All options open for Miami 2017 defensive tackle target

Dec 20, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-12-20 at 11.24.54 AM.png

At 6’4” 305 lbs, Elijah Conliffe is one of 247sports.com’s top 20 defensive tackles in the nation for the class of 2017. Out of Hampton, Virginia, Conliffe had a monster senior year and won defensive player of the year in his school’s conference (C-10).

“I’ve become very versatile on the line,” Conliffe said while speaking about how he has improved this season. “I can play nose guard, defensive tackle, and defensive end pretty well.”

Conliffe said that “he has gotten more aggressive over the years,” and colleges are beginning to take notice. With national signing day a couple of months away, Conliffe said he is getting attention from a variety of different schools.

“[Recruiting] has picked up,” Conliffe said. “After I dropped my last highlight tape I probably got the bigger schools I hadn’t gotten yet.”

Conliffe named Ole Miss, Tennessee, Penn State, Miami, Oregon, and Florida as schools who have expressed interest, but said he has the strongest relationship with the staffs at Tennessee and Penn State. Coaches have zeroed in on Conliffe to round out their classes, but the defensive tackle said he does not have a top 3, and his recruiting process is wide open.

“I’m pretty open,” Conliffe said. “Just taking a look at places to see where I’m going to take my officials to.”

“I know ‘Bama is going to get one (an official visit), and possibly Miami and Tennessee.”

As for Miami’s relationship with the four star recruit, Conliffe said that it has improved over time.

“It’s gotten better,” Conliffe said. “At first we wouldn’t talk as much, then we started to pick it up a little more. He is telling me about the campus and stuff like that.”

Miami has sold the ability to play as freshmen to recruits all throughout the cycle, but Conliffe said getting into the right program is more important to him than anything else.

“I’m not as far as looking for that,” Conliffe said. “All I really want to do is get into a program to really learn the technique, really learn what is going on, learn the program, and then when I am ready I want to play.”

Conliffe closed things off by saying it may come down to how he feels once he gets to his official visits, and with signing day less than two months away, only time will tell where the defensive tackle feels most comfortable.

Click to expand...

Facebook X (Twitter) Reddit WhatsApp Email Link

Comments (84)

View article View as thread

JgDaCane

Dec 20, 2016

fruit cake. nextttttttttttttttt

jkaz1

Dec 20, 2016

Kuligowski has been doing this for a long time.

Let's wait for the final DL class.

I'm not concerned with this position group.

BALLHAWKU said:
jkaz1 said:

Yawn.

If Kuligowski wants another DT, he'll find another DT who will produce - whether it's a name we know or not....

Click to expand...

Don't like how long they took to start looking. We need two or three a year

C
caneallday21

Dec 20, 2016

BALLHAWKU said:
jkaz1 said:

Yawn.

If Kuligowski wants another DT, he'll find another DT who will produce - whether it's a name we know or not....

Click to expand...

Don't like how long they took to start looking. We need two or three a year

I agree I trust Kools eye and ability to coach and recruit but like the wr spot I don't like the way they went about it

Cal jimmy

Dec 20, 2016

Scorpion said:
TrustTrump said:

SwagUniversity said:

If this kid picks the dump fire at Tennessee or Pedo state over Coach Kool, something seriously wrong with him

Click to expand...

I agree with you regarding UT. The "Pedo State" thing is dead. Waste of time to continue to say that. Penn State is a good program. They are riding high

F*ck you. I'm going to keep calling Pedo State Pedo State until those scumbags at Pedo State acknowledge that Paterno knew about and is responsible for all of those kids getting raped.

Click to expand...

Don't hold your breath cuz that's not happening. Call em what you want.

Canes2082

Dec 20, 2016

TrustTrump said:
SwagUniversity said:

If this kid picks the dump fire at Tennessee or Pedo state over Coach Kool, something seriously wrong with him

Click to expand...

I agree with you regarding UT. The "Pedo State" thing is dead. Waste of time to continue to say that. Penn State is a good program. They are riding high now.

Pedo state ......Pedo state.....pedo state........takes a real prick to defend a school that covered child rape....

Classic

Dec 20, 2016

TrustTrump said:
SwagUniversity said:

If this kid picks the dump fire at Tennessee or Pedo state over Coach Kool, something seriously wrong with him

Click to expand...

I agree with you regarding UT. The "Pedo State" thing is dead. Waste of time to continue to say that. Penn State is a good program. They are riding high now.

For a guy who's a big fan of the man with "THE BEST WORDS," every single one of your posts is absolute dog****. I wish you, too, had a good brain.

JgDaCane

Dec 20, 2016

PEDO ******* STATE TRASH BAGS!!! I HOPE PATERNO IS BURNING IN **** WHERE HE BELONGS!!!!!!

Billy D Williams

Dec 20, 2016

Gotta remember The U was nothing special when these kids were coming up, so they don't hold Miami in awe like we wish they did. Those big public schools, with huge stadiums and facilities, will continue to give us **** on the recruiting trail until we start kicking *** again. ****, we just starting to limit bamer, fsu and gates from poaching so many recruits withing 20 miles of campus. So for this kid to be considering other schools, why are we tripping?

Classic

Dec 20, 2016

I dunno, guys. Didn't sound that bad to me.

I don't like that his best relationships are with Tenn and Pedo State, but he mentioned us as a likely visit, and if we get that, we should be right in the thick of things. Get him in the sun, feed him crab, and lock him in a room with Kool.

Dec 20, 2016

You Pedo State guys sound like the old midwestern white dudes who still think all Miami players are coke-sniffing criminal n-ggers.

simplycanes

Dec 20, 2016

Haven't you guys learned, all positions are a priority. Or did I miss an ACC CG appearance somewhere?

Yeah, there are some spots that if you miss a given year you can survive better than others, but we are in no such position as a program.

And if it's a position along either line, it's a priority every year. Especially when our current DC lives for TFL.

The Franchise

Dec 20, 2016

brock said:
252cane said:

brock said:

IndayArtHauz said:

Cribby said:

So is the block hot or not ?

Click to expand...

COME PLAY AT PARADISE U THE WEATHER IS BETTER THAN THE WINS FIRE EMOJI SIREN EMOJI ####

Click to expand...

The weather bro that's our biggest sell, not freshman success, not the history,the weather. Lol

Click to expand...

Nobody cares about the history. Thats the problem with this program and why recruiting is struggling. Ohio st, bama, clemson, fsu and etc is selling the right now. Miami keeps pitching what guys went to the nfl have done and players from the past. Recruits want the right now.

Click to expand...

Like having the most freshman all Americans out of any school in the country? Should be any easy sell but... we are talking about weather.

Do you really think they're bringing the great Jim Cantore with them on recruiting visits, and all they're talking about is weather? It's a few fcking tweets, man. I pray for you if you think we're getting or losing recruits based on a few tweets.

ScubaCane

Dec 20, 2016

Let's face it, this program is irrelevant and has been for a very long time. We're lucky that we do as well as we do in recruiting.

D
DiegoCane

Dec 20, 2016

CanesAreAble said:
DiegoCane said:

LuCane said:

rokulika said:

The reason I don't think we need him is because there will be other DTs that we'll recruit much harder next cycle. We'll be perfectly fine in 2017 along the DL.

Click to expand...

Rok, the problem is those guys will then have to play as True Frosh. That's a really, really tough task for any DT.

Click to expand...

Absolutely.

The question I have is, why did it take so long for for us to make a 2nd DT a priority? We only took 1 last year and he's a project, 2 this year should have been a no brainer

Click to expand...

I think they might've been surprised by the development of Norton and McIntosh. Going into the season, they probably weren't thinking of the possibility of two DTs leaving early (3 if you include Willis, who's barely played).

They really need to land another DT, and not a JAG.

Maybe, but IMO you need to recruit 2 DTs every year.

Just hope we can find another good one this year. Would suck to go into 2018 with a really nice roster and then be weak at the most important position on D.

RVACane

Dec 20, 2016

brock said:
CanesAreAble said:

brock said:

I'm Concerned about our recruiters on this staff right now tbqh. Don't like missing out on all of these guys we seem to target

Click to expand...

It's lunch. Time for your meds.

Click to expand...

Mods^? Sh*t is ridiculous. For saying I'm concerned about the staffs recruiting I get that type of response. Grow tf up

This is like asking for the "Mercy Rule" in Little League.

P
Paranos

Dec 20, 2016

At least Conliffe has been consistent in saying Tenn & PSU are his leaders, but I wouldn't count Miami and Coach Kool out of this just yet recruiting can be very fluid.

Link to article from 10 months ago.
https://www.seccountry.com/tennessee/tennessee-is-one-of-two-leaders-for-fast-rising-virginia-defensive-end

. Tennessee is one of two leaders for fast-rising Virginia defensive end
Even early in his recruitment, Elijah Conliffe has a pair of leaders for his services.

“It would probably be Penn State and Tennessee,” the three-star defensive end from Hampton (Va.) High School told SEC Country.

When asked what Conliffe liked about the Vols, a certain player came to mind. Conliffe wants to pursue aerospace engineering like Tennessee starting quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

“I really like space,” the 6-foot-5, 278-pound prospect said. “Why not try to make something to go in space?”

Conliffe is willing to admit the recruiting process is a bit overwhelming. However, it’s one he’s enjoying. He is rated as the No. 13 strongside defensive end in the country and the No. 15 player in Virginia, according to the 247sports composite rankings.

“It’s a really great experience,” he said. “There wasn’t always a time when Tennessee and big schools were looking at me.”

They clearly are now. Conliffe has 13 scholarship offers. Some of the most notable are from Tennessee, N.C. State, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Iowa and Penn State. Conliffe never thought he was very good at football until he stepped onto the field as a freshman and landed a starting job as a sophomore.

“I didn’t expect I was going anywhere with football,” Conliffe said before he started performing well. “Well, I might as well keep with this. Then my 10th-grade year, I started. Then stuff started to happen.”

Virginia got the ball rolling. The Cavaliers were the first to offer Conliffe a scholarship.

“When I first got it I was excited, but I didn’t know how to show it,” he said. “It was an unreal experience. Everyone told me it was going to get better.”

As important as the Virginia offer was, Tennessee carried as much weight.

“It was big,” Conliffe said.

Conliffe remembers vividly when he got the text from the Vols in January to call him. It was just after a bad track meet in which he didn’t meet his goals. Conliffe is used to performing well in the shot put. His best is more than 41 feet. He didn’t match that and was a bit sullen before he called Tennessee.

“When I called (the Vols coach) said ‘You called with bad news but I’ve got good news for you’,” Conliffe said. “That’s when my heart dropped. He said you have an offer from the University of Tennessee. It was an amazing feeling.”

Conliffe has trouble believing it, but his recruitment is launching faster than a rocket he hopes to eventually design.

TexCane

Dec 20, 2016

Conliffe is a realistic prospect for Miami. He's got talent and upside and serious interest in Miami.

Alabama has just about filled their class and Conliffee is further down their priority list at this point. Tennessee is fighting all the negative recruiting around the stability of the staff. PSU is the only possible threat and I'm not sure how much.

The key here is getting the young man on campus for an OV. When he meets coaches Richt, Kool and Diaz, he should be impressed, When he sees the facilities (Schwatrz, IPF and Hard Rock) he should be impressed. When he tours the campus, he should be impressed. And Conliffe will do all the above in sunny, 70+ degree weather, as compared to the Norfolk, VA area at this time of year.

Again, his feet MUST land on Coral Gables soil in January.

GO Canes!

calinative umstudent

Dec 20, 2016

Well this kid said his OV is going to play a major role, and that he is more concerned with going somewhere where he is going to be taught great technique opposed to somewhere where there is an opportunity for early PT.

That sounds great for us. An OV to Miami in late December/January is going to beat any other OV. AND we have one of the best DL coaches in the country, but likely no ability to earn early PT due to our depth on the DL, so it's good he doesn't weigh that as heavily.

Dec 20, 2016

I think that may be the first time a big recruit couldn't care any less about early burn. Can't make this **** up. I will agree though that we did get on him very late. I initially thought is weird that we only were pursuing 1 DT... Have to have at least 2 per class