One of the first commitments to Miami's 2017 recruiting class was south Florida product Jonathan Ford, a 6-5, 270- pound defensive lineman.
The Hurricanes coaching staff seems more than content to have a defensive tackle class led by Ford, which is something that he notices and appreciates.
"I'm so fired up about that coaching staff and everything at Miami because they actually believe in me," he said. "Even though I didn't get my fourth star (after spring), they were still recruiting me and on me hard. That's big for me."
As has been the biggest factor with nearly all of Miami's defensive line targets, the opportunity to work with Craig Kuligowski excites Ford.
"Coach Kool is a great coach. I know I'm going to learn a lot of things from him and I know for a fact that I will make the league playing under him," Ford said.
"I'll be a 3-technique. I'm going to get to the quarterback as soon as possible -- no sitting on the line or reading. I'll be interrupting the quarterback and getting into the backfield and celebrating like the old U."
The Dillard prospect shared his thoughts on Miami adding D.J. Johnson, a recruit that Ford met at Paradise Camp.
"Last night, I got another D-Line brother next to me in D.J. Johnson. He's big and athletic and it's great to see the D-Line class building and everything going well," said Ford.
"When Coach Kool introduced me to him, I thought he was already a player at Miami and I didn't realize he was still in high school. He's actually a little bigger than me, so it's exciting to know I'll have someone that size right next to me and he's very athletic. We are going to have great chemistry."
