Brian Smith joins Alex Donno for a scouting report on new Miami Hurricanes commit Cole McConathy. The 3-Star edge rusher flipped from Louisville to Miami on Wednesday.
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00:00 timing is crazy because Miami is about to play Louisville in a couple days and
00:03 they flip a Louisville commit to Miami.
00:07 Yeah.
00:08 Cole McConathy, six foot five, 235 pound edge from Spanish Fort Alabama.
00:14 And he happens to be the sack leader in that state right now, Brian,
00:19 he's put up 19 sacks, 30 TFL in his senior year.
00:23 What have you seen from this young man on tape?
00:24 Somebody's been coaching him on all kinds of things.
00:28 I wrote about this yesterday and a little bit more this morning at all hurricanes.
00:32 He can play standup edge.
00:34 He can play over an offensive lineman, whatever it is.
00:38 His first step is tremendous.
00:39 He uses his hands.
00:40 Well, he's got a baby of moves.
00:42 He's a little bit more advanced than what you would normally think.
00:45 You just throw on film with somebody.
00:47 And I'm sure Louisville was like, boy, I hope nobody else comes along
00:51 and really gets after this kid.
00:52 Obviously the ironic part is they play Miami this week, but Miami is
00:58 getting a player that can help them in a variety of ways.
01:00 He can play outside linebacker and cover.
01:02 I was surprised at how well he could turn and run too.
01:05 So Miami is getting a versatile defender, one that's very physical.
01:09 I went on his Twitter page and looked at some of his highlights
01:12 from like working out and stuff.
01:14 He's got an excellent vertical.
01:15 This is the kind of guy you can build your edge defense around and
01:19 Hey, versatility is great too.
01:21 I'm very excited for this young man.
01:23 And Wayne Skidry knows how to use edge guys.
01:25 I think we know that now too.
01:27 Now he is a, right now he's a three-star player.
01:29 So I know the three-star brigade is going to come out and be like,
01:32 that's three-star Mario.
01:33 He's at it again.
01:34 Wait, can we get any four stars or five?
01:36 Where are the defensive tackles?
01:38 We got another edge rusher.
01:39 Uh, in this case with McConathy, uh, I've been studying a lot about him
01:43 over the last 12 hours or so, Brian seems to me like a lot of folks
01:47 think he could get a fourth star before the cycle is said and done.
01:51 I think in his case, he's a late bloomer, right?
01:55 Because a lot of the scouting that's been done to him through this point
01:57 has been through the junior year, but he's really kind of burst onto
02:01 the scene in the senior year.
02:03 So I think more evaluation is necessary to give him his full,
02:07 you know, full bevy of stars.
02:09 That's part of the deal, man.
02:11 Most evaluations are done before the senior year anymore.
02:15 And he, he lives just outside of Mobile.
02:17 Not that many people believe it or not.
02:19 Scout that area.
02:20 Uh, John Garcia, somebody, you know, well, and I do too.
02:24 We talk about that all the time, but Alabama recruits, they're hard.
02:27 Georgia does.
02:28 So that kind of tells you all you really need to know.
02:30 And he just plays really well against anybody goes up again.
02:34 So Spanish sports, a good program.
02:36 They've got good coaching and I can tell he's put in the work.
02:39 Like this guy shredded.
02:40 He knows what he's doing on the field as a linebacker and edge.
02:44 I bet he plays pretty early too, because they'll find a way to get him on the
02:47 field because his, his versatility, they might use him in a three, three, five
02:51 packages and an outside linebacker that drops.
02:53 There's all kinds of ways to get him on the field.
02:55 I don't care what his rating is.
02:57 Honestly, Miami got a good football player.
02:59 Yeah.
03:00 I was reading a story about McConnathy's recruitment.
03:02 Um, this was posted by Gabby, your Rudy at inside the U and this story just
03:07 outlines how important relationships are when it comes to recruiting.
03:10 So what, one of the people that Miami has to thank for McConnathy becoming a
03:16 hurricanes commit is former NFL quarterback, Philip rivers, you're thinking,
03:20 what does he have to do with Miami?
03:22 So Philip rivers is a high school coach in Alabama right now.
03:26 And Mr.
03:27 Rivers has a great relationship with Todd Stroud.
03:31 Who's on Miami's staff.
03:32 Cause Stroud was on the North Carolina state staff back when, uh, when
03:36 rivers was recruited to NC state, they've kept a great relationship.
03:40 So rivers actually coached against Spanish Fort McConnathy's team.
03:45 He saw how good Cole looked in that game.
03:49 And he eventually gets on the phone with coach Stroud at Miami is like, you guys
03:53 have to recruit this kid that my team just went up against, and that was, that
03:57 was what got the wheels in motion with Miami kind of getting Cole McConnathy on
04:01 their radar.
04:02 So it's like crazy stories sometimes, Brian, but you know, all these coaches,
04:06 especially guys who have been around a lot around a long time, like coach Stroud,
04:10 they have relationships with so many different people.
04:13 The networking aspect is so big in recruiting.
04:15 It's amazing.
04:17 Isn't it?
04:18 If you're good to people, people are good to you.