Four-star athlete, Robert Stafford, talks his commitment to Miami and their momentum in recruiting

Photo Credit: The Athletic

Miami has been arguably one of the most electric schools in recruiting this summer, and four-star athlete, Robert Stafford, is a major reason why the Hurricanes are in the Top 10-ranked recruiting classes in the country.

Stafford, a five-foot, 11-inch, 171-pound wide receiver and cornerback plays at Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida. He is ranked as the No. 12 athlete in the country, No. 34 recruit in Florida, and the No. 163 overall recruit in the country. Stafford committed to Miami on June 30, and he joined me Thursday night in an Instagram Live Interview to talk about his decision and how well Miami has been doing in this recruiting cycle.

Just as many of Miami’s commits do, Stafford chose to stay close to home, as Melbourne is just under a three-hour drive. “It was the best thing for me and my family, close to home,” Stafford said. “My family could come and watch the games.”

The Hurricanes added, along with Stafford, a five-star offensive tackle in Francis Mauigoa, and five four-stars in edge rusher, Jayden Wayne, quarterback, Jaden Rashada, tight end, Riley Williams, wide receiver, Nathaniel Joseph, and linebacker, Raul Aguirre. With all the new commits, and the new coaching staff recently brought in, there are a lot of new connections being made within the 2023 recruiting class in Miami.

“They just added me to a group chat with all the commits,” Stafford said. “I’m talking to them, trying to get to know them more. And then the coaches, they just came in too, that whole staff, so we’re still trying to get that connection.” The new coaching staff also made a good impression on Stafford, and many of Miami’s other commits connected well with the staff as well.

Miami looks to continue their recruiting surge for the remainder of the summer. Early on in Stafford’s membership to the Miami recruiting class, he is focused on bringing 4-star linebacker, Malik Bryant to Coral Gables. “We want Malik [Bryant], we want Malik real bad.”

Along with Bryant, Miami is gaining ground on a few uncommitted prospects: five-star offensive tackle, Samson Okunlola, four-star offensive tackle, Olaus Alinen, and defensive linemen, Rueben Bain.

Robert Stafford was a commit that Miami had to fight over 40 other schools for. “Oregon was always one of my dream schools,” Stafford said. “Arkansas came into play, they showed a lot of love, because I’ve been up there three times. I was up there a lot.” Stafford also took an official visit to Kentucky, who was his first offer.

Holding so many offers, Stafford could have gone anywhere in the country to play football. While that is a unique opportunity, it was overwhelming for him at times. “It was kind of stressful, I aint gonna lie,” Stafford said. “With that, you don’t want to make a wrong mistake. If you could go anywhere you want, there’s always going to be somewhere that has something better than the other place. So I had to learn that too, that every place ain’t perfect.”

Stafford was able to find his best fit, however; a place that is picking up storm in the recruiting world this summer. As the summer comes to a close over the next month and a half, Stafford looks to help Miami climb up the recruiting rankings, and help bring many more recruits to play for Coach Cristobal in Coral Gables.