Miami has added commits in waves since head coach Mario Cristobal has returned to Miami and the latest influx of talent in 2024 continued on Friday with the addition of Mandarin (FL) offensive tackle Deryc Plazz.
The three-star offensive lineman became the seventh commit in the last month for Miami after announcing Friday afternoon. This comes just three weeks after a decommitment from Penn State.
Plazz pledged to the Nittany Lions a couple of days after visiting the program at the beginning of the summer but remained committed for just 11 days before opening things back up again. In his heart, Miami was always a school that had his heart.
"The thing about Miami is that I've had a great relationship with the coaches for the majority of my recruitment," Plazz told CanesCounty ahead of his commitment. "Deep down, I always knew there was something there with Miami. With the decommitment and then my visit, I just knew it was the right place for me."
Fresh off his de-commitment, Plazz prioritized the two schools he was communicating with the most - Miami and North Carolina State. He kicked things off with Miami before completing his official visits with the Wolfpack.
The relationships with both programs were strong for Plazz but overall, the duo of Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal - with their resumes and history with Plazz - ended up being the biggest reasons for his commitment.
"That was the ultimate factor in my decision. Those two have a resume of developing guys for years. I had a coach that passed away, I put 7/7 on everything, and that is for him. He was actually committed to FIU when they were there. I actually just found that out recently. That pushed it over the edge for me. I loved NC State, but all the factors for Miami just made it easy. That connection with my coach plus the consistency of coach Cristobal and coach Mirabal made Miami made the choice for me."
Miami's success in bringing in blue-chip talent in 2023 allowed them to make deeper evaluations in this class, which is widely considered a weaker offensive line group. Plazz fit the mold of a high-potential tackle, checking boxes with athleticism (basketball background) and frame (6'5" 289 pounds).
Overall, Miami made Plazz a priority since offering in February and maintained that love even through his commitment to Penn State.
"They were fired up," said Plazz on the staff's reaction to him committing last week. "I called them at 10:30 and they're usually asleep then. They just got pumped up. They are really excited about me and Juan Minaya plus whoever ends up in the class with us. They tell us that they can help develop us to being first-round draft picks at Miami."
Plazz will be back down in South Florida for at least a couple of games this year and said he will be working with the 15 other commits to continue to build up the 2024 class.
"The connection is great with the rest of the class. I've been able to spend time with most of the guys that are committed. I know those guys are great people, but they are also underrated ball players. We are setting the standard of only adding guys that are coming in to win a National Championship, guys that are ready to come in and work. I'm excited to be part of that group."
Miami has added nine offensive linemen since last Early Signing Day with the commits of Plazz and Minaya. There are now 16 commits in 2024 and Miami moves from the 26th-ranked class in the country to a new cycle high of 18.
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