'When They Were Showing Me the Plan They Have For Me, Micah Parsons Did Come Up'
In this story:
On Wednesday, Miami received a commitment from the No. 3 linebacker and No. 57 overall recruit in the nation (On3 Composite) in Orlando (Fla.) Jones talent Malik Bryant.
After a long-fought battle with the Florida Gators as the primary competition, Bryant’s commitment to Miami means two things.
First, Miami is done with lackluster recruiting at the linebacker position compared to year's past with Bryant, Raul Aguirre and Bobby Washington on board.
Second, Miami is getting one of the more versatile linebackers in the class. Bryant is the highest linebacker recruit to commit to Miami since Arthur Brown in 2008, per the 247Sports Composite.
Going back, the signs were somewhat clear that Bryant would end up a Hurricane, he just may not have seen it yet. Most high school athletes study certain players in the NFL or college level as they find players and techniques to model their game after. Bryant always found himself studying Miami Hurricanes that were in the NFL. Some former Canes could also be the reason his favorite NFL team is the Baltimore Ravens.
“The main guys I studied, all happened to be Canes,” Bryant said. “Pretty much the guy I watched was Ray Lewis, a lot. I watched him pretty much before every game. Ed Reed was a guy I watched a lot and also Sean Taylor.”
Lewis is only one athlete in a long and illustrious list of linebackers to come out of the University of Miami. Dan Morgan, Jon Beason, DJ Williams and Jonathan Vilma are a few names that come to mind. However, it’s been a while since Miami has had a true, star player at the linebacker position. Despite the lack of prominence at the position for Miami in recent years, the tradition of playing defense at “The U” played a major role in landing Bryant.
“Tradition played a big role in me deciding to go to the University of Miami, but relationships did as well,” Bryant said.
If there’s one man who knows tradition at the University of Miami, it’s head coach Mario Cristobal, whose relationship with Bryant extends far beyond his short time being the head coach at Miami.
“Coach Cristobal, being at Oregon first, we kind of built that relationship then and [I saw] how genuine he really was toward his family, his teammates, his organization, his program and his staff," he said. "So kind of seeing him go back to his hometown where he’s from, where he played at his alma mater and coach there, I feel like a lot of players gravitated towards that. I feel like that stuck out to me during my recruitment process.”
Jones High School defensive coordinator Andrew Anderson saw the potential in Bryant when he coached him during his eighth-grade year, which is when he started fielding Division I offers. One of the main things that stood out to Anderson was not the athletic ability of Bryant, but his maturity at such a young age.
“[Jones] encounters numerous power five athletes each year,” Anderson said. “And Malik, I love this young man. He is very mature. Malik, when I first met him, again, as an eighth grader, was a very mature eighth grader and he just has this old soul, if you will and he’s always handled things in a much more mature way than his actual age. He’s done a wonderful job of handling the stress level of this [recruiting] process.”
Anderson touched on the leadership that Bryant brings to his team, including his veteran experience. For Anderson, he didn’t have the opportunity to coach Bryant through high school because Bryant transferred to IMG Academy before making the transfer back to Jones for his senior season.
Bryant has aspirations of making it back to the Florida state championship with Jones High School, just as he once did his freshman year before transferring to IMG. Bryant also wants to help get his teammates to the next level and be instrumental in the success of the team.
“My brothers, I feel like there’s a lot of talent on the team, I feel like they got some good talent to where they could play at the next level,” Bryant said.
Anderson and Bryant both stated that his athletic ability extends beyond the linebacker position. It’s not far-fetched to say that he’s the most unique defender for Jones High. Bryant can put his hand in the dirt, or be a stand-up linebacker. This leads to the idea that Cristobal and coach Charlie Strong have for one of the nation's most versatile linebackers once he gets in Coral Gables.
“They pretty much pointed out the ideas they had as far as using me and my skillset,” Bryant said. “Using me as a stack backer or rushing me off the edge as well on third downs, getting to the quarterback in a 4-3 type of look. When they were showing me the plan they had for me, Micah Parsons did come up.
"Just showing comparisons in ways as far as using me how the Cowboys have used him. They’re putting me in a position to make those plays.”
Bryant joins a 2023 Miami recruiting class that is only trending upward and sitting at No. 5 in the country according to the On3 class rankings.
AllHurricanes.com is your home for all things Miami Hurricanes football, recruiting, basketball and other athletics, all the time. Follow along on social media at @AllHurricanes on Twitter and All Hurricanes on Facebook for round-the-clock news and analysis.