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2019 Miami Northwestern linebacker Samuel Brooks decommitted from the Canes after the Manny Diaz departure news became official late last night.
The 6-2, 195-pounder is currently a 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Brooks is the #723 player nationally, #45 OLB in the country, and the #97 player in the Sunshine State. His decommitment moves Miami’s 2019 class ranking down to #30 on 247Sports and #37 on Rivals.
The Background
Brooks had been committed to Miami since March and seemed like a true Hurricane. He said the only place he ever dreamed of playing college football was at Miami. In the middle of a superstar junior campaign for Northwestern leading the county in sacks and TFL, Brooks suffered a devastating knee injury that had people questioning whether he’d ever play football again. Miami was one of the few FBS teams that stuck by him after many backed off, and UM planned to honor his scholarship regardless. As such, Brooks was one of UM’s most solid commits in this class throughout, but the departure of both his coordinator and position coach Manny Diaz to Temple gave him pause, and he decided to open things up to make sure he was making the right decision.
Future of the Class
Brooks' decommitment brings the total class numbers down to 14, and leaves Miami with two linebacker commits. St. Thomas 4-star teammates Anthony Solomon and Avery Huff remain in Surge19 at LB, but Solomon already has one foot out the door and is expected to flip to Michigan next week. Huff told CIS yesterday that although he wanted to play for Diaz, he is still strong with Miami.
The Canes thought they were done at LB for 2019 and completely stopped recruiting the position after Huff pledged back in May. However, at this point, UM will likely only land one of the original trio in Huff and it leaves them scrambling to fill the empty spots.
Plant City 3-star LB James Gordon IV is a Minnesota commit and has been the staff’s preferred choice to take Solomon’s spot ever since he started wavering. Miami offered Gordon a few weeks back and have been working overtime to get him to officially visit during one of the final weeks, sending coaches multiple times for in-home visits with Gordon and his family. As of now, it appears those efforts have gone for naught, as Gordon does not plan to visit on the final weekend before signing day. Since he is expected to sign early, it seems like Gordon is not likely to end up in this class as of now.
The third STA linebacker of the bunch is 3-star Jahmar Brown, who Miami has had their eye for over a year. The Canes originally would not take his commitment back in May, so Brown ended up pledging to South Carolina. Miami reached out to Brown yet again to gauge interest when Solomon started wavering last month, but did not give him a firm offer. With Brooks now gone, Miami has pushed for Brown to make a last minute visit this weekend, so we’ll see if he shows up on campus. If he doesn’t, Brown is expected to sign with South Carolina next week.
While they wait on the others to decide, Miami has been slow playing Rockledge 3-star Octavious Brothers. Brothers has received multiple in-home visits from the staff the past few weeks but has not actually landed an offer as of yet. Brothers has seen Syracuse and UNC on official visits in the past month. Since he is not signing early, Brothers could become an option down the line if Miami misses on the Gordon and Brown.
Lastly, Brooks is not completely out of the picture just yet though, as he is still considering Miami and is making his UM official visit this weekend. However, recommits are rare in recruiting, and UM should recruit with the mindset that he won’t be in this class so as to not be left hanging; if he is, then it’s a bonus.
The 6-2, 195-pounder is currently a 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Brooks is the #723 player nationally, #45 OLB in the country, and the #97 player in the Sunshine State. His decommitment moves Miami’s 2019 class ranking down to #30 on 247Sports and #37 on Rivals.
The Background
Brooks had been committed to Miami since March and seemed like a true Hurricane. He said the only place he ever dreamed of playing college football was at Miami. In the middle of a superstar junior campaign for Northwestern leading the county in sacks and TFL, Brooks suffered a devastating knee injury that had people questioning whether he’d ever play football again. Miami was one of the few FBS teams that stuck by him after many backed off, and UM planned to honor his scholarship regardless. As such, Brooks was one of UM’s most solid commits in this class throughout, but the departure of both his coordinator and position coach Manny Diaz to Temple gave him pause, and he decided to open things up to make sure he was making the right decision.
Future of the Class
Brooks' decommitment brings the total class numbers down to 14, and leaves Miami with two linebacker commits. St. Thomas 4-star teammates Anthony Solomon and Avery Huff remain in Surge19 at LB, but Solomon already has one foot out the door and is expected to flip to Michigan next week. Huff told CIS yesterday that although he wanted to play for Diaz, he is still strong with Miami.
The Canes thought they were done at LB for 2019 and completely stopped recruiting the position after Huff pledged back in May. However, at this point, UM will likely only land one of the original trio in Huff and it leaves them scrambling to fill the empty spots.
Plant City 3-star LB James Gordon IV is a Minnesota commit and has been the staff’s preferred choice to take Solomon’s spot ever since he started wavering. Miami offered Gordon a few weeks back and have been working overtime to get him to officially visit during one of the final weeks, sending coaches multiple times for in-home visits with Gordon and his family. As of now, it appears those efforts have gone for naught, as Gordon does not plan to visit on the final weekend before signing day. Since he is expected to sign early, it seems like Gordon is not likely to end up in this class as of now.
The third STA linebacker of the bunch is 3-star Jahmar Brown, who Miami has had their eye for over a year. The Canes originally would not take his commitment back in May, so Brown ended up pledging to South Carolina. Miami reached out to Brown yet again to gauge interest when Solomon started wavering last month, but did not give him a firm offer. With Brooks now gone, Miami has pushed for Brown to make a last minute visit this weekend, so we’ll see if he shows up on campus. If he doesn’t, Brown is expected to sign with South Carolina next week.
While they wait on the others to decide, Miami has been slow playing Rockledge 3-star Octavious Brothers. Brothers has received multiple in-home visits from the staff the past few weeks but has not actually landed an offer as of yet. Brothers has seen Syracuse and UNC on official visits in the past month. Since he is not signing early, Brothers could become an option down the line if Miami misses on the Gordon and Brown.
Lastly, Brooks is not completely out of the picture just yet though, as he is still considering Miami and is making his UM official visit this weekend. However, recommits are rare in recruiting, and UM should recruit with the mindset that he won’t be in this class so as to not be left hanging; if he is, then it’s a bonus.
