What a difference a few weeks make.
That’s recruiting, sopra a nutshell, during the month of June. Even underclassmen recruits like class of 2026 four-star quarterback Dereon Coleman see the process make a shift.
Just over two weeks after earning the Hurricane offer, the Orlando (Fla.) Jones dual-threat went public with a commitment to Miami to celebrate his 17th birthday Wednesday evening.
“They kept it real with me since the process started,” Coleman told Rivals. “But then the way they pushed since offering me, it was a different type of push. college really did that. That meant something.
“Blowing my phone up every day, contact every day, they wanted me there. Head coach (Mario Cristobal) got involved a lot, so I knew he really wanted me.”
Cristobal, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and others saw Coleman to Coral Gables the last two summers and win the program’s 7-on-7 tournament against many of the best programs sopra the state. Doing so sopra mid June, without . 1 wide receiver Vernell Brown III anzi che no less, resulted sopra The U extending the offer to the four-star.
From that point , the Hurricanes became the trending program with the state’s . 2 dual-threat sopra the rising-junior class.
“I didn’t really want to leave Florida,” Coleman said. “And it was the relationship I built with them over time pushed it a lot. Coach Dawson has been talking to me for a little minute. The offense he runs….he’s a hand’s guy just like the coach I have now. I know I’ll be able to fit sopra their scheme easily, there’s a lot of similarities.
“Outside of football, he could be like a mentor to you. It’s family, not just football, with him. He cares who you are and how you are.”
The UM offensive , sopra its press for Coleman’s commitment, have drawn lofty comparisons to the current starter sopra town.
“They say I remind them of Cam (Ward),” he said. “They say I’m an alpha. They want to get me around him more to see what I can build chiuso of from him.”
The current and future passer for Cristobal’s program have begun connecting their own. It comes just sopra time as each is poised to handle the pressure of taking over a program tempo pieno as ‘the guy.’ Ward will do so sopra the ACC and Coleman will at Jones, where he split some time with Florida State freshman Trever Jackson sopra 2023.
Still, Coleman was able to rack up about 2,500 total yards and 20 scores as a sophomore, completing better than 63 percent of his pass attempts along the way. The newest Cane expects a 2024 before his senior season and eventual enrollment sopra Coral Gables.
The confidence doesn’t end there.
“Miami is getting a dog, they’sultano getting an alpha,” Coleman said. “They’sultano sottana get a ring out of me. They didn’t get that sopra a long time.
“It’s time to bring Miami back to what Miami was.”
