Latest recruiting news 2/1/14

We did get David Njoku out of NJ last night. Its a nice pickup for us here. He'll bring a lot to the table and we're going to put him at TE. 

It seems that QB Malik Rozier from Mobile (AL) Faith Christian visited us two weeks ago officially and will be a Hurricane come NSD on Wednesday. That was insurance in case Kaaya bolted, which he didn't, though he was very close to bolting to Boise. We have four QBs on the roster (Williams, Olsen, Kaaya, and Rozier). 

At the WR spot, having Brandon Berrios from NC really helps. Him enrolling early and on campus, is a boost to us here. This is a kid that will have an immediate impact for us here. The same can be said for Darrell Langham, who's the tallest WR we have right now. 

It looks like barring any last minute snafu, we will also sign Tyre Brady from Homestead South Dade. There's a possibility according to David Lake of ITU, that Trayone Gray might not qualify. If his grades are good, he'll be here. 

We did lose Lockley to Marshall. However, we also have Chris Herndon from Norcross (GA) in the fold with Njoku's addition last night. We're good there. 

On the OL, having both McDermott and Darling on campus already really helps here. With the addition of Gibbons and Nick Linder, they will have their 'ships soon. Its a formality on Wednesday, when they will be officially CANES. 

On the DL, We have Chad in the fold, as my source told me a few weeks ago would happen, though Bama and FSU made runs at him late, in the end, we'll likely hold them off. New development in the Travonte Valentine front. It seems, according to Lake, that Anthony Moten is making a very strong push to get Valentine here. Make no mistake, getting Valentine is a MUST and you can see we're pulling out all the stops necessary to get him. The question is will it be enough come Wednesday Morning? All hands on deck inside the Football offices at the Hecht/Schwartz Center. 

According to Jamie Newberg, Demetrius Jackson will take an official to Texas, if he hasn't already. At the end of the day though, look for Jackson to be a CANE. 

It's going to be more important to get Valentine in this class because just yesterday, Michael Wyche de-committed because of an ACC rule, per Barry Jackson in the Herald. Losing Wyche hurts, but losing Valentine would be devastating, in addition to Wyche.

At LB, we have Young and Owens on campus already. Its a lock to have Mike Smith from MNW on Wednesday and he will play right away. We had to hold off Louisville and Arkansas for him. As for McCray out of Pompano Beach Ely, Bama and LSU are players for him as well. McCray hasn't tipped his hand as of yet, but look for him to be a CANE come Wednesday. 

In the Secondary, it was a coup to get the best player in NJ in Kiy Hester. According to Dieter Kurtenbach, it seems that Marques Gayot will be a CANE come Wednesday as well. That's big right there because it adds more depth to the secondary. 

Latest recruiting news 1/30/14

Per Caneinsider this morning: Valentine has officially cancelled the OV for tomorrow, This confirms what Ryan Bartow said yesterday. So on Wednesday, its expected that Valentine will commit to LSU. As I said yesterday, this is a HUGE LOSS and Al's rep as a closer just took a big time hit with it.

To me, its yet another example of why still having D'Onofrio on this staff is killing us in recruiting. This really hurts because its in a NEED AREA: DL. Heads need to roll inside the football offices of the Hecht/Schwartz Center(s) for this one. 

A loss like this of a stud DT is going to take another 3-5 years to recover from. Anyone that thinks losing Valentine is no big deal needs to have their heads examined. This is a stud, a gamechanger in South Florida that's about to get away. Valentine going elsewhere sends a message to this staff, but D specifically: "I don't want to play in your defensive scheme." Bottom line, this loss hurts big time. DTs like Valentine don't come around every day. That's a once every 5-10 year type of player. 

We had the heavy hitters, but in the end, it seems that it wasn't enough. When Al flirted with Penn State, Valentine de-committed and the damage was done.

On another front, I was just told a few minutes ago by another reliable source that Brad Kaaya was likely gone. However, his source was incorrect. Kaaya put the rumors to bed with this tweet a few minutes ago: "I will be signing the National Letter of Intent issued to me by the University of Miami on National Signing Day February 5th" . It seems that while Boise State made a late push for him, his tweet puts that possibility of him bolting to Boise to bed for good.

However, Kaaya's teammate, Brayden Lenius has cancelled his trip to Coral Gables tomorrow and will be going up to Seattle instead to visit UW. That trip was set up by Kaaya as he didn't want to leave him at the altar sorta speak.

We will not lose Kaaya after all. 

My take on Travonte Valentine cancelling OV to Miami on Friday

NSD is 6 days away. However, according to Ryan Bartow this afternoon, Travonte Valentine has cancelled his OV to Coral Gables on Friday. Its expected now that when he makes that announcement on NSD, it will be LSU that he goes to.

We sent the heavy hitters on this one (Al, D, Jethro, Hurlie, Williams). The tide really turned when Valentine de-committed at the US Army game because of Golden having one foot out the door to Happy Valley and he met that Saturday with PSU officials in Miami. On that Sunday, when Golden gave Penn State a 4 p.m. deadline, PSU brass balked, and once Munchak was fired by Tennessee, everything changed dramatically, and in the end, PSU said no. Hence, the statement from Al that night that he was staying. However, the damage was already done with Valentine. 

On that Monday, in the interview with Joe Rose, he wasn't going to discuss PSU at all. When he defended D, to me and I've been a big supporter of Al through all this, it told me that kids weren't going to come here and play in D's failed scheme. 

How it relates to Valentine, Al and Hurlie went up to Palm Bay to meet with Valentine's mom yesterday or this morning. D and Jethro, according to Bartow, were at the Champagnat Hoops game last night meeting with Valentine's coach Mark Tunsil. 

Here's what it all tells me, once Al had one foot out the door, Valentine decided to walk and open up his recruitment. This is also a message to Al from the kids in the area, who are very smart, they don't want to play for D and with Valentine likely going to LSU, and the hat (Miles) is coming in tonight to meet with Valentine's mom, to likely seal the deal, is a major indictment on Al, D'Onofrio and the entire staff and why D needs to go yesterday. Al keeping D, to me, is scaring away top defensive recruits who have made it clear (See Bethel), they don't want to play for D and his system. 

This is a MAJOR loss, and those that say it isn't, is just fooling themselves. This was a player we could NOT afford to let get away and in a need area too. The fact that he's likely going to get away to me, speaks volumes about the ineptitude of this staff and Al's rep being a closer taking a big time hit here. The kids are starting to see through Al's sell job. This loss is clearly on Al because a) he had one foot out the door to Penn State, and B) having D still around. Also, this loss is also on Hurlie because this was his responsibility. 

Al and the staff better have someone in mind on the interior of the DL between now and 2/5, because losing Valentine is a MAJOR LOSS. To me, this sets us back at least 3-5 years. Valentine is that type of player that comes around once every 5-10 years.