Miami kept digging into USC’s recruiting territory and came away with another one.
Four-star wide receiver Eli Woodard, who once looked like a prized local pickup for the Trojans out of Chapparal High in Temecula, has picked the Hurricanes after backing off his USC pledge in May. Woodard’s final three came down to UCLA, Cal and Miami, and Miami won the race.
That outcome gives the Hurricanes a familiar kind of victory. It’s the second time Miami has landed a former high-profile USC commitment, and the comparison to another flip is hard to miss.
Before Woodard, Miami pulled off the late move on five-star edge rusher Hayden Lowe. Lowe had been a longtime Trojans pledge before choosing the Big Ten team ahead of his senior season, but Miami coach Mario Cristobal and edge rushers coach Jason Taylor kept pressing. The result was a major late flip of the Oaks Christian High of Westlake Village, Ca., star, who is now expected to compete for one of the edge spots left open by first rounders Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor, both of whom were key pieces in Miami’s run back to the National Championship Game.
USC general manager Chad Bowden has put a no-visit policy in place for committed recruits, but Woodard still wanted to take a look around after his early commitment. Miami stayed on him anyway, and eventually closed the deal.
The Trojans have seen this movie before. They also lost five-star edge rusher Xavier Griffin after he took visits elsewhere and later decommitted from the 2026 class. Griffin has since signed with Alabama.
On paper, USC still owns the stronger 2026 class compared to Miami. But the 2027 picture is starting to tilt the other way. Cristobal and his staff have been stacking up major flips, and Woodard is only the latest example.
Miami also landed five-star cornerback Donte Wright after he flipped from Georgia in late spring. Another big win came on June 8, when five-star edge rusher Jaiden Bryant of Columbia, South Carolina backed off his LSU commitment and joined the Canes. The source also notes Bryant had been playing for former USC head coach Lane Kiffin.
The current rankings reflect the momentum. Miami is No. 3 overall in both the On3/Rivals and 247Sports rankings. USC checks in at No. 10 in the former and No. 14 in the latter.
USC did not go after a replacement for Woodard at wide receiver. The Trojans did make a push for four-star offensive lineman Isaiah Bertola after Woodard’s spot opened up, but Bertola ended up committing to Cal.
For now, Woodard stands as the lone prominent USC decommit in this cycle.
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Stewarts work has drawn attention because the improvement USC needs is pretty specific: more pressure, more disruption, and more consistency against offenses that can make a defense pay for even small lapses. He is still in the early stages of that jump, but the fact that he is spending the offseason focused on that part of his game suggests USC believes his growth could matter a lot when the pressure ramps up in the fall. [Read more 🡒]