If I had to define the visit with one word it would be AWESOME. The staff spared no expense. If there was only one thing they wanted to convey about the visit, it was you were in Miami... The Jewel of Florida. All the recruits in attendance are from Florida and familiar with east coast living (- Jack) who is from South West Florida...but there is nothing in Florida that compares to what they exposed to on the visit. The accommodation were arranged where everyone had a view over looking a Marina, with a panoramic view that included downtown Miami, the Port of Miami, Biscayne Bay and South Beach. The food .. and ambience of at the Rusty Pelican and Smith and Wolensky's was unbelievable. I have never ate so much in one weekend. The attendees were J Allison, P Bethel, Z McCloud, M Pinkney and S Quarterman. I made certain to get a chance to talk with each of the kids while on the visit. For the most part it seemed more like an orientation than a visit. The only recruit of concern of course was P Bethel. Z McCloud was already recommitted within the first 8 hours of the visit. He whispered into coach Richt's ear while at dinner, at the Rusty Pelican... Coach Richt quickly made the announcement everyone applauded.. it was either Pinkney or Quarterman saying he wasn't going any where any ways everyone laughed and continued to do their thing. Each recruit had a sponsor Jack:Brad, ZachLangham, Mike: J Young, Shaq: D Owens, and Pat: T Harris. I told Trent that his guy was the only one not committed so he had the most important job of the weekend. When Shaq had the audience of the defensive sponsors he asked... What is the deal with stopping the option... or not stopping the option everybody had their on variation of why or why not but it was interesting listening to the responses.
My talks:
Jack - Already sold on UM was their for orientation. The kid is cool, calm and collective. It seemed he was an inch taller than the last time I saw him, but still about an inch shorter than his dad. They took measurements from all the recruits and I think Jack was 6'5 and a half, didn't hear his weight...but I know his mom was concerned that he wasn't heavy enough... I told her not to be concern... the weight will come. Jack is extremely excited and eager to begin his work with Coach Richt.
Zach - Couldn't wait to re-affirm his commitment to UM. Think he measured at 6'2 and about 221 lbs. He is the youngest of the recruits and you can quickly pick up he is the baby of the bunch.. All the kids ... Zach included are very mature and have their heads on straight. Sitting down talking with him you wouldn't think he was the aggressive savage you see in his film... Sorta like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I think his de-commitment was an act of assurance... He love Miami and had a verbal contract with Miami and the current coach. When that changed his contract was nullified... he wanted to re-establish with UM and the new coach.. and he did. Welcome back.
Mike - Mr. Cool re-incarnated.. He will not meet a stranger and will speak his mind regardless of the audience. When Shaq asked Trent and JY about the difficulties with the option.. Mike added his two cents.. He even asked Coach Richt how was it that UF could Beat UGA and only throwing the ball but just a few times. Mike measured out at 6'0 about 218. He is glad to be back home... His grandparents / relatives are spread out through Carol and Liberty City so he is very comfortable in Miami.
Shaq - He can't wait to get to Miami... He has already started taking on a leadership role. It was him that pulled everyone together.. on first arrival everyone was sort of stand offish with their parents and he would just go over and join in... then sorta corralled the others and before you knew it they were all chummed together. I heard him tell Pat... Bruh you got to admit this feel a little bit like home... Pat agreed. Shaq measured 6'1 and half and a whopping 241. He plans to lose 10lbs before stepping on campus but lately with all the visits and eating out we have him off his normal eating habit... He normally eats very healthy. But when he got on the scale the coaches were guessing everybody's weight and the number on Shaq was 225...because you look at him with his shirt off you would guess 220, but he carries his weight in his quad and gluts... you would say he doesn't have 10lbs to lose... and he loves the weight room... We were all looking on the board with weights and field performance and he feels confident that his name will appear on the board upon his arrival... in a couple of spots... Power Clean, Bench and Squat. Compared to Zach and Mike... if they ran a 40... I think Mike wins by a step and it will be close between Shaq and Zach...with Zach nudging by a hair. In a shuttle I think Shaq would win by a step... I think Shaq has the fastest shuttle time Mike has the fastest 40 and Zach has the second fastest in both categories. All three are studs.
Pat - May have being the most interesting of the bunch. Kid has his head on straight. I'm confident that he will make the best decision for himself. I admire how his dad takes an advisory role in his son's decision... Being a former Cane and a football coach you would think UM would be a done deal...but its not.. They are measuring every aspect of the recruiting process and carefully formulating the best decision. He did admit that this visit was probably the nicest of his OVs so far. Pat measured at 6'3 and I didn't get his weight... but he is a big dude. Quiet and observant. I like this kid even if he goes to FSU... he is that kinda kid and I am certain he will make the best choice. I just hope its UM.
Overall a great visit.. The staff could not have done one thing any better.. my hat is off to them. Coach Richt was even impressed on the coordination the staff had done. Walking down the board walk near the new South Beach Pier near the inlet.. He said he had forgotten how beautiful Miami was and couldn't wait for his wife to get a chance to see. He really didn't have to close the deal with Shaq, Mike, Jack and Zach... their in... I hope he did a great job with Pat... the visit had Pat on the ropes... a good close would be the knock out blow.
Closing notes:
Coach D, Coach Williams nor Coach Beard attended any of the off campus recruiting events.
I. Nauta was there on Friday for an un-official visit. Then Hinson de-commits... could be nothing
but a real close friend to Nauta says UM is gaining ground fast.
Keep your ears to the ground listening for Pat's and Nauta's announcements.
If I had to define the visit with one word it would be AWESOME. The staff spared no expense. If there was only one thing they wanted to convey about the visit, it was you were in Miami... The Jewel of Florida. All the recruits in attendance are from Florida and familiar with east coast living (- Jack) who is from South West Florida...but there is nothing in Florida that compares to what they exposed to on the visit. The accommodation were arranged where everyone had a view over looking a Marina, with a panoramic view that included downtown Miami, the Port of Miami, Biscayne Bay and South Beach. The food .. and ambience of at the Rusty Pelican and Smith and Wolensky's was unbelievable. I have never ate so much in one weekend. The attendees were J Allison, P Bethel, Z McCloud, M Pinkney and S Quarterman. I made certain to get a chance to talk with each of the kids while on the visit. For the most part it seemed more like an orientation than a visit. The only recruit of concern of course was P Bethel. Z McCloud was already recommitted within the first 8 hours of the visit. He whispered into coach Richt's ear while at dinner, at the Rusty Pelican... Coach Richt quickly made the announcement everyone applauded.. it was either Pinkney or Quarterman saying he wasn't going any where any ways everyone laughed and continued to do their thing. Each recruit had a sponsor Jack:Brad, Zach
My talks:
Jack - Already sold on UM was their for orientation. The kid is cool, calm and collective. It seemed he was an inch taller than the last time I saw him, but still about an inch shorter than his dad. They took measurements from all the recruits and I think Jack was 6'5 and a half, didn't hear his weight...but I know his mom was concerned that he wasn't heavy enough... I told her not to be concern... the weight will come. Jack is extremely excited and eager to begin his work with Coach Richt.
Zach - Couldn't wait to re-affirm his commitment to UM. Think he measured at 6'2 and about 221 lbs. He is the youngest of the recruits and you can quickly pick up he is the baby of the bunch.. All the kids ... Zach included are very mature and have their heads on straight. Sitting down talking with him you wouldn't think he was the aggressive savage you see in his film... Sorta like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I think his de-commitment was an act of assurance... He love Miami and had a verbal contract with Miami and the current coach. When that changed his contract was nullified... he wanted to re-establish with UM and the new coach.. and he did. Welcome back.
Mike - Mr. Cool re-incarnated.. He will not meet a stranger and will speak his mind regardless of the audience. When Shaq asked Trent and JY about the difficulties with the option.. Mike added his two cents.. He even asked Coach Richt how was it that UF could Beat UGA and only throwing the ball but just a few times. Mike measured out at 6'0 about 218. He is glad to be back home... His grandparents / relatives are spread out through Carol and Liberty City so he is very comfortable in Miami.
Shaq - He can't wait to get to Miami... He has already started taking on a leadership role. It was him that pulled everyone together.. on first arrival everyone was sort of stand offish with their parents and he would just go over and join in... then sorta corralled the others and before you knew it they were all chummed together. I heard him tell Pat... Bruh you got to admit this feel a little bit like home... Pat agreed. Shaq measured 6'1 and half and a whopping 241. He plans to lose 10lbs before stepping on campus but lately with all the visits and eating out we have him off his normal eating habit... He normally eats very healthy. But when he got on the scale the coaches were guessing everybody's weight and the number on Shaq was 225...because you look at him with his shirt off you would guess 220, but he carries his weight in his quad and gluts... you would say he doesn't have 10lbs to lose... and he loves the weight room... We were all looking on the board with weights and field performance and he feels confident that his name will appear on the board upon his arrival... in a couple of spots... Power Clean, Bench and Squat. Compared to Zach and Mike... if they ran a 40... I think Mike wins by a step and it will be close between Shaq and Zach...with Zach nudging by a hair. In a shuttle I think Shaq would win by a step... I think Shaq has the fastest shuttle time Mike has the fastest 40 and Zach has the second fastest in both categories. All three are studs.
Pat - May have being the most interesting of the bunch. Kid has his head on straight. I'm confident that he will make the best decision for himself. I admire how his dad takes an advisory role in his son's decision... Being a former Cane and a football coach you would think UM would be a done deal...but its not.. They are measuring every aspect of the recruiting process and carefully formulating the best decision. He did admit that this visit was probably the nicest of his OVs so far. Pat measured at 6'3 and I didn't get his weight... but he is a big dude. Quiet and observant. I like this kid even if he goes to FSU... he is that kinda kid and I am certain he will make the best choice. I just hope its UM.
Overall a great visit.. The staff could not have done one thing any better.. my hat is off to them. Coach Richt was even impressed on the coordination the staff had done. Walking down the board walk near the new South Beach Pier near the inlet.. He said he had forgotten how beautiful Miami was and couldn't wait for his wife to get a chance to see. He really didn't have to close the deal with Shaq, Mike, Jack and Zach... their in... I hope he did a great job with Pat... the visit had Pat on the ropes... a good close would be the knock out blow.
Closing notes:
Coach D, Coach Williams nor Coach Beard attended any of the off campus recruiting events.
I. Nauta was there on Friday for an un-official visit. Then Hinson de-commits... could be nothing
but a real close friend to Nauta says UM is gaining ground fast.
Keep your ears to the ground listening for Pat's and Nauta's announcements.
How was the place that plays cards during the evening?
