Highly Touted QB Recruit Kevin Olsen Chooses the Miami Hurricanes, Follows in Big Brother’s Footsteps

More from the Eye of the Storm: Kevin Olsen Junior Season Highlight Video

Top ten quarterback Kevin Olsen shuns Wisconsin, Auburn and South Carolina, and chooses to follow his brother Greg to become a Hurricane.

Kevin Olsen is a great commitment for The U’s 2013 class, and is definitely the quarterback of the future for the Hurricanes program, but please don’t let anyone convince you that he is a “can’t miss” prospect. All signs point in that direction, sure, but does anyone remember Kyle Wright, Brock Berlin, and Robert Marve? That’s not to say this kid won’t be great. I tend to think he will achieve great things under Al Golden and Jedd Fisch, but lets not crown him King of Coral Gables before he even gets through one U-Tough season.

That being said I want to point out a few key factors to consider even if Kevin Olsen never plays a game for the Hurricanes.

First, a commitment as big as Olsen draws a lot of attention from other potential recruits. His signing will make every high school junior and senior in the country start thinking about Miami, but more importantly it will help a lot of the recruits who were on the fence make a decision. Golden seems to have developed a strategy for using players and recruits to expand his scouting staff. Randy “Duke” Johnson was a huge help in getting 5-star recruit Tracy Howard to sign with Miami this spring, and I expect that Olsen will be used in that capacity as well.

Second, as much talent as there is in south Florida, the Hurricanes need to establish some kind of recruiting presence in other states for just this type of opportunity. Getting Kevin Olsen into a Hurricane uniform will give the UM scouts a direct connection to the entire New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York area, and that area of the country has rarely been accessible to Miami in years past.

The third thing Olsen’s commitment does is get fans excited. Fans love to hear about success in recruiting because it means there’s still hope, and for a Hurricanes fan base that learned to identify themselves with the recruiting and production of great quarterbacks over the years, getting a top ten recruit like Olsen gives us a nostalgic feeling of past success.

The last thing I want to mention is how Olsen’s reputation and early signing will affect the rest of the quarterbacks on the team. Olsen, if he lives up to the hype, will be competing for the starting job the day he walks onto campus. Make no mistake that this kid is as polished as they come, and above his physical skills, most scouts have put him in their top ten because of his ability to stay collected under pressure along with his great decision making. Good luck keeping this kid off the field once he arrives.

With over 6 months left in the 2013 recruiting year look for a few more big commitments to this Hurricane’s program, but also realize that recruited talent doesn’t always convert to wins on the field. Between Butch Davis, Larry Coker and Randy Shannon The U has had some pretty amazing recruiting classes over the past 15 years, but only one championship to show for it. So, Hurricanes fans, get excited about Kevin Olsen, and remember even if he doesn’t pan out he has already done a lot for the Miami program, just by wanting to play for them.

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What do you think Gamedayrs?