Miami Hurricanes offer a grad transfer with a link to a Canes coach. And Kiper weighs in

A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday:

▪ For the Hurricanes football program, adding any more transfers — beyond the three already acquired — comes with a big sacrifice: relinquishing a 2022 scholarship.

But the Canes apparently believe UNLV offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun is worth it. The grad transfer announced late last week that Miami has offered him a scholarship. He has two seasons of college eligibility remaining.

At least seven other schools also have offered him since he announced his intentions to transfer on Jan. 20: Virginia Tech, Houston, Rutgers, North Texas, Western Kentucky, Liberty and Florida International.

There is a connection between Oluwaseun and UM: He played for Hurricanes offensive line coach Garin Justice at UNLV, where Justice coached in 2018 (as offensive line coach) and 2019 (as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach).

After redshirting in 2017, Olawaseun started one game at right tackle and three at left tackle in 2018.

In 2019, he started five games at right tackle, five at left tackle and one at left guard. And last season, he started all six of UNLV’s games at right tackle.

The Richmond, Texas, native is listed by UNLV as 6-3 and 325 pounds.

Justice and coach Manny Diaz clearly see value in a player who can play at least four of the five positions on the line.

The Canes appear set at right tackle with Jarrid Williams, who has said he’s returning for the bonus year of eligibility that the NCAA is granting players. Much-improved Zion Nelson is the front-runner at left tackle.

Oluwaseun presumably would challenge for playing time at left guard, where Jakai Clark finished the season as the starter.

If Oluwaseun ends up at UM, there could be a four-way competition for two starting guard spots among Navaughn Donaldson (a front-runner if healthy), DJ Scaife, Oluwaseun and Clark.

Meanwhile, UM offensive tackle Adam ElGammal — who hasn’t played a snap in two seasons at Miami — is no longer on the roster because he opted out last season and hasn’t opted back in to this point, according to the school.

His mother, Delores ElGammal, said on Twitter that “Adam opted out - Covid concerns per NCAA. We living with a pandemic!! He served on the practice squad for 99 percent of Fall 2020 and missed practices before the last game. He is opted out for the Spring 2021.”

UM previously snagged three transfers this offseason, all of whom are enrolled: receiver Charleston Rambo, defensive end Deandre Johnson and cornerback Tyriq Stevenson. All are expected to be starters in 2021.

▪ Count ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. among those who rates UM defensive end Jaelan Phillips ahead of UM defensive end Greg Rousseau; Kiper has both players going in the first round of April’s NFL Draft.

“I’m not as high on Rousseau as some people are,” Kiper said during a Monday ESPN conference call with writers, noting that some of Rousseau’s 15 sacks in 2019 “were coverage sacks. He’s not as explosive off the snap. He could have used another year.”

Kiper said UM defensive end/linebacker Quincy Roche is “maybe a third-round pick.” And he said tight end Brevin Jordan “has dropped just a bit. He could be in the fourth or fifth round.”

▪ Rousseau, who opted out of playing last season, has spent the past six months working out in both Miami (under the direction of noted local trainer Pete Bommarito) and in Pensacola.

“He’s going to be phenomenal [in the NFL],” Bommarito said. “He has the right mentality, and he’s smart. We’ve worked on his hands and a lot of pass rush moves. He’s increased his strength and muscle mass.”

Most evaluators have Rousseau going ahead of Phillips in the draft, with Kiper one prominent exception.

A veteran NFL scout said he sees both as first round picks, with Rousseau off the board first: “I think Rousseau is a top-10 talent — long, quick, plays smart. Phillips plays with maturity and instincts, gets off blocks. Rousseau is quicker, but Phillips has a lot of what teams are looking in a defensive end.”

With the NFL Combine canceled due to COVID-19, Bommarito did something smart last week: He held a Combine for his 60 or so draft prospects, running every event that typically would be held at the Combine. Bommarito and his staff cut up video and created a profile of each player and made it available to agents and some others who requested it. He will run another mock Combine in the weeks ahead, too.

Rousseau didn’t participate, but he and Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley are the top draft prospects training with Bommarito.

▪ Some feedback from my annual chat with a few of the University of Miami’s Board of Trustee members:

There was immense disappointment about how the season closed — “the North Carolina game was not acceptable,” one said — but encouragement about the recruiting class and Diaz’s decision to run the defense.

One Trustee said Diaz should be replaced if UM doesn’t win 10 games in 2021, but I very much doubt that would happen. As long as Diaz has a winning season, I expect he would return in 2022 for the fourth year of his contract.

If the Canes have an 8-or-9 win season, I don’t sense this Board of Trustees has a significant number of heavy-handed, force-the-issue members who would try to force athletic director Blake James to make a change even if the program isn’t top-10 caliber.

Now if UM is winning six or seven games each of the next two seasons, that’s another story, because a buyout of the final year of Diaz’s five-year contract would be palatable under those circumstances.

But nobody is thinking in those terms. There remains a firm commitment to Diaz and a general belief that the program is headed in the right direction. And aside from the inexcusable UNC debacle, the program made major strides last season, and Diaz generally has been a smart problem-solver.

One thing that helps any football coach at UM, according to a trustee is, president Julio Frenk is “indifferent about sports.”

▪ The UM staff has discussed whether to keep Jalen Harrell at safety or play him at striker, according to a Harrell associate.

Harrell, who weighed 180 pounds at Hialeah Champagnat, has bulked up and now weighs more than 200 pounds.

He played only 10 defensive snaps as a freshman last season, per Herald metrics correspondent Daniel Gould.

▪ From the recruiting-can-never-start-too-early file: UM already has offers out to several Class of 2024 players, including Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Chance Robinson (UM was his first college offer) and Miami Gardens Tru Prep Academy receiver James Madison II.

Robinson is already 6-1 and 180 pounds and Madison 6-3 and 190 pounds. Robinson has played only on junior varsity to this point.

Madison had 12 catches for 205 yards last season and told Canesport that he’s called “Baby Julio” because he reminds people of Pro Bowl receiver Julio Jones.

Madison’s cousin is UM defensive tackle Nesta Silvera; he also has offers from FSU, Maryland and Syracuse.