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Naples cornerback Tyler Byrd is part of Miami’s exclusively in-state recruiting class that currently contains 21 prospects who have committed.
(Photo: David Lake, 247Sports)
Byrd (6-0, 194) is pleased with the group but it’s not quite enough for him. He won’t be fully satisfied until one more name added to the list.
“My number one concern is trying to get Carlin Fils-Aime to the ‘U’ right now,” Byrd said. “He kind of put me on to Miami and obviously then I ended up switching. Now he’s still weighing out his options and he picked out a couple schools. He won’t tell me which ones but we’ll see because I think he’ll commit somewhere over the summer. We have a pretty good class in 2016 so I see things rolling well.”
Yes, the two are teammates, but that wouldn’t really do it justice. Byrd estimates that Fils-Aime has been living with his family for about a year even though their bond was always very strong.
“We do twin things, sometimes we used to dress the same way by accident without planning anything,” Byrd said. “We’re always with each other and we have a lot of the same interests. We’re really close, it seems like we’re brothers.”
Despite other offers from Boston College, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ole Miss, South Florida, Tennessee, and USC, Byrd said his recruitment is virtually over.
“I really don’t show much interest in other places so nobody kept contacting me on a regular basis,” Byrd said. “My head coach tells people my recruiting isn’t open anymore. I’m set with Miami and I don’t expect to be visiting any other schools.”
Byrd has multiple factors behind his confidence level in the Hurricanes but the 2015 NFL Draft undoubtedly helped their cause.
“The thing I noticed is that they had a bunch of guys drafted like they normally do,” Byrd said. “They put somebody in the first round almost every year if not the second round. It’s good to see that even without good seasons, they keep that mentality of sending talent to the NFL. I can’t speak for everybody but I consider that hard for sure. Miami is the place people go if you want to make it at the next level. Once you get in their system, they take care of you no question.”
Earlier this month, Byrd participated in the track and field class 3A state finals. He took 2nd in the long jump, helped his 4X100 meter relay team take home 3rd place, and jumped straight into football.
“We missed the first week of spring football with track season still going,” Byrd said. “I missed being around my teammates because most of them don’t run track. But I did really well in our spring game playing press man. I jammed a couple people and knocked them down out of bounds so that definitely picked up.”
Byrd is a four star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, ranking him 26th in the nation at his position and 38th overall in the state of Florida