It makes all the sense in the world. From four-star running back Kevin Riley’s perspective, an early National Signing Day flip from Miami to Alabama was a move to better his future.
Not that the talented running back from Northpoint, Alabama, couldn’t have become a star at Miami. He’s ranked as the consensus No. 4 player at his position nationally, after all. He has the talent to succeed anywhere.
With that said, in Nick Saban’s Alabama program, he saw a better pathway to development. Specifically, the type of development as a running back that could lead him to the NFL.
That all clicked this past weekend on an official visit to Tuscaloosa.
“It came down to Alabama being the best fit for me to develop and me being the best I can be,” Riley told 247Sports. “Their message to me [on the visit] was that I am different and can be in a role like Jahmyr Gibbs was in their offense.”
That’s quite a pitch for a young back considering how Gibbs benefited from playing at Alabama. In one season with the Tide, he rushed 151 times for 926 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 44 passes for 444 yards and three scores.
He was such a dual-threat weapon that the Detroit Lions took him at No. 12 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
“I chose Alabama because of the program. It is a developmental program,” Riley explained, “Alabama has a lot of connections to the league (NFL) and I feel going against the competition there will make me better. Iron sharpens iron and Alabama will prepare me for the next level.”
That’s all common knowledge for the Tide, but what a blow that has to be to hear for Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes. Riley had been committed to Miami since June of 2023.
To lose him on signing day is one thing, but to hear that Miami’s player development at the moment in no way compares to Alabama’s has to be a gut punch. The Hurricanes once boasted the program to be at for aspiring NFL talent.
All recruiting flips hurt the team that was left behind, but this one has to sting just a bit more for the Hurricanes.
