The Miami Hurricanes have always aimed to partition South Florida and its talented crop of elite recruits away from other programs across the country. It goes back to the early 1980s when coach Howard Schnellenberger called it the “State of Miami.”
The problem for UM in recent years was that it wouldn’t always go as planned. Year after year, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State when it was in a better position under Jimbo Fisher, would all have their pick first before Miami maybe snuck in with a few top South Florida talents but then largely grabbed from the next tier.