Class of 2011: Golden's first

Hurricane Warrior

Retired staff
Premium
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
3,403
249547_207662542606081_142963282409341_558191_5668932_n.jpg

2011 (L-R: Mike William, Darius Smith, Gionni Paul, Rashawn Scott, Phillip Dorsett, Ryan Williams)

Golden’s first recruiting Class:
21 Signees, 3 DI Transfers
Rankings: Rivals #36 , Scouts #41

Golden’s was hired on December 12 of 2010 to replace Randy Shannon. He put together his first recruiting class in less than 2 months. At the time of his hire, Miami had 4 commitments left (Dorsett, Chickillo, Davis, Menocal). Golden decided to cut ties with 2 of the commits (Davis and Menocal) and closed with a total of 21 signees.

Of the 21 total signees: 17 HS, 2 JC (Smith, Botts), 2 Prep (Kinard, Pierre). Golden also signed 2 5th year seniors transfers in Ayles (USC) and Mike Williams (WF). Ryan Williams (Memphis) also transfer here but had to sit out 1 year. Here is the timeline of all the commits and transfers from the class of 2011.

6/19/10 Phillip Dorsett – 1st round pick 2015, solid starter
9/9/10 Anthony Chickillo – 6th round pick 2015, 4 year starter
12/20/10 Olsen Pierre – FA with Bears 2015, solid starter
12/29/10 Dalton Botts (JC) - Flipped from LSU, 2 year starter at UM and was FA with Saints in 2013.
1/8/11 Thomas Finnie – Transferred to Bethune Cookman after getting kicked off the team prior to 2013 season.
1/8/11 Taylor Gadbois – DNQ, attend prep and resigned with UM in 2012. Dismissed 6/15.
1/9/11 Ricardo Williams – Transferred to Marshall after 2012 Season
1/16/11 Matt Goudis – Retired after 2014 season with 1 year of eligibility left. Starter in 2013.
1/17/11 Antonio Kinard (DNQ - Arizona Western College)
1/17/11 Kevin Grooms – (DNQ Marshall) – got kicked out of Marshall after 2 productive seasons. Enrolled at Liberty.
1/18/11 Dallas Crawford – solid role player
1/20/11 Gionni Paul – transferred to Utah after 2012 season. Was starter in 2014 before getting injured.
1/21/11 Blake Ayles (USC) - 5th year Transfer, retired due to concussions. Never played a down for UM.
1/22/11 Denzel Perryman – 2nd round pick in 2015, 4 year starter.
1/25/11 Rashawn Scott – Injuries and suspensions have kept him off the field, but had a solid
Senior year
2/2/11 Eddie Johnson - Kicked off team after 2012 season, productive players in 2013 before leaving.
2/2/11 Jalen Grimble – former 5 Star, Transferred to OSU after 2012
2/21/11 Michael Williams (Wake Forest) – 5th year Transfer, started for 1 year at UM
5/2/11 Darius Smith (JC) – contributed as starter on a weak D Line.
5/3/11 Corey King – transfered out to Kansas for RS SR year
5/6/11 Ryan Williams – Transfer from Memphis, career backup
6/6/11 Thurston Armbrister – worked his way to starter and signed as FA with Jaguars in 2015
8/3/11 Hunter Wells – Never really contributed
9/1/11 Junior Alexis – Transferred out after 1 year

Out of the 21 signees from 2011...
3 Did not qualify (Grooms, Kinard, Gadbois)
1 left after 1 season (Alexis)
5 left after 2 seasons (Paul, Finnie, Johnson, R. Williams, Grimble)
1 left after 4 seasons (King)
11 have graduated from UM

Of the 19 players that got into UM (counting Gadbois)….
8 transferred out (Grimble, Paul, Finnie, E. Johnson, R. Williams, Alexis, Gadbois, King)
3 came back for 5th year in 2015. (Scott, Crawford, Wells)
3 were drafted in 2015 after 4 years of college (Dorsett, Perryman, Chickillo)
3 were signed as FA to the NFL (Pierre, Armbrister, Botts)
1 got a tryout with NFL teams (Smith)
1 retired with eligibility left (Goudis)

Not bad for a class that was pieced together in under 2 months.

This class also included a total of 10 de-commitments. 7 of them committed to Coach Shannon and 3 were briefly committed to Golden. We all know what Teddy did in college but here is the rest of the list by commitment date.

De-commits:
5/12/09 Jeremy Davis – UCF, de-committed 1/12/11 Cut by Golden
12/11/09 Marcus Jackson - Tennessee, de-committed 12/5/10 after Randy got fired
3/24/10 Albert Louis-Jean – BC, de-committed 12/2/10 after Randy got fired
6/4/10 Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville, de-committed 12/7/10 after Randy got fired
6/4/10 - Eli Rogers – Louisville, de-committed 10/17/10
6/28/10 Nick Menocal – GT, de-committed 1/23/11, cut by Golden
7/20/10 Tavadis Glenn – DNQ from 2010, dropped by Shannon after leaving Milford Academy
12/23/10 Chase Harper(JC) – Texas State, de-committed 12/29/11 due to academics
1/23/11 Byron Moore Jr. (JC) – Tennessee, de-committed 1/31/11, never really officially committed to UM
1/30/11 Bryant "B.J." Dubose – Louisville, Flipped to Louisville on signing day 2/2/11
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
If I was on the recruiting trail, here is what I would point out to parents about the PROCESS:

2 out of 3 (67%) student athletes stick it out and stayed out of trouble.

Of the 12 in the first recruiting class that stuck with the process and worked hard:
100% are graduating with a degree from a top 50 institution
58% are getting a shot at the NFL (could be higher if Scott gets drafted in 2016)
25% got drafted (could be higher if Scott gets drafted in 2016)
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
If I was on the recruiting trail, here is what I would point out to parents about the PROCESS:

2 out of 3 (67%) student athletes stick it out and stayed out of trouble.

Of the 12 in the first recruiting class that stuck with the process and worked hard:
100% are graduating with a degree from a top 50 institution
58% are getting a shot at the NFL (could be higher if Scott gets drafted in 2016)
25% got drafted (could be higher if Scott gets drafted in 2016)

249547_207662542606081_142963282409341_558191_5668932_n.jpg

Class of 2011:
21 Total
3 DNQ (Grooms/Marshall, Kinard/JC, Gadbois/Prep)
4 Transfers (Grimble, R. Williams, Alexis, King)
4 Kicked-out (Paul, Finnie, E. Johnson, Gadbois)
3 Returning (Scott, Crawford, Wells)
3 Drafted (Dorsett, Perryman, Chickillo)
3 NFL FA (Pierre, Armbrister, Botts)
1 NFL Tryout (Smith)
1 Retired (Goudis)

150414_399295363442797_142963282409341_1127096_1958595237_n.jpg

Class of 2012:
33 Total Signees
1 DNQ (AJL/Marshall)
8 Transfers (Davis/WVU, Briscoe, Lockhart, Dillard, Hope, Dortch, Hoilett, Crawford)
5 Kicked off (Ivery, Carter, Blue, Terry, Gadbois)
3 Retired (Dewey, Witt, Thompson)
2 Drafted (Duke, Flowers)
1 NFL FA (Gunter)
13 Returning (Crow, Kirby, O'Donnell, Jones, Hamilton, Waters, Moore, Jenkins, Lewis, Isadora, Bush, McCord, Howard)

1233338_10201216239500925_164568634_n.jpg

Class of 2013:
20 Total
3 DNQ (Bond/Oklahoma, Lockley/Prep, Griffin/None)
2 Transfers (Sandland, Lewis III)
2 Kicked-off (Olsen, Figueroa)
13 Returning (Kamalu, Tucker. Elder, Grace, Coley, Gus, AQM, Odogwu, Knighton, Carter, Burns, Gall, Dobbard)

lX5Mdeb.jpg

Class of 2014:
26 Total
0 DNQ
1 Transfer (Hester)
25 Returning

miami_hurricanes_signing_day_art_2015.jpg

Class of 2015:
22 Total
0 DNQ
5 Early Entry (Jones, Washington, Patchan, Johnson, Perry)

Looking at these classes I would estimate that about 50% DNQ, transfer, get kick-off the team or retire due to injury. The other 50% will make it all the way through either getting drafted early or use up all their eligibility.

Of the 50% that make it all the way about 70-80% will get a shot at the NFL and 30-40% will get drafted.

Those are pretty good odds knowing that once u:
-Sign with the U, there is more than a 1 in 3 chance that you will get a shot at the NFL.
-Get in, there is an almost 2 out 3 chance that you will graduate from the U and 1 out 4 chance of getting drafted.
 
Last edited:
EVERY scholarship player who graduated or entered the draft this year from the U is at an NFL mini-camp:

Former Hurricanes participating in 2015 mini camps:

Buffalo Bills - OL Jermaine Barton^
Chicago Bears - DL Olsen Pierre
Cincinnati Bengals - QB Ryan Williams
Cleveland Browns - RB Duke Johnson
Dallas Cowboys - OL Shane McDermott
Indianapolis Colts - WR Phillip Dorsett
Green Bay - DB LaDarius Gunter
Jacksonville Jaguars - LB Thurston Armbrister
Miami Dolphins - TE Rahael Akpejioro and DE Joe Thomas*
New York Giants - OL Ereck Flowers and CB Thomas Finnie^
New York Jets - QB Jake Heaps
Oakland Raiders - TE Clive Walford and OL Jon Feliciano
Philadelphia Eagles - OL Malcolm Bunche^
Pittsburgh Steelers - DE Anthony Chickillo
San Diego Chargers - LB Denzel Perryman
Seattle Seahawks - S Nantambu-Akil Fentress

* Did not play football at the U.
^Did not graduate from the U.
 
Last edited:
Last year only 2 scholarship players did not at least get a try-out with an NFL team:

The 2 players were RB Eduardo Clements who had a career threatening neck injury his junior year and LB/DE Kelvin Cain who left the team before the season ended.

Here is a list of the other players that entered the draft from the U in 2014:

Still on a team:
Started games as rookie:
OL Brandon Linder - Jacksonville Jaguars (Rd 3, #93 )
P Pat O'Donnell - Chicago Bears (Rd 6, 191
OL Seantrel Henderson - Buffalo Bills (Rd 7, #237 )
WR Allen Hurns - Jacksonville Jaguars (FA)

Played in games as Rookie:
TE Asante Cleveland - San Francisco 49ers (FA)
DL Luther Robinson - Green Bay Packers (FA)
RB Storm Johnson^ - Jacksonville Jaguars (Rd 7, #222 )

Practice Squads:
QB Stephen Morris - Jacksonville Jaguars (FA)
LB Jimmy Gaines - Buffalo Bills (FA)
DE/LB Shayon Green - Miami Dolphins (Tryout)
OL Justin Renfrow - Green Bay Packers (FA)
OL Jared Wheeler - Carolina Panthers (Camp)
TE Erik Swoope* - Indianapolis Colts (FA)

No longer on a team:
FB Maurice Hagens - Atlanta Falcons (FA)
S A.J. Highsmith - San Francisco 49ers (FA)
DE David Gilbert - Tennessee Titans (Camp)
LB Tyrone Cornileus - Washington Redskins (Camp)
DT Curtis Porter - Oakland Raiders (Camp)
DB Kacy Rodgers II - Kansas City Chiefs (Camp)

* Did not play football at the U.
^Did not graduate from the U.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
man thomas finnie is still around

He was in the same class at Dorsett, Perryman and Chick. he enrolled early and played in 11 games a Freshman. He started 6 games as Soph before transferring to Bethune Cookman for his Junior and Senior years. Only spent 4 years in college.

tumblr_lhlpo9XkFs1qd3dzlo1_500.jpg
 
man thomas finnie is still around

He was in the same class at Dorsett, Perryman and Chick. he enrolled early and played in 11 games a Freshman. He started 6 games as Soph before transferring to Bethune Cookman for his Junior and Senior years. Only spent 4 years in college.

tumblr_lhlpo9XkFs1qd3dzlo1_500.jpg

i meant still playing football, i remember what happened to him
 
Updated after the loss of Gadbois: (6/25/15)

Out of the 21 signees from 2011...
3 Did not qualify (Grooms, Kinard, Gadbois)
1 left after 1 season (Alexis)
5 left after 2 seasons (Paul, Finnie, Johnson, R. Williams, Grimble)
1 left after 3 seasons (Gadbois)
11 have/will graduate from UM

Of the 19 players that got into UM...
7 transferred out (Grimble, Paul, Finnie, E. Johnson, R. Williams, Alexis, Gadbois)
4 will be back at UM in 2015. (Scott, Crawford, King, Wells)
3 were drafted in 2015 after 4 years of college (Dorsett, Perryman, Chickillo)
3 were signed as FA to the NFL (Pierre, Armbrister, Botts)
1 got a tryout with NFL teams (Smith)
1 retired with eligibility left (Goudis)
 
Advertisement
One thing to notice about the last 2 classes is every recruit qualified even the ones with grade concerns.Obviously the school is helping Golden there big time,a luxury Coker never enjoyed .
 
Updated after the loss of King: (7/9/15)

Out of the 21 signees from 2011...
3 Did not qualify (Grooms, Kinard, Gadbois)
1 left after 1 season (Alexis)
5 left after 2 seasons (Paul, Finnie, Johnson, R. Williams, Grimble)
1 left after 4 seasons (King)
10 have/will graduate from UM

Of the 18 players that got into UM...
7 transferred out (Grimble, Paul, Finnie, E. Johnson, R. Williams, Alexis, King)
3 will be back at UM in 2015. (Scott, Crawford, Wells)
3 were drafted in 2015 after 4 years of college (Dorsett, Perryman, Chickillo)
3 were signed as FA to the NFL (Pierre, Armbrister, Botts)
1 got a tryout with NFL teams (Smith)
1 retired with eligibility left (Goudis)
 
Advertisement
Back
Top