Miami Hurricanes Football

The Miami Hurricanes added one of the best defensive players in the entire 2023 recruiting class Saturday.

Defensive lineman Jayden Wayne announced he will attend Miami during an appearance on CBS Sports HQ.

Wayne, who checks in at 6'5" and 245 pounds, is a 5-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He is also the No. 30 overall player, No. 5 EDGE and No. 9 player from the state of Florida in the 2023 class.

One look at the list of schools that offered him scholarships during the recruiting process underscores his overall talent level.

A laundry list of some of the top programs in the country was interested, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn, Penn State, Texas and USC.

It is no surprise so many schools wanted to add him to their defenses.

After all, Adam Gorney of Rivals was so impressed with Wayne's play at the Pylon 7on7 Tournament that he compared the pass-rusher to Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux. It was quite high praise considering the Ducks defensive end has been widely considered the best prospect for the 2022 NFL draft for some time.

Brandon Huffman of 247Sports pointed to Arizona Cardinals star Chandler Jones as a pro comparison for Wayne and highlighted the prospect's "length and quickness to beat blockers off the ball and the explosiveness at the LOS to quickly get into the backfield."

Huffman suggested Wayne's athleticism alone gives him the ceiling of an elite pass-rusher as someone who could quickly develop into a key playmaker on his new team's defensive front.

Defenses need athletic linemen who can use their speed and burst both against the run and to prevent quarterbacks from establishing a rhythm in the no-huddle, fast-paced offensive approach so many take in today's college football.

If Wayne lives up to his potential, he will be just that for the Hurricanes.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and his staff are building up a strong roster of good, young prospects going into their first season with the program.

Even before Cristobal's arrival, the previous coaching staff did a good job of bringing in talent. The Hurricanes finished in the top 20 of 247Sports' national team rankings in 2021 and 2022.

Cristobal has already secured 13 commitments for the 2023 class. Wayne and offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, teammates at IMG Academy, are 5-star recruits on their way to Miami next year.

It will be on Cristobal and his coaches to maximize the potential of high-ceiling players like Wayne to get the program back among the nation's elite.

Francis Mauigoa, one of the top offensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class, announced Monday he's committed to Miami.

Keegan Pope of On3 reported the 5-star prospect's choice.

Mauigoa has made a few stops in his high school career. He played in his native American Samoa and at Aquinas High School in California before landing with national powerhouse IMG Academy, and he's looked like an elite prospect on every step of the journey.

The 6'5", 330-pound rising star rates as the No. 9 overall player and the best offensive tackle in the class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

Mauigoa also played along the defensive line in high school, but his best long-term outlook comes if he can solidify himself as a high-end left tackle in college.

"They like the way I dominate on the line. They like how ruthless and unstoppable I am on the line," he told Ryan Wright of Recruiting News Guru in February 2021 about his conversations with college coaches.

The standout two-way lineman attracted attention from top programs around the country during his recruiting process before making his college choice.

Mauigoa is a high-floor prospect because he's a strong bet to become a force at offensive tackle, but other options exist should that not work out at Miami.

He's got the size to shift inside to guard, or he could flip back to the defensive line to play tackle. He has several paths to success, and his baseline talent makes it likely that he succeeds.

It's a nice win on the recruiting trail for Mario Cristobal and the Canes, and it wouldn't be a surprise if Mauigoa earns a spot in the starting lineup early in his college career.

Miami commit Jaden Rashada refuted a report linking him to a $9.5 million name, image and likeness deal with Hurricanes booster John Ruiz.

"Any report regarding my commitment to the University of Miami is false unless I was interviewed directly," Rashada said Monday. "All reports of my decision involving a NIL deal is inaccurate. I would never make a life/career choice for any monetary value."

On3's Jeremy Crabtree reported Sunday the 4-star quarterback had secured a seven-figure NIL endorsement and declined an $11 million deal provided by Florida's Gator Collective.

Crabtree's story prompted a quick response from Gator Collective, which aimed its criticism at comments from NIL lawyer Michael W. Caspino. Caspino told Crabtree that Rashada "left millions on the table" and "did not pick the highest offer."

Ruiz also said the story was "inaccurate" and that Rashada hadn't been a topic of conversation between him and Caspino before:

In general, the story has encapsulated the Wild West nature of the NIL landscape right now.

Rashada is the No. 7 quarterback and No. 45 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for the 2023 class. The Pittsburg, California, native hasn't played a down of college football yet, and he might stand to earn close to $10 million.

That is, of course, if Rashada actually signed for $9.5 million. Nobody can be too sure right now because the full details of NIL deals don't have to be disclosed to the public.

Boosters and collectives arguably have an incentive to inflate NIL numbers because it sends a message to both the competition and prospective recruits.

There's also the small matter of NCAA compliance since schools are prohibited from using endorsements as an inducement for an athlete to sign. Caspino's comments to Crabtree might not have gone unnoticed by compliance officers.

In addition to his response Sunday, Ruiz told the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson on Monday any NIL discussions began after Rashada committed to Miami.

"After he committed, an agent reached out and we are discussing a deal," Ruiz said. "Jaden is an amazing kid."

The last thing Miami needs as it looks to return to prominence under head coach Mario Cristobal is the specter of another investigation, which has plagued the program in the past.

Situations like this were inevitable when the NCAA ushered in the NIL with little in the way of guardrails or a framework that encompassed the entire country. Until the market corrects itself, blue-chip recruits like Rashada have to be careful to secure the bag while maintaining their NCAA eligibility.

Quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada is apparently going to get paid quite handsomely as he joins the Miami Hurricanes football program.

Jeremy Crabtree of On3 reported the 4-star prospect and No. 7 quarterback in the class of 2023, per 247Sports' composite rankings, agreed to a $9.5 million name, image and likeness deal with Miami booster John Ruiz and also turned down an $11 million offer from Florida's Gator Collective.

"Jaden left millions on the table," Michael W. Caspino, who is known as an NIL lawyer, said. "Millions. He did not pick the highest offer. He went there because he loves Miami, the coaches and the opportunity."

Caspino also said Florida's NIL collective needs some work in this new era of college football.

"Florida is the most dysfunctional collective in all of college football," he said. "I plan on steering my clients away from them. From my standpoint, I never ever want to deal with them again. If it weren't for the collective that's completely dysfunctional at Florida, he probably would have been there."

The collective responded with a statement saying it never communicated with the lawyer:

Regardless of the back-and-forth going on, new Florida head coach Billy Napier does have some work to do on the recruiting trail. The Gators, who went 6-7 last season, are 36th in the country in 247Sports' composite team rankings for the 2023 class, which is behind SMU, Rutgers, Duke and Northwestern, among others.

While the reported money being thrown around will generate the most headlines, this is also a major recruiting win for new Miami head coach Mario Cristobal.

The Hurricanes are a traditional powerhouse but have one double-digit win season since 2003 and have been a punchline more often than a legitimate title contender during the last two decades.

Consistently landing recruits like Rashada will help Miami truly get back to the level it was once accustomed to occupying.

Four-star quarterback prospect Jaden Rashada has committed to the Miami Hurricanes, he announced Sunday.

"Playing for a proven head coach in coach [Mario] Cristobal, who has proven himself as a winner, playing for an offensive coordinator in Josh Gattis, who has proven himself a winner, being in that system, that was appealing to me," he said Sunday on CBS Sports HQ, via Brandon Huffman of 247Sports.

Rashada is the fifth-ranked player out of California and the seventh-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

247Sports national recruiting expert Chris Singletary wrote the following about Rashada:

"Stands tall in the pocket with the mobility to avoid the rush and buy time to make plays under pressure. He has poise and does a nice job making plays off platform. Mechanically he has a smooth effortless throwing motion. He is able to get the ball out quickly generating power from his lower body to have the ball snap out of his hand."

Singletary added that Rashada, who is 185 pounds, could benefit from gaining 20 pounds of muscle. He also noted that the teenager has good ball placement and anticipation.

During the 2021 season, Rashada threw for 2,220 yards and 27 touchdowns against five interceptions. He also rushed for 193 yards and one score on 25 attempts.

The California native received offers from many schools, including Washington State, Stanford, Oregon, Ole Miss, Michigan State and San Jose State, but those schools weren't among his top choices.

Rashada included Miami in his top seven schools, so his decision to join the Hurricanes comes as no surprise.

The Hurricanes also made a significant push to land Rashada, which he confirmed while speaking about the school following one of his visits.

“Man I love Miami…To me, Miami is pretty close to Cali if you’re talking scenery, places you can live. I really do like Miami and how much they’re pushing me. They’re interested in me and that staff was on me at Oregon…

"Coach [Josh] Gattis has been on me like nobody else, as well as coach [Mario] Cristobal and coach [Frank] Ponce. They’ve just been showing me crazy love lately.”

Rashada could end up being a key part of Miami re-emerging as a national power.

NCAA has begun an inquiry into the University of Miami regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, per Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated.

Enforcement staff members visited Miami to conduct interviews and spoke with billionaire booster John Ruiz, per Dellenger. They were in Coral Gables, Florida for two days.

"I'm extremely comfortable with what we are doing. I have nothing to hide,” Ruiz told Dellenger regarding what he said was an "interview" with investigators. "It went super well. The NCAA is trying to wrap their hands around this sudden change of environment. They’re trying to figure out how the landscape is working."

Ruiz's remarks would seem to align with a report from Manny Navarro and Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic:

The NCAA's NIL policy went into effect on July 1, 2021.

Per Dellenger, Ruiz has signed 115 athletes to NIL deals. Most attend Miami, but he's also inked deals with players from North Carolina and FIU. The NIL deals total $7 million.

Ruiz notably signed Kansas State transfer and Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack to a two-year, $800,000 deal to endorse two of his companies, LifeWallet and the Cigarette Racing Team.

Ruiz spoke more on the matter:

A lot of NCAA bylaws are hard to reconcile with the ability and right to enter into NIL deals. I think that the NCAA is starting to get a handle on the fact that it's not capable of navigating within the [state] NIL laws and their own bylaws. There is an internal conflict.

I felt the people from the NCAA were extremely pleasant. They are tasked with the job of making sure they gather enough information and create a functioning standard for everybody. There has to be better regulation.

A Miami spokesperson released a statement declining comment on the "specifics of the matter."

The news comes amid an exciting time for Miami athletics. The Hurricanes football team hired alum Mario Cristobal away from the University of Oregon to lead its program, the men's basketball team reached the 2022 Elite Eight and the women's basketball and baseball teams made the NCAA tournament as well.

Alonzo Highsmith is returning to his alma mater to become the general manager of football operations at Miami.

"Alonzo is a true Miami Hurricane," head coach Mario Cristobal said in Thursday's announcement. "He understands the commitment and sacrifice it takes to be a champion on and off the field. His tremendous passion for the University of Miami and this city is unparalleled."

The school said Highsmith "will work directly with Cristobal to support all administrative functions of the football program, including budget-related items, culture building, program imaging and working directly with staff members both on and off the field."

Previously, he had worked within the front offices of the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns and most recently the Seattle Seahawks, in addition to playing six years in the NFL.

As Cristobal noted, Highsmith is revered among Hurricanes fans.

The 57-year-old had 2,850 yards from scrimmage and 25 touchdowns in four years at Miami. He helped the program win a national championship in 1983 and usher in the era of "The U."

Cristobal's predecessor, Manny Diaz, did something similar with his staff when he hired Ed Reed as Miami's chief of staff in January 2020. Highsmith's executive experience creates a distinction between the two, however.

There's no question his return will excite the fanbase by playing on the nostalgia of the Hurricanes' most successful era. He's also uniquely equipped to both reestablish the culture that will separate Miami from its competitors.

More than anything, though, hiring a defined general manager is becoming more important with name, image and likeness legislation and the one-time transfer rule changing the college landscape.

Poaching Cristobal from Oregon was a coup for Miami, but recent history has shown the head coach alone can only do so much to return the program to prominence.

Bringing Highsmith back to Coral Gables, Florida, continues the wider moves the university has made to bring in the necessary infrastructure behind the scenes.

The Miami Hurricanes will reportedly add Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor to their football staff, per Manny Navarro of The Athletic. 

The position will be an "off-the-field role," which Taylor preferred.

Gaby Urrutia of 247Sports first reported the connection, noting that the 47-year-old had previously turned down other coaching opportunities at the college level.

Taylor has spent the past five years at high school powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, serving as the team's defensive coordinator the past two years.

After Taylor spent his college career at Akron, the majority of his time in the NFL came with the Miami Dolphins. A third-round pick by the team in 1998, the Pittsburgh native finished his 15-year career with 139.5 sacks, 11th in league history, while earning six Pro Bowl selections and the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year award. 

He was inducted into Canton in 2017.

The hire adds another person with an impressive resume to the Miami staff under new coach Mario Cristobal.

Fellow Hall of Famer Ed Reed is also in an off-field role for the Hurricanes as the chief of staff, while former coaches Kevin Steele and Charlie Strong were hired as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, respectively. Josh Gattis, the reigning Broyles Award winner as the top assistant coach in the country, was hired as the offensive coordinator away from Michigan.

All of this should help raise expectations for the program after finishing 7-5 in 2021. Miami has just one 10-win season in the last 18 years, but the new coaching staff is looking to return to national contention.    

Former University of Miami football player Rashaun Jones could be released on $850,000 bond while awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge related to the 2006 death of Hurricanes teammate Bryan Pata.

ESPN's Paula Lavigne reported Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda said prosecutors presented a "viable case" against Jones, who's been held without bail since being arrested in August, but she didn't view him as a threat to flee. She also ordered him to not make contact with Pata's family or potential witnesses.

"I can't say he's not a danger to the community," Miranda said. "The risk of flight is what I'm looking at."

Juan Segovia, a homicide detective with the Miami-Dade Police Department, was among the people questioned during the bond hearing. He was the assistant officer on the case 16 years ago and took over the lead in 2020 when colleague Miguel Dominguez retired.

Segovia explained he would have handled the investigation differently but thought there was enough evidence to move forward with charges at the time, per Lavigne.

"If it was up to me, I would have arrested him in 2006," he said.

The prosecution's case leans heavily on the testimony of Paul Conner, a former University of Miami English professor who now resides in Ohio, who lived in the same apartment complex as Pata and provided police with a description of a man he saw walking away from the area after a loud bang was heard.

Conner picked Jones out of a photo lineup in both 2006 and when the case reopened in 2020, but defense attorneys noted he only placed his confidence level at "90 percent" originally, creating reasonable doubt, per Lavigne.

The defense used character witnesses to discuss Jones' work in the community, including as a youth coach, as part of his successful appeal for bond.

Michael Mirer, one of Jones' attorneys, said in an email to ESPN they "firmly believe that when this case is brought before a jury, Rashaun will be exonerated."

"There is a complete lack of evidence to substantiate the charge in this case and we look forward to our day in court," Mirer wrote.

The Associated Press reported in September, when Jones pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, that investigators found a pattern of confrontations between Jones and Pata, and Pata's brother said Jones threatened to shoot his brother two months prior to his death.

Jones told investigators he was home on the night of the shooting, but prosecutors said they obtained information showing his cell phone pinging different towers throughout the evening, according to the AP.

The next court date in the case is scheduled for Sept. 1.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor has reportedly been speaking with Miami head football coach Mario Cristobal about a position on his staff.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported the news Saturday and gave credit to CaneSport.com for first mentioning the possibility. Herald added that a "consultant or analyst role" is among the options.

Taylor starred for the Miami Dolphins from 1997 to 2007 and again in 2009 and 2011. He finished his career with 139.5 sacks and 774 tackles. He earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2006 before winning the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2007. The six-time Pro Bowler also made first-team All-Pro on three occasions.

Cristobal, who played football at Miami from 1988 to 1992 and served on the coaching staff from 1998 to 2000 and 2004 to 2006, is in his first year leading the Hurricanes' program. He arrives from Oregon, where Cristobal led the Ducks to a pair of Pac-12 titles.

His best year was 2019, when Oregon won the Rose Bowl, finished 12-2 and ended the season fifth in the Associated Press poll.

Now he'll look to lead the Hurricanes to brighter and better days. Adding a former NFL superstar like Taylor would appear to be a huge win for Cristobal as the Hurricanes prepare for their 2022 debut against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 3.