Advertisement
football Edit

UM Director of Recruiting: Winning games key to compete for top prospects

TEST DRIVE CANESPORT.COM WITH A 30-DAY FREE TRIAL. CODE: MIAMI30

Miami Hurricane Director of Recruiting David Cooney is excited about getting prospects back on UM’s campus June 1 for a 2022 recruit barbecue with an underclassman barbecue/camp the next day.

There's a June 9 camp for 8th and 9th graders, a specialists camp June 10, a June 16 camp for 6th and 7th graders and 7-on-7/linemen camps June 6 and 13.

Plus Paradise Camp will be the cherry on top the final Saturday of June.

“We’re excited,” Cooney said on 560 AM. “(June 1 when the dead period ends), it's going to be Christmas Day for us. We’re ready, chomping at the bit, ready to get (recruits) this Cane experience.

"Not being able to have contact, be connected with any of the recruits in any of the classes the last year has been tough for us. Trying to live within the realm of Zoom, it wasn’t ideal. But we made things work and we’re looking forward to getting guys on campus, being able to spend time with the kids and their families, connect with those kids.”

Asked what he’s looking for in the Class of 2022, which has a lone commitment so far from QB Jacurri Brown, Cooney said, “I think we are in a great place. We only have one kid committed but are in a great place because we’re able to once we get those kids on campus - we’ll start to see our numbers increase. Our main goal is to build on the success we’ve had the last two classes.”

Cooney said a key is making sure top Dade, Broward and Palm Beach recruits stay home. And he also made the point that with an extra year of eligibility awarded (which will result in big roster numbers) that UM can be more discerning with this class.

It’s possible the 2022 class won’t be a big one.

“We just want to make sure we’re doing the evaluations, go out and see guys,” Cooney said. “Hats off to the NCAA with allowing us to open things back up in June and allowing everybody across the country, not just Miami, to get true evaluations on kids and make sure we’re able to get the right fits for our program. It’s going to be great for us. We’re slowing down, we don’t want to jump headfirst and just take anybody. We want the right fit for our program.”

Of course, UM isn’t just relying on South Florida for recruits.

“We've come to know that football is not only being played in Florida anymore,” Cooney said. “Everyone is playing 7 on 7, playing football year round. So it's not hard for you to go out and see that there's kids in California, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, all over the country that love the game. Heck, there are even kids in the Bahamas, all over the place that love this game. So we're going to make sure we’re covering the globe and finding our type of kid and get those kids in our program, continue the trajectory we're on. We feel we'll be turning the corner soon and this will be a huge season for us.”

With several camps in June and visits planned, with official visits scheduled every weekend, Cooney said, “We’re going to have the Manny Diaz camps, no doubt, but what we’re really planning on is an over-abundance of kids who have been cooped up in houses and not able to get on different campuses so we’re expecting a ton, ton, ton of kids to be out and we’re the vacation destination capital for the world so kids come down to sunny South Florida, we’re looking forward to coaching you guys up, getting you on our beautiful campus and let you see our facilities.”

Recruiting’s been tough in recent years, with programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson stealing elite talent from under UM’s nose in the area. The best way to combat that?

Winning.

“It’s going to be tough, those guys have had continued success - we’ve got to win games,” Cooney said. “We’ve got to continue to get the right kids into our program, the guys that fit us and that are scheme fits for us. Our coaching staff has done an amazing job with guys we have been able to pull in these last two classes. The key to me is keeping guys in your program with the transfer portal being so hot right now. You want to make sure you’re keeping your kids in your program. And it’s tough, but I think that’s the key.”

Cooney also weighed in on a couple of major new faces on campus: 5-star safety signee James Williams and 4-star DT Leonard Taylor.

Of Taylor, Cooney said, “Man, coach (Jess) Simpson is chomping at the bit to get to work with him. Coach (David) Feeley and the strength staff is also looking to get to work with him. … We’re expecting him to be a pretty intricate part. Once he learns the defense, gets in the weight room and gets nutrition, our expectation is we don’t bring kids in here to sit. We want you to come in here and contribute, be it on special teams or offensive or defensive side of the ball. And the most you can do for our program is be a good kid, be a good student and I think that’s what we’ve got in this class, especially with Leonard. He’s a kid, he’s always smiling. You can’t tell if he’s having a bad day or not. When it comes to football, that’s going to take care of itself. We want to work on his off-the-field stuff and are you going to class, eating right, sleeping, taking care of everything you can so the on-the-field performance is going to take care of itself.”

Williams?

"I'd like to think I'm a pretty big human myself, but standing around James I kind of don’t like to feel small around other dudes," Cooney said. "I came in on Sunday when those guys were moving in and just seeing him and how tall he is and how big featured he is, he's got a lot of growth potential still. With us getting the best defensive player in Dade, best defensive player in Broward, that's huge for our program. It's something that hasn't happened in the last few years and that's a testament to our coaching staff and head coach. We pride to ourselves on our thumbprint and we are going to continue to do that, want those kids in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach counites, all of South Florida to be Canes. James said something to me this morning, 'Coach whatever you need me to do in recruiting, I'm willing to help.' That's huge in itself. He understands those elite players want to play with other elite players. That’s how you get on that same level of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State’s of the world."

On the offensive side, Cooney says the new receivers and tight ends getting added to the program “are going to compete, push everybody ahead of them. … They’re going to come in and be sponges, push the guys ahead of them. We have that competition in the room. It’ll only make those guys better. A freshman that comes in with a solid work ethic, the sky’s the limit, man.”

Advertisement