Is Miami closing in on a resolution with transfer defensive tackle Simeon Barrow?
Reports indicate a reconciliation between Miami and defensive tackle Simeon Barrow. Will he rejoin the team? Alex Donno and Larry Blustein discuss the situation.
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00:00 So Simeon Barrow, defensive tackle, had just transferred to Miami from Michigan State.
00:05 Late last week, reports that he left South Florida and indicated to Miami teammates of his that he
00:11 wasn't coming back, right? And then reports started to surface he might end up at Mizzou.
00:16 Is he going to leave? But how can he leave? Because he's already enrolled and matriculated
00:20 and the transfer portal is not currently open. So as the dust is starting to settle here, Blue,
00:26 we're starting to get reports over the past 24 hours that this situation may be resolved very
00:33 soon and Simeon Barrow may end up staying at Miami. Now, if it does come to pass that way,
00:40 Blue, my hope would be obviously Miami has hopefully a stronger culture than it's had in
00:45 previous years, a strong locker room, strong leadership, and everybody can water under the
00:52 bridge, men fences, whatever you have to do, go out there and play like professionals, right?
00:56 Would there be any concern that if it does resolve where Barrow is back, that there could
01:02 be some hard feelings? How do you feel like the program would have to navigate this situation?
01:06 Well, you don't want the tail to wag the dog, that's for sure. Because if you start doing that
01:12 and the kids are calling the shots, which they now are more than ever with the NIL and the portal and
01:19 not having to sit out if they transfer, as a coach told me yesterday, it becomes a discipline
01:27 problem when the rest of the guys are working their tails off and want to be here that somebody
01:32 comes in and then all of a sudden has a freedom of just walking away like that and no repercussions.
01:40 I think that they'll welcome them back with open arms because of the fact that they need them.
01:46 You'd have to be foolish if you were a prospect like that not to come to Miami,
01:51 especially with the ties that Mario Cristobal has to the NFL, especially because a lot of his
01:57 kids from Oregon and being around all those guys at Alabama when he was there that went to that
02:02 next level. He's got coaches, come on, Jason Taylor and all these guys that are down there
02:08 and that could further your career. So I think when he takes a step back and maybe talks to
02:14 family or whoever, they're going to figure that's a great spot for him. Now, whether it was
02:19 taking him out of the region where he was at and a lot of family and a lot of people could see him,
02:23 I can understand that. But if he makes a commitment like he did to this school here
02:29 and they banked on him and they got their meetings together and figured that he was
02:33 going to be in the mix and say, "Hey, listen, we're going to be a much stronger team with him
02:36 there because of his experience, his athleticism." So there's two sides of the coin. And certainly,
02:44 I think if Miami is moving forward and wants to get to that next level, it can have
02:49 this type of scenario. If kids want to be here, they're here. Too many of those players, if you
02:54 look, especially with the current roster, want to be here. And they feel that Miami, this is a year
03:00 where they could turn the corner. So I would hope, Alex, that he did come back and put his tail
03:06 between his legs and say, "Listen, I left Michigan State. I'm kind of confused. Things happen so fast."
03:15 And I'm sure that happened because you know that if you come down to this culture, everybody
03:21 embraces you. And you got guys on the roster that are from all different walks of life. So it's not
03:27 like he comes in here and he's going to a different planet. You have a situation where it's Miami,
03:34 weather's great all year round. There's always going to be somebody at the facilities, coaches,
03:41 anything you want to get into. I mean, even if it's a homesickness or something like that,
03:46 they've dealt with that stuff. So we'll see. I'd love to see him here. He's a great talent.
03:50 He elevates the defense in a great way because they could do more with him and put guys like
03:57 Bain next to him and creates havoc. And yeah, so he has to figure this out for himself. He has to
04:04 be committed to what everybody else is down there and can't be a distraction. And you know how that
04:11 is. But I think I'd like to see him come back. If he doesn't, then that's his choice and Miami moves