Local Star 2024 DL Daylen Russell Commits to Miami
Mario Cristobal is a legend at Christopher Columbus High. He is in the school's Hall of Fame and visited the school immediately after accepting the job to return home.
He now has his first commit from his alma mater in three-star defensive lineman Daylen Russell, who committed on Saturday night.
Russell announced a top three of Miami, Louisville, and Nebraska at the end of April and also had schools like Florida State and UCF among his top options as recently as the beginning of the year.
"They just build a good bond with me and my family, made me feel comfortable with staying home," said Russell before his announcement. "Coach Cristobal wanted me to be the first Columbus player he signs to Miami and I just felt like it was the right time to lock in. Miami is just home, it's the crib."
The 6'2" 255-pound versatile defensive lineman became a priority for defensive line coaches Jason Taylor and Joe Salav'ae after a breakout junior campaign last year.
"They're just telling me that they feel like they an develop me the right way. I'm gonna get a chance to play end and tackle. The chance to move around is something I like and coach Taylor and coach Joe are two of the best D-line coaches you can learn from."
Russell becomes the third Explorer in the Miami program (running back Henry Parrish and center Ryan Rodriguez), along with Cristobal, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, and general manager of football operations Alonzo Highsmith.
He is one of several Miami targets currently at Columbus, but may have been the most productive of any last season. His 2022 season consisted of 84 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles, and was selected Miami-Dade large school Defensive Player of the Year to go with a state championship ring in the Florida 4M classification.
Russell becomes the fourth South Florida defensive lineman to pledge to Miami since the arrival of Cristobal and Miami has seemed to hit on those takes thus far. Four-star Defensive end Nyjalik Kelly, four-star Rueben Bain, and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten are expected to be key players in the rotation this season and Russell looks to have the same potential as his former peers.
Miami now has nine commitments in the 2024 class with four of them coming on the defensive side of the ball. Russell's commitment moves the Canes to the 21st-ranked class in the country and sixth highest in the ACC.
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