2019 North Marion offensive lineman Michael Tarquin flipped his commitment from Miami to the Florida Gators today coming off an official visit to UF.





The 6-5, 290-pounder is currently a 4-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Tarquin is the #284 player nationally, #23 OT in the country, and the #41 player in the Sunshine State. His decommitment moves Miami’s 2019 class ranking down to #29 on 247Sports and #37 on Rivals.





The Background



Tarquin had been committed to Miami since April and was adamant he had found the perfect school for him; Tarquin shut down his recruitment and said he didn’t need to take any more visits. Tarquin expected to enroll into classes at Miami early and get a head start on the tackle competition during spring ball. Fast-forward a few months, and Miami’s losing streak and subpar offensive performance seemed to really shake things up for Tarquin, as he visited the Gators for gameday visits three times in the midst of Miami’s four game losing streak. There was some confidence that Miami would be able to keep him on board after his UM official two weekends ago, but an official visit to Gainesville this past weekend sealed him up for the Gators.





Future of the Class



Tarquin's decommitment brings the total class numbers down to 14, and leaves Miami with zero commitments at the weakest spot on the team. Yes, zero. If the red flags aren’t blaring in your face right now, you’re just simply not paying attention.



Not only is Miami in a terrible spot on the offensive line with 2 weeks to the early signing period and 2 months to the close of the cycle, but the loss of Tarquin cannot be understated in terms of him playing tackle. UM simply does not have many tackles on the roster that can really play the position and have way too many tweener types. UM curiously had not made tackle much of a priority this cycle, as they were expecting Tarquin to enroll early and at least be a factor in the two deep by fall of 2019, as well as 5-star Evan Neal to sign with Miami. Now, there is much more question marks than answers.



I touched on tackle recruiting last week and not much has changed since then. Neal made his official visit to Miami this weekend and seems down to a final four of Miami, Oklahoma, FSU, and of course Bama. Each has already received officials, with UM getting his final official visit, and that’s not a bad spot to be in, but the Canes still seem to be running a distant second behind the Crimson Tide for now. Miami is trying to see if bringing in his brother as a PWO will help sway Neal, but I was told not to expect that to have any real impact on Neal’s decision. Neal will sign early in December.



Next up, the Canes have been pushing for a flip from Mississippi State commit Darius Washington for a few months now and Washington made an OV to Miami back in October for the FSU game. Washington is a quiet kid that doesn't do many interviews and is hard to get a read on. While some believe the Canes have a better shot than is being reported, Miami will certainly have to get Washington back on campus to feel confident in making the flip.



Wake Forest commit CJ Elmonus was recently offered by the staff, but it doesn’t seem like he has any real interest in taking a visit or seriously considering Miami. That is the extent of tackle recruiting for Miami right now, and as you can see, saying it doesn’t look good is putting it nicely.