Miami TE Cam McCormick Returns For RECORD NINTH SEASON, Canes Go In-School With Ffrench, Junior Day

this Miami Hurricanes football tight end is about to do something that no college football player has ever done before you are locked on canes your daily podcast on the Miami Hurricane part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day cam McCormick is coming back for season number nine in college he's been doing that almost as long as I've been doing broadcasting I am Alex Dono I'm a University of Miami alumnus longtime South Florida Sports ROV vet and contributor to all hurricanes.com thank you so much to the every dayers for making lockon canes your first listen we are available free wherever you get your podcast we're free on YouTube part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day we didn't get enough of the recruiting Overlord yesterday so we're running it back today we're going to talk with Brian Smith and he's always brought to you by by LinkedIn these days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business that's why LinkedIn jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon colge terms and conditions apply has it's not just the cam McCormick news uh it's also Miami recruiting all over the southeast all over the country Mario Krystal Ball and Company went in home with one of the top players in the class of 2025 recently decommitted from Alabama you got the big Junior Day visitors list coming up but Brian I want to start off with Cam McCormick who uh his ninth season of college football that is a new record his eighth year last year was tied you know with another player from somewhere but the ninth he is now in sole possession of uh he is the the Van Wilder of college football he's been doing this a long time it is an incredible story because number one there's a lot of Misfortune that he's overcome yeah and then the second part the loyalty between him and the Miami staff going back to his days at Oregon this is about as rare as it gets and I know a lot of people are like man just just move on but he likes it there there's a reason he's getting educated he's getting degrees I think it's a great story and he can also be the conduit for guys like Riley uh Williams to continue their career and get better I mean Riley's very talented he's the next guy up at tight end probably Jackson Carver is in that class as well look this is an important thing for college people to understand not everybody goes to the NFL I doubt cam has a long NFL career get your degree build connections set yourself up for the private sector going into government whatever it is Cam McCormack is a great great story yeah and you know you talked about you know some of the reasons why he decided to come back for the ninth year first of all why he's able to come back for the ninth year you talked about The Misfortune uh the reason why he's been granted so many medical red shirts is Cam McCormack who was actually recruited by Willie tagert at Oregon he was at Oregon before Mario chrisal was the head coach which is crazy 2016 he was in the class of 2016 so cam McCormack has had four full seasons where he was injured unable to play had a very serious uh broken ankle early in his career that cost him three years because I don't know if they kept messing up the surgeries but it was just a lingering issue finally once he got healthy from the ankle he had a ruptur to killes and missed a fourth full season so just terrible misfortune um and Mario chrisal was his head coach for most of that time and so you mentioned the Loyalty he feels to chrisal because chrisal had loyalty to him throughout that process the other thing is mccor mentioned this in an interview with cane sport he and I can't disagree thinks the Miami Hurricanes can be really good next year and so if he thinks this team could make a special run he wants to be a part of that now you talked a little bit about the on the field stuff as well Brian and um I I'm already like I'm afraid to go back and look at the YouTube comments that people are going to make about this topic because I see just so much garbage from certain alleged Miami Hurricanes fans that are trying to trash this man for coming back to play another year okay because I think people are they're worried about him you know taking reps away and taking the starting spot away from a younger tight end couple things to consider guys first of all if he actually is the best option to start and get reps and protect cam Ward then uh you know if he really is the best option out there wouldn't you want the best guy on the field and guys if you're so worried about the other tight ends getting playing time they can beat him out like that they Mario's not just going to hand this guy 12 to 15 starts next year if if Elijah Royo or Riley Williams or Jackson Carver or Elijah Lofton if these guys are taking reps away from cam McCormick everybody wins I think you said it all uh May the best man win yes and Miami runs a lot of packages where they could use two tight ends maybe he's the block he he played some HB last year in anyway but they would probably use Riley in a passing situation a little bit more and maybe in the same lineup maybe he's in the slot it'll work itself out but there it's not just like well you're only allowed to play one tight end on a play right you know him can be a fullback he could be an HB he could be the inline tight end and Riley could be somewhere else or vice versa that's just one example they'll get plenty of playing time so we have so much recruiting to talk about with Brian Smith let me just let you guys know some of what we have on the table on this episode and listen I I support cam McCormack coming back for another year I think Brian does as well I'm happy for this guy cuz like Brian said probably doesn't have much of an NFL future so if he can get one more year out of college good for him uh we are going to talk on this episode about stud class of 2025 recruits like wide receiver Jamie French who recently decommitted from Alabama after Sabin retired Mario christall went in school with him in Jacksonville along with fourstar safety Hilton stubs these guys were teammates of Derek plaz at Mandarin in Jacksonville uh Miami has a linebacker visiting today and in a little over a week you got an absolutely loaded Junior Day coinciding with battle seven on seven so there's going to be just a ton of unofficial visitors coming to the University of Miami next week we have so much to get to my friends we're only getting started you want to keep it locked right here on this brand new episode with the recruiting Overlord of lockon canes and I know you're keeping it locked to FanDuel because there is so much action still to be had in the NFL playoffs even if my team was eliminated unceremoniously last week it doesn't mean I have to stop winning money it's not too late to get into the action with FanDuel America's number one sports book right now new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet that's 150 bucks in bonus bets win or lose the app is so easy to use there are so many many different ways to bet like live same game parlays you can find bets in the new explore tab you make a parlay of the parlay Hub which is the best way to find popular parlays I love the player props I have so much fun with that stuff and I'm I'm gonna be loving that uh that Buffalo Kansas City matchup in Buffalo this week there's going to be so much action to get there on FanDuel so you guys want to check it out visit fanduel.com locked on and make your first bet layup FanDuel official partner of the NFL thank you so much for making this recruiting Lord recruiting Overlord episode of Locked on can's your first listen on this Friday happy Friday by the way we made it we made it to Friday we're available free wherever you get your podcast we're available free on YouTube part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I encourage everyone to check out the newest show on the lock on network and that's locked on college football I've already made an appearance on the show with my dude Spencer mlin he's been the locked on Oregon Ducks host he was awesome host of locked on Pack 12 and since the Pack 12 is now a pack two they they've just handed the keys to all of college football to Spencer mcclaflin and very welld deserved so make sure you check it out locked on college football make sure you check out the work Brian Smith is doing at all hurricanes.com and along this network uh so Brian uh Jamie French who is the third rated wide receiver and 12th overall ranked player in the class of 2025 this is a five-star play uh was formally committed to play for Nick Sabin in Alabama and obviously uh Nick Sabin is uh is riding off into the sunset so he has opened his recruitment back up Mario Christal went in home or the Miami Hurricanes went in home with him earlier on this week talk to me about French and who do you think are going to be the big players now in his recruitment I've known Jamie since he was in eighth grade because he was that guy um he was a kid that played right away at Mandarin which is one of the best better programs in Northern Florida and he's a kid that just dominated on the seven on seven scene and this past summer at Future 50 Under Armour in Brenson he was the best player there in the country they had players from across the country wow yeah he was he was amazing uh great kid lot of fun to be around and he's gonna have an offer from every school in the country if he doesn't already I mean he's he's visited all over the place Florida State where his teammate and quarterback is committed is probably Miami's top competition it's not anything new so pora State's already been by and I'm sure a bunch of other schools now because I mean there's blood in the water you know he's Alabama is just not the same without saving it's it's proven Julian saian a whole bunch of guys K Proctor Caleb DS I mean the list is five star heavy and they're bailing so I mean French I'm sure will visit Miami again and probably a few times but like his recruitment now is just kind of wide open but I'd watch out for the nolles you also o mentioned Julian San who was the star Alabama sinee like he did he did sign his National letter of intent but that was you know under the impression that Nick Sabin was going to be the coach so San is going to be entering the transfer portal um you know I'm I'm not saying I expect Miami to to get him um you know they they they'll probably at least inquire even though you the quarterback room is suddenly suddenly awfully crowded even though your top guy now is just a one-year oneandone guy in cam Ward but uh what are we hearing on Julian saying and do you think Miami may try to get in the mix here that news just broke a little while ago Pete THL that one is is awkward because the boore brought in the kid that he had red shirted last year at Washington is transferring to Alabama right nobody likes it when the new coach brings in the guy he handpicked in the previous recruiting I get it yeah but Julian is now ironically because he won Elite 11 nationally last year at the top quarterback competition where does he go I I mean there's all kinds of of possibilities but I mean Texas is it Ohio State do he go back home to La play for UCLA or something I have no idea because I didn't even think anything about it but when I saw that name come up with Pete thill saying it like Pete doesn't he's not just gonna weigh something out there for fun that news is really good or he's not gonna post it so here's the question can Miami get involved and should they get involved I don't know the answer to either because I don't know how much seriousness there would be because he committed early to Alabama this is about as open as it gets in my opinion I will not be surprised if at any he could end up at Utah wouldn't surprise me you could end up in Texas it wouldn't surprise me or anywhere else it's it's wild um it's unfortunate for him that the situation played out like it did too but that's college football yeah and I'm thinking about this like in my head about the Miami quarterback room I like I think the question you have to ask yourself is is Julian saian just so good that you have to shoot your shot and he might might be but obviously but Miami's got now like a good mix of of a lot of Youth with some experience in the quarterback room I mean ree poffin Barger has uh has two years of starting experience albe it in the FCS but he's pretty experienced you know less experienced Jakari brown but he started three games at Miami um uh um Emory Williams has started two games at Miami he got his feet wet a little bit you do have a true freshman coming in and Jud Anderson I love Jud he's obviously not highly touted guy like Julian saan so it's like Miami definitely they don't have a need to go after a quarterback right now but I mean saan are you saying he's just so good that you would have to take a shot I think you at least have have a conversation with people in the room and maybe they've already done this just in not not based on Julian but like if somebody comes open in the portal are we going to look those are one of the types of little meetings you have with your staff are we happy now that we have like where are you at I would assume there's an assessment for every position because Ward only knows with the new age of the transfer point it's changing so fast it's hard to keep up in all the transfer rules there's no such thing as a roster it's a fluid roster for all 133 teams in the FBS it it's not a good situation I'm being very kind here but do you pass on a kid that is obviously extremely talented because you're worried about screwing up the rest of your like there's all kinds of things to consider because you don't know how the emotions are going to be CU like Julian's leaving probably because the kids transfer in from Washington and I get it so would you create the same Dynamic if you brought him into Coral Gables yeah like if you I mean if he's good that's nice but if you get a freshman the other guys leave and then you're just sitting there with no exp you know what I mean like it's it's awkward so I would guess they didn't but there will be many teams that do here's another reason why why they probably uh wouldn't wouldn't be too aggressive even though there's there's not a salary cap in terms of nil everyone still has a budget right you Miami's budget may be you know a little higher than uh than some of the other broke collectives uh elsewhere in the State of Florida but uh but there's definitely a budget and if you're thinking like we we still need to shoot for um you know another wide receiver or two maybe a cornerback uh limited roster spots is another thing I mean Miami's is over the scholarship limit right now so you know you don't have this unlimited fantasy nil budget despite the fact that people are always saying Miami's just buying players they're just buy there's definitely a budget okay so you could probably better use that budget elsewhere Brian yeah Miami has other needs and they're filling them we we just discussed uh safety position you know Vanderbilt and Washington have been so kind to send Miami a couple of players and they're kind of like except for getting like maybe one more receiver or something they're yeah next year's roster doesn't have a spot you go oh no no they're in trouble so yeah they would have to be very picky regardless of the player and regardless of the eligibility all right so we talked about Jamie French who Miami went in school with at Mandarin uh same school high school teammate of his who they're also both former high school teammates of Derek plaz who thinks very highly of Miami just signed with Miami uh talk to me about Hilton stubs fourstar safety out of Mandarin uh I know that there's definitely has been a lot of activity when it comes to Miami recruiting stubs they've seemed to be pretty relentless on that front he played in a game in South Florida in the playoffs the game before the finals and he had two picks both of them were tremendous one he took one off a kid's head and the other one he came across the field and I don't know how he read the play because he was the backside safety and he picked off a pass on a slant and it was a diving catch like they they were both highlight real plays right in front of me and I'm like I knew he was good because I'd seen him play I know him Etc but those two play play where NFL level kind of plays and he's a 6-2 kid that can really run um he enjoys playing safety I think he could even play some nickel if you wanted him to he's just a good athlete that really really loves football he's gonna be kind of like his teammates as many offers as he wants as many trips as he wants he can pretty much go anywhere in the country Miami Florida state Florida his brother's a walk- on at Florida State I don't know how much that'll play into you would think that would help some but yeah he's he's being recruited by everybody so Miami has been on him as you noted relentlessly that's maybe the two schools again I wouldn't be surprised if both Jamie and Hilton ended up playing at the same school maybe even having the same like you know visit the same weekends or whatever because they'll have the same football schedule basically either one of them is a top 100 player so and both of them could be top 50 by all the services when it's stun I know right now French is a little higher rated but stubs is he's really good man yeah he's right there uh so there's a player who's in Coral Gables now visiting Miami he announced last night on his social media he was heading down to the 305 and that's a three star linebacker out of Buford Georgia Montres Walker he's a former Michigan commit he I think it was in September decommitted from Michigan and I know our mutual friend and colleague Chalupa Batman has been all over reporting on this one and he's very happy that Montres is visiting Miami as am I but tell me about this player if you've had a chance to scout him yeah beautiful it's if you follow recruiting that high school has players every single year he's one of two kids just in this class at linebacker that are National recruits it must be tough to coach there um at the same time this is a kid that committed early to Michigan he kind of went off the radar you know Michigan's defense obviously Elite but he backed off so you got to figure Georgia and Alabama but now Alabama's kind of iffy uh there'll be some other SEC Powers involved obire Auburn Tennessee South Carolina Etc will recruit him but I consider this this to be an open race for two reasons number one Bama not being really involved helps and two he was committed to Michigan so he wasn't afraid to travel he ended up at Texas or at Miami or at Penn State or anywhere it wouldn't be surprising and this is an inside linebacker that can play either inside spot and he could probably play a little bit on the edge too really good football player there's more uh visitors uh future visitors coming up at Miami because it's a loaded roster for junior day on the weekend of the 26th of January so we have so much more to get to my friend we're not done yet you want to keep it locked right here the recruiting Overlord and my colleague at all hurricanes.com Brian Smith is with us on locked on canes guys the deals that are happening right now on the game time app or gametime.co insane deals I know that sometimes you feel like hey buying last minute tickets to a sporting event is that stressful experience am I getting the best prices am I getting ripped off you're never getting getting ripped off at game time guys I promise you uh my favorite thing about game time because a lot of other ticket Services have burned me with this is they give you the all-in prices right if they tell you you're buying a ticket for $31 you're buying a ticket for $31 it's not like oh we've just tacked on these fees and it's a $57 no there's none of that nonsense at game time Allin prices Flash Deals last minute ticket deals right up to the event sometimes you can still get tickets an hour after the event even started and it game time you can see your seat view directly there on the website you'll look at exactly what you're going to see from your seat which is very important especially for a concert because sometimes you don't know what's my angle to the stage you'll see it at game time if you're in South Florida like I am guys I'm looking at the deals for these next couple of days uh in fact tonight you got two home games for local teams Miami Heat hosting the Atlanta Hawks they've got tickets starting at $39 at game time Florida Panthers hosting the Minnesota Wild they've 've got tickets starting at $20 for that tonight so you're going to want to check this this out guys download the game time app create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed thank you so much for making this recruiting Overlord episode of lockon kan's your first listen today did I catch you opening up a granola bar like I could hear like you were ripping something open there Brian no no not a granola bar probably should be but that's that's another story fair enough man all right so uh first thing um there there's an overwhelming amount of top Junior uh in high school players class of 202s they're going to be at Miami next weekend uh let me ask you about this guy first because of the Family Ties five-star defensive back DJ picket who is he's the cousin of Booker picket who's coming in Miami in the class of 2024 and I'm actually we're going to be interviewing his uncle just so you guys know Booker picket senior is gonna be come Booker's dad and DJ's uncle is going to be coming on this show on Tuesday so we're gonna talk to him about all of his relatives and about his own time playing at the U but what can you tell me about DJ picket and who else do you think is in the mix for him DJ picket is the rarest of the rare uh as an eighth grader I would have taken him as an eighth grader he played corner he was one of those kids that developed early he was over 61 as a corner in Tampa and was dominant playing high school ball in Tampa wow as an eighth grader um he's played free safety receiver the only real question with him isn't which school or whatever it's what sport baseball and track he can do either one of those too he's 108 100 meters at 6'3 and a half so in a center fielder he can track down anything he runs like a deer so I I've covered games for him when when he walks out there it's obvious that he's a guy because he's so much bigger and so much more athletic I I covered a game with him in seven on seven where they didn't throw one time in his area I filmed every play I was so mad I can't even put it into perspective I didn't get one good clip I even joked with him about it after the game I've covered DJ for four years uh he's a kid I know very very well real quiet subdued nobody will know myself included until he decides he's that guy he's just naturally subdued and that's just his DJ's personality he knows he's Elite but he's very competitive and he'll just kind of go through the process I don't know if he'll commit early but I think this is a Signing Day deal Miami will be in it they're they're all over him and I'm sure Booker's talking to him I sure I'm sure he is and I certainly hope he is um so we we we've we've talked a lot Brian about I I give so much credit to Derek Nicholson Miami Hurricanes linebacker coach who seems to be he seems to have the same Mario chrystall work eth on the recruiting Trail he's all over the trail there's a ton of linebackers coming down for junior day and the headliner of that list is five-star linebacker Zaden Walker out of something called schay County in Georgia do I have that right tremendous player Brian uh what can you tell me about him inside outside I do not care just Sig him so he could play either one he has the rain kind of like DJ 63 and a half in a safety and DJ can play some corner too yeah this kid can play multiple spots you just figure it out get him on campus Miami is using multiple fronts I don't think there's going to be any problem with him moving around and he could be a Blitzer he could be your first and 10 middle linebacker whatever you want to do Georgia Auburn Bama all those kind of schools are going to be involved but Miami getting him on campus early that's a sign like those kind of kids from the middle of nowhere Georgia they don't visit Miami they don't visit Florida Florida State early Georgia like it's usually just kind of SEC right there this is a good sign I'm curious out of everybody visiting like I know pick's gonna have an interest they Miami is recruiting forever what happens with this kid after the visit I'm more curious about than any other player that visits I like that let's talk about some South Florida kids uh Chris ewalt Brian is someone who's uh who's been on Miami fans those who follow recruiting he's been on our radar for a really long time and of course being a shaman handout defensive back was committed to Michigan for a long time he did decommit from Michigan I think just a just a few days ago or earlier this week he decommitted from Michigan so he's now kind of quote unquote officially in play here but even while he was committed to Michigan there was always a lot of Buzz about Miami trying to flip him do you think that could happen absolutely look Harbaugh's not GNA be there yeah I don't I'm not exactly breaking any kind of special news and if you're Jim and you know obviously there's a lot of turmoil but what does he have left to prove at Michigan even if there wasn't and good for him but Ewald was committed to them very early because they got on him early they you know they did a great job but Miami never gave up and he's been to campus Miami's been by the school of course that's the same school as a bunch of kids that Miami recruited last year they're not exactly unfamiliar with the territory this is a lockdown corner you can never have enough Miami is famous from getting South Florida Corners this is the next one they got to get big time recruiting and I'm guaranteeing the Florida State and Alabama everybody's still going to come after him too but yeah this is this is Miami's Turf here they should win this battle so uh speaking of Miami's Turf I I gotta ask you about this guy because I know uh my pal steo from 365 kan's football is a is a big advocate of Nan Montgomery uh from Miami Central wide receiver he's going to be over he doesn't have to travel very far he's going to be here for junior day what can you tell me there length he's 62 63 has the arm length that you're looking for very smooth route Runner and he's a kid that's kind of a new kid on the scene he was in one of the schools Cardinal Newman originally he's transferred down but he was really good at Future 50 like French he can play for anybody he can be your outside receiver he's built similar to jacobe George that would be my best okay comparison yeah just has natural hands really smooth everything does in terms of movement is fluid you can't teach it and he still needs to add weight like a lot of kids do but he's still got another year high school he's going to be a really good college player and again another kid in your backyard man these are important recruitments great stuff here is always from Brian Smith uh well I'm sure we'll talk again about even more of this Junior Day stuff before it takes place next weekend you can follow him on X at FB Scout Florida check out his work you can also check out mine there at all hurricanes.com and you can watch Brian breaking down recruiting all over the lockon podcast Network Mr Smith thank you so much for taking the time sir thank you very much take care we will talk to everyone Again by the way later today I should say this three live at 35 we are going to be chatting quarterbacks with Malik roer Malik my understanding Malik has just locked himself in a room for the last few days and he's just been watching every highlight and every piece of film available of Cam Ward and so former Miami qb1 is going to help me break down the next Miami QB 1 we'll be live today at 305 on another episode of Locked on canes part of the awesome locked on podcast Network your team every day