Miami’s ‘go-to’ recruiters, ‘older’ one the Canes ‘retired’ and eyes on transfer portal
Miami Hurricanes football is buzzing, and just a week-and-change since the dead period ended, it’s going to keep getting louder with youth camps and recruiting in full swing.
“If there’s a priority it’s probably 1A, B, C, D, E and on and on,’’ Andy Vaughn, the University of Miami director of player personnel, said Wednesday on WQAM radio. “June 1 the dead period was over and we started out of the gate really quick.
“We had two unofficial events on campus on Tuesday and Wednesday, had a camp on Wednesday, had official visits Thursday night and we’re getting set up for another camp. So it’s been nonstop. And it’ll be that way throughout the rest of the month.”
Vaughn, who before he came to Miami in 2019 had specialized in recruiting at Middle Tennessee State, Nevada, Nebraska and Arizona, was asked by Joe Rose who Miami’s “go-to guy’’ is that makes “young guys excited’’ at the prospect of playing for the U.
Freshman phenoms
“This freshman class,’’ Vaughn said. “This ‘21 class that has come in, those guys are incredible — the camaraderie those guys have together. They’re always together; they always have a smile on their faces and great attitudes. They know the kids so they’re always willing to help. That freshman class is full of great recruits. And it means something when a guy can say, ‘I was a big-time recruit and I chose the U of Miami’ or ‘I was a big-time guy in South Florida and I chose to stay home.’ That’s a powerful statement to some of those kids.
“Are you going to tell Jake Garcia, are you going to tell Leonard Taylor or James Williams, ‘No.’ That’s a tough sell.”
Vaughn mentioned that the player UM “probably retired a little bit because he’s getting older is Gilbert Frierson. I think his success rate was pretty high. it’s hard to not smile and have a good time when you’re with Gilbert.’’
Frierson, a striker, will be entering his fourth season at UM but will technically be a redshirt sophomore because the NCAA granted all players a pandemic-induced extra year of eligibility.
Recruiting timeline goals
Unlike programs such as Ohio State, ranked No. 1 nationally with 13 commitments for the class of 2022, the Hurricanes have only two in four-star quarterback Jacurri Brown and three-star receiver Quan Lee. But it’s way early, as high school prospects get their first chance post-COVID-19 restrictions to visit campuses and speak in person to coaches and other players.
“Is the goal to get verbal commitments from those guys right away,’’ Rose asked Vaughn, “or just to get them to fall in love with what you guys are doing?”
“It’s a combination,’’ Vaughn said, “and it kind of depends on the guy and his situation. Some of these guys have been here before the pandemic and they’ve seen it and it’s getting back familiar with them and their family, meeting some of the new staff for the first time in person. Other guys are out of state and have never been here before so it’s giving them a baseline of what to expect.
“We’re always looking for the right kid, we’re never going to force somebody to make a decision. We want to make sure it’s the right fit. It’s been incredible for everybody. The events we had last week, especially Tuesday and Wednesday, it was kind of like a family reunion where you haven’t seem somebody in a couple of years. It’s the same sense of excitement. To be able to get away from the computer screens for a while and actually have something tangible, it’s been great.”
Transfer portal
The Hurricanes have had great success with the transfer portal. And now that the NCAA will allow players to make a one-time transfer without sitting out the customary year that had previously been required, Vaughn was asked if the Canes have someone dedicated to keeping track of the portal.
That person: Former cornerbacks coach and Hurricanes great Mike Rumph, who now serves as assistant director of recruiting.
“Over the last year we kind of had an idea that was coming and it was going to be a bigger impact on not just our program, but everybody’s,’’ Vaughn said. “We actually made a bunch of calls last year during the dead period. We actually talked to some NFL teams and talked about how they do scouting, how they do college scouting, scouting across the league with other teams — the free agency type deals. We got a good idea of how that’s done and shaped it to what’s going to fit us best.
“We do have somebody who’s going to monitor that for us. Mike Rumph handles that for us and is checking the transfer portal all the time and seeing what’s out there and doing some evaluation. You’re really like an NFL scouting department now. You’re scouting the high school kids, you also have a finger on the pulse of what’s out there in the transfer portal. The goal is always to bring the best players into our program and we’re going to do that.’’
