Three or four years from now, when it is all said and done, the University of Miami's 2012 recruiting class may go down in history as THE class that turned it all around for Miami and restored the Hurricanes to their rightful place among college football's elite programs.
In terms of quality, and the sheer quantity of players signed by UM on National Signing Day 2012, this class of high school recruits has the chance to rank among the best ever at Miami.
On paper and on potential this class of 33 players that now accounts for almost 40% of the entire 85 man roster at UM is the infusion of talent and toughness that Hurricanes head coach Al Golden said he needed to get things right in Coral Gables.
Now it will be up to Golden and his assistant coaches to coach up this new group of players at "The U" so that they can reach their maximum potential and return the Hurricanes to national prominence and championship glory.
With the cards stacked against them, UM head coach Al Golden and his assistant coaches managed to work their magic to land this tremendous class in spite of a mediocre 2011 season and potential NCAA sanctions looming over the program like a black cloud.
Miami fans I talked to at the NSD party on the UM Campus Wednesday night were wondering out loud: "If Golden can recruit like this under circumstances like this what can he do if and when the sanctions are gone and Miami starts winning again?"
Our first article about NSD 2012 will break down the recruiting class by the numbers:
- Number of players signed: 24 (not counting the 9 EEs)
- Number of defensive players on NSD: 14
- Number of offensive players on NSD: 10
- Number of players from Florida (NSD): 21
- Number of players from Southwest Florida: 6
- Number of players from Dade County: 5
- Number of players from Broward County: 5
- Number of players from Palm Beach County: 3
- Number of players from other States: 3 (GA, PA, LA)
- Number of defensive backs: 6
- Number of wide receivers: 5
- Number of defensive lineman: 4
- Number of NSD hits on Canespace: 14,773
- Number of NSD comments on Canespace: 590
We will have several more articles on the Miami Hurricanes 2012 recruiting class in the coming days that will cover it from all angles and in great detail.
Until then just sit back and appreciate the hard work and incredible effort that UM head coach Al Golden and his staff put into the recruiting process this year in bringing in one of the biggest and potentially best classes in Miami Hurricane football history.