don't think Williams made this decision lightly.
Williams looks like the real deal, and we all know that Mario Cristobal loves his trench warriors, so this is a loss that the coaches didn't want. The offensive line class was built around Williams and Tatum — two guards that the Hurricanes staff believe had high upside. And I think Williams was legitimately excited about going to Miami, but things change, and circumstances change.
At the end of the day, every team will experience some recruiting disappointment. Cristobal and his staff will now decide if they want to keep the 2027 class at 20 commits or try to fill the spot that Williams left open. And if they decide to fill another spot in the 2027 class, will it be a sleeper offensive lineman they have evaluated and liked, or possibly a big fish like 5-star local prospect Mark Matthews?
Because for every recruiting door that closes, another one is likely to open.
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