THE LATEST
If there were no coaching changes this recruiting cycle, Cyrus Moss’ recruitment could have taken a much different path. One that probably would have ended up in the Pacific Northwest at Oregon.
But there were significant changes across the coaching landscape in recent months and one of the biggest was Mario Cristobal leaving the Ducks to return home to Miami.
That played a huge factor for Moss, who committed to the Hurricanes over Oregon, USC and others Saturday at the All-American Bowl.
That relationship was just too much for those Pac-12 schools and others to overcome. The Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman standout hit it off with Cristobal during his time at Oregon and after a late visit to Miami right before the Early Signing Period, the move was already done: Moss was going to play for the Hurricanes.
ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIO CRISTOBAL
“Coach (Mario) Cristobal is a great guy, and he knows that,” Las Vegas Bishop Gorman defensive coordinator Chris Brown told CaneSport. “Oregon looked at him as the next Kayvon Thibodeaux, wanted to put him in as the next guy to compete to take Thibodeaux’s spot. He really liked that, built that relationship with the coaches and they embraced him, really thought he could excel at Oregon. He was starting to fall in love with Oregon.”
WHAT IT MEANS
Cristobal had tremendous success recruiting the West region but also nationally while at Oregon and he has established relationships all over the country that he can leverage now that he’s with the Hurricanes.
If Cristobal stayed in Eugene, then Miami would have never had a shot at landing Moss. Now that he’s coaching the Hurricanes, Moss ends up there and other top prospects from the West could give MIami a look as well. The four-star is long, lean and has tremendous ability to cover ground and play to his strengths. Whether he ends up playing in space or growing more into his body and putting his hand down and being an edge rusher, Moss is an athletic specimen who could do a great deal for Miami’s defense.
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