Hurricanes aiming for late pledges

IN THE BAG: The Hurricanes have held on to a few of their longt-ime commitments, including St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Sam Bruce, who reaffirmed his pledge to the Hurricanes lastweek. Defensive end Joseph Jackson out of Miami Gulliver Prep is one of the few defensive linemen Miami has picked up, but he’s a talented player who has earned praise from several of the nation’s top recruiting analysts. On Monday, Miami added another defensive lineman in Tyreic Martin, who had previously been committed to Missouri and former Tigers defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, who is now at Miami. The Hurricanes also locked in five enrollees, including quarterback Jack Allison of Palmetto, who will likely redshirt; defensive end Patrick Bethel; and a trio of talented linebackers in Zach McCloud, Mike Pinckney and Shaquille Quarterman.

UP FOR GRABS: Though he was previously committed to Miami, Wellington receiver Ahmmon Richards backed off his pledge after Al Golden was fired. He’s said since though that he was still willing to consider Miami and named the Hurricanes one of his final three options, along with Alabama and Auburn. And though he’s committed to Miami, the Hurricanes are waiting to see if they can hang onto Naples High corner Tyler Byrd, who has been seriously considering Tennessee in recentweeks.

OVERALL OUTLOOK: Recruiting classes built during a coaching transition can be tough, but the consensus is that while Miami won’t have a top-20 class, the Hurricanes and new coach Mark Richt have something to build on as they look forward to the 2017 recruiting cycle.