Yesterday morning, Brandon Powell was a Tennessee Volunteer commit. This morning, he woke up a Miami Hurricane. Powell went down to Coral Gables to watch the Hurricanes in their first practice of fall camp before committing later in the day.
“Pretty much I didn’t know I would commit. I just wanted to see it because I had been talking to the coaches ever since they had offered me back like a few weeks ago and they had been telling me how they would use me in the offense and everything, but I just wanted to see it for myself. I already liked the area, but grew up a Florida State fan so I didn’t like Miami, but through the recruiting process I saw that the offense they were running best fit me so that’s why I made the decision,” said Powell.
Miami offered Powell “late” in the process, but luckily for the ‘Canes it didn’t come back to hurt them.
“I had 32 offers before Miami offered, so I had choices but Miami came in and it was something close to home where my whole family can get to the games so that’s part of it.”
One of the major reasons for Powell’s flip to Miami was his relationship with running backs coach Hurlie Brown.
“I’ve been talking to Hurlie Brown a lot. Going down there and talking to him showed me that he had been through the same thing I’m going through basically so he knows what it’s like and I can relate to him.”
Many have wondered how offensive coordinator James Coley plans on using Powell in his offense, and the Deerfield Beach product explained Coley’s vision for him.
“He said pretty much he’s going to use me just like he’s going to use Duke Johnson this year so that’s why just going out to the practice and seeing everything Duke was doing that showed me how they would use me.”
After making his de-commitment from Tennessee public, Powell received some nasty messages from Volunteer fans, but that’s not something he is concerned with.
“I really don’t care about that, man. That’s nothing to me. At the end of the day, I’m still going to college and playing football so none of their opinions matter to me.”
Although Powell didn’t base his decision off of the fact Miami has loaded up on South Florida prospects in this recruiting cycle, he admits it makes things a little more comfortable.
“It really didn’t matter, but it helped a little bit because there’s a lot of people I grew up playing against or know them from camps or are from the area so you can always get along with people from your area in Florida. It had a little factor, but it really didn’t play a big role in my decision.”
Some ‘Canes fans may be wondering about his previous comment about growing up a Florida State fan. If the ‘Noles showed interest, would Powell consider them?
“I’m 100% Miami. I’m done. This is my final decision; I’m just focusing on football now. Basically I have four months until my season is over with so I really don’t have time to be deciding what college to go to and everything and I wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on the season.”
Powell had a final message for Miami fans.
“We’re trying to restore it back to the old ‘U’. To the days where everybody was playing nasty and playing Miami football.”
**Nigel Bethel II, Dennis Turner, Terry McCray are the commits he has been talking to on a consistent basis.
**Powell will graduate in December and enroll at Miami in January.
“Pretty much I didn’t know I would commit. I just wanted to see it because I had been talking to the coaches ever since they had offered me back like a few weeks ago and they had been telling me how they would use me in the offense and everything, but I just wanted to see it for myself. I already liked the area, but grew up a Florida State fan so I didn’t like Miami, but through the recruiting process I saw that the offense they were running best fit me so that’s why I made the decision,” said Powell.
Miami offered Powell “late” in the process, but luckily for the ‘Canes it didn’t come back to hurt them.
“I had 32 offers before Miami offered, so I had choices but Miami came in and it was something close to home where my whole family can get to the games so that’s part of it.”
One of the major reasons for Powell’s flip to Miami was his relationship with running backs coach Hurlie Brown.
“I’ve been talking to Hurlie Brown a lot. Going down there and talking to him showed me that he had been through the same thing I’m going through basically so he knows what it’s like and I can relate to him.”
Many have wondered how offensive coordinator James Coley plans on using Powell in his offense, and the Deerfield Beach product explained Coley’s vision for him.
“He said pretty much he’s going to use me just like he’s going to use Duke Johnson this year so that’s why just going out to the practice and seeing everything Duke was doing that showed me how they would use me.”
After making his de-commitment from Tennessee public, Powell received some nasty messages from Volunteer fans, but that’s not something he is concerned with.
“I really don’t care about that, man. That’s nothing to me. At the end of the day, I’m still going to college and playing football so none of their opinions matter to me.”
Although Powell didn’t base his decision off of the fact Miami has loaded up on South Florida prospects in this recruiting cycle, he admits it makes things a little more comfortable.
“It really didn’t matter, but it helped a little bit because there’s a lot of people I grew up playing against or know them from camps or are from the area so you can always get along with people from your area in Florida. It had a little factor, but it really didn’t play a big role in my decision.”
Some ‘Canes fans may be wondering about his previous comment about growing up a Florida State fan. If the ‘Noles showed interest, would Powell consider them?
“I’m 100% Miami. I’m done. This is my final decision; I’m just focusing on football now. Basically I have four months until my season is over with so I really don’t have time to be deciding what college to go to and everything and I wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on the season.”
Powell had a final message for Miami fans.
“We’re trying to restore it back to the old ‘U’. To the days where everybody was playing nasty and playing Miami football.”
**Nigel Bethel II, Dennis Turner, Terry McCray are the commits he has been talking to on a consistent basis.
**Powell will graduate in December and enroll at Miami in January.
