Miami Football: 10 Recruits The Miami Hurricanes Failed To Get On Signing Day

The Miami Hurricanes recruiting class did not have a lot of four and five star players littered throughout.  It is a solid class filled with underrated players who are going to make an impact in college, Al Golden and his staff got a late start on the process because of the coaching change. 

Because of that the Hurricanes did not get to some of the top recruits until other schools were already heavily in their ear.  That caused some of the top recruits to slip through the Hurricanes hands despite a game effort by Al Golden and his staff.  Here are 10 recruits the Hurricanes were unable to sign on National Signing Day.

Jacoby Brissett, QB (4-Star)

6’5”

225 lbs.

4.5 40-Yard Dash

The Hurricanes have not technically missed out on Brissett who will announce his decision on Friday at halftime of his school’s basketball game.  Brissett has narrowed his choices down to Wisconsin, Miami, and Florida and the fact that the Hurricanes have no quarterbacks committed may bode well for them landing Brissett.  Also Brissett’s mom has said it will be difficult on her if Jacoby picked anywhere else other than Miami, so that could be the tipping point for the Hurricanes.

Bryant Dubose, DE (3-Star)

6'4"

240 lbs.

As of a few days ago, the Hurricanes seemed to have a commitment from Dubose locked up, but at the last minute he switched his commitment and decided to attend Louisville.  He said that Miami was great, but that he was more comfortable at Louisville and it just felt right.

As a senior, Dubose was the Class 6A-5A-4A Defensive Player of the Year for Northeast after finishing with 60 tackles, 11 sacks and an interception.  As a junior he had 55 tackles and 13 sacks.  Considering his mom pushed hard for him to go to UM, and he is coached by former Hurricane Donnell Bennett, it’s a bit of a shocking loss.

Byron Moore, DB (4-Star)

6’1”

205 lbs.

4.5 40-Yard Dash

Moore was to be a Juco transfer, and visited the UM campus on 1/21/2011.  After the visit there was a strong indication that the Hurricanes would have a good chance to land Moore, but a few days before signing day Moore decided to commit to Tennessee.  Defensive back was a big need for the Hurricanes and they were counting on Moore to come in and compete for playing time early.

Marcus Jackson, OL (4-Star)

6’2”

315 lbs.

Jackson was a Hurricanes commit and even commented that his visit to the Miami campus on 12/19/2010 went really well.  Jackson opened his commitment back up after Randy Shannon was fired by the Hurricanes administration, and Al Golden spent a lot of time trying to bring Jackson back into the fold.  It did not work and Jackson ended up committing to the Tennessee Volunteers. The Canes are solid on the offensive line so it does not sting as much losing this recruit.

Eli Rogers, WR (4-Star)

5′10″

180 lbs.

Eli Rogers was a Miami commitment for months under coach Randy Shannon, but once Shannon was fired Rogers, opened up his recruiting again.  That’s when the Louisville Cardinals made a hard push at Rogers and were able to land him and another former Miami commit Teddy Bridgewater out of the Hurricanes backyard.

Al Golden reviewed film of all the games last season and noticed over 60 dropped passes, he wants to change that and bring in play making wide receivers.  Losing Eli Rogers put a kink in those plans, but Golden was able to still get a few good ones.  This class would have been much better with Rogers in it rather than him over at Louisville under Charlie Strong.

Devin Lucien, WR (4-Star)

6′1″

189 lbs.

4.49 40-Yard Dash

When Al Golden took over he made a hard late push to obtain the services of Devin Lucien, and the former Michigan commitment was strongly considering the Hurricanes.  But being that Lucien lives in California he eliminated the Hurricanes because he did not want to stray too far from home, which is interesting because he was initially a Michigan commitment.

“It was getting that degree,” Lucien said. “It was also location, location, location.”  He eventually committed to UCLA who is getting a player in Lucien who had an outstanding senior season and lived up to his reputation as one of the West Coast’s best wide receiver prospects.

Kevin Sousa, QB (3-Star)

6′2″

213 lbs.

4.69 40-Yard Dash

Al Golden and company made a hard late push on Orlando, Florida Lake Nona High School quarterback Kevin Sousa.  Sousa originally committed to Michigan, and when Rich Rodriguez was fired he decided to commit to Wake Forest, and the Hurricanes felt they could convince Sousa that coming to the University of Miami was a better option for him.

In the end Sousa seemed to like the coaches at Wake Forest better, and gave a strong commitment to the Wake Forest community.  Sousa vowed that he will have Wake Forest competing for ACC Championships and that he would work harder than any quarterback to every play the school.  Sousa must really like the Demon Deacons. He seems like he really wants to be there.

Ray Drew, DE (5-Star)

6′5″

243 lbs.

The Miami Hurricanes always had interest in Drew, but it was unclear where they really stood with him as time went on.  Drew prided himself on being unpredictable and moving to the beat of his own drum with his recruitment, that’s the way he liked it.  Drew, the state of Georgia’s best player and the nation’s ninth-ranked player, chose the Bulldogs over Auburn, LSU, Clemson and Miami. The Thomas County Central five-star defensive end, a 6'5", 250-pounder.

The Hurricanes felt they made a good sell to Drew when he took a visit to Miami in January, but it was not enough to overcome the home state edge that the Georgia Bulldogs enjoyed with him.  Miami is okay with depth on the defensive line, but adding a player like Drew would have been huge.

Rashad Greene, WR (4-Star)

6′0″

175 lbs.

4.42 40-Yard Dash

Miami made jumped into the process of recruiting Greene hard in the weeks leading up to signing day, even after it seemed he was a strong Florida State commit.  The work almost paid off for the Hurricanes as Greene left his official visit and said that Miami gave him a lot to think about with his decision.  In the end Florida State was able to keep Miami from stealing Greene from them, and I think the allure of being in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation has some sway in it.

Josue Matias, OL (4-Star)

6'5"

290 lbs.

Another Florida State commitment, Josue Matias was recruited by current Hurricanes coach Al Golden when he was at Temple, and Matias was not interested.  When Golden became the coach at Miami Matias opened his ear to listen a little bit more, but was a strong Florida State commitment throughout the entire recruiting process.  Once Matias switched his commitment from Rutgers to the Seminoles he never wavered after that, he seemed to really click well with their coaching staff.

When Matias took a late trip to the University of Miami some thought that maybe he was going to be swayed at the last minute.  Many people knew that Matias was only visiting Miami to escape the frigid cold weather in New Jersey by taking a free trip to South Beach.