**Da'Vante Phillips was always going to be a difficult pull for Miamk since early in the process. Miami was legitimately a factor for him late and the word is that the Canes even led for him after the FSU game. Ultimately, Phillips told his coach Roland Smith that he wanted to get out of Miami.

**Phillips' teammate and close friend Anthony Jones honored his commitment to FIU yesterday which looked like a surprise on the surface, but I was told last night that Miami was only going to take Jones' commitment if it meant Phillips was coming too. The Canes staff liked Jones as a receiver, but they did not like him enough to warrant an offer by himself. I personally though Jones would have been a nice pickup for this class. He would have added a different dimension to the offensive class.

**Some good news for Miami - there is a lot of talk that 6-5 Maryland WR prospect Lawrence Cager will be choosing the Canes this weekend at the Army All-American game. On the field, Cager has an impressive frame and falls in the mold of big receivers that Coach Coley has shown he likes. He is not the most explosive prospect. In all likelihood that will be the line pickup for the Canes in that game.

**This might be tough for Canes fans to swallow. From everything I have been told on Tim Irvin, his heart is in Miami, but it is unlikely he winds up here. Multiple people around the Westminster program tell me that Texas and Auburn are basically his final 2 with Miami on the outside looking in. As I've posted on here a few times, Irvin's biggest question about Miami is his potential position coach Paul Williams.

**Miami has felt for a while that they would hold on to Jordan Scarlett despite rumors of a decommitment swirling since around the FSU game, but that seems more and more unlikely by the day. The school to look out for here is UF. Miami knows they are a real threat and Scarlett has been telling kids that the Gators have made a move for him. The end of Miami's season really hurt their chances with him. The Canes will get his first visit so unless they lock him up their and he shuts down his other visits, it will be tough to keep him.

**Potential decommitments from Scarlett and Dexter Williams leads to an interesting situation - would Miami make another run at Jordan Cronkrite? That is within the realm of possibility. Communication between the two sides have not been active recently, but there is no denying Miami likes his talent and character a lot. The real question is would Cronkrite listen? I think there is a decent chance that he would, although Miami would really need to clear the air about what happened earlier in the process. There is a chance those bridges might be burned, but we won't know until Miami reaches out. JaQuan Johnson has been in Cronkrite's ear all week at the Army All-American bowl practices.

**Quick side note - it is highly unlikely that Miami offers Jalen Julius.

**If there was any positive from the bowl game last Saturday, it's that this team is now officially Brad Kaaya and Chad Thomas' team. These two have already taken the step to become vocal leaders and many people within the program believe their winning mentality is just what this locker-room needs. Each of them have already been reaching out to other teammates individually and preparing them for the upcoming offseason program.