Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin High School athlete Brody Jennings spent last weekend at Miami for his official visit under tragic circumstances.
His father, Bradley, passed away just before the trip was to begin for the family. The group would follow through and see Coral Gables once more as the Hurricane staff worked to make the weekend as uplifting as possible.
“My dad passed a few days ago, so I couldn’t really think,” Jennings told local media. “I came on the visit and had the time of my life. I came here to have fun. It was about football, but more about family and football at the same time. He (Mario Cristobal) is not just a football guy, he’s a family guy — all the coaches are family guys. Father figures.
“My dad wanted me to be strong. He liked Miami a lot. He liked the school a lot and I like it a lot. We wanted to still see everything.”
Jennings has considerable connections to the area and Miami program itself, with two siblings attending UM, including his sister currently on the track team.
The bigger picture with the people and the place all came together for a memorable time on campus.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I don’t know if any other schools are topping this official visit. Not even in just seeing everything, but the coaches. Coach Cristobal is a great coach. Coach (Will) Harris ad Coach (Zac) Etheridge — great coaches, and the whole staff was great.
“I’ve been here multiple times before…But to see what the program is about is something serious. It’s like that for real. It’s a great program to play in with great people to be around. My family is from Miami. They’ve been down before and they enjoyed the visit, too. They enjoy the school and they’re Miami Hurricanes fans already, so it would be great playing around the hometown of my parents.”
Jennings has of course been committed to play at Michigan for nearly one year. He remains on board with the Big Ten power, but all involved know this recruitment has more layers to be determined.
“It’s gonna come down to the wire,” he said. “That’s not gonna stop Miami from recruiting me. Miami is coming really hard, Michigan is still coming hard. Miami wants me really bad.
“Miami is a great school. Academics, private school. I could be successful with the school and life after football. There is a lot to offer.”
Florida is set to host Jennings this weekend. Georgia and Michigan get the next two weekends of official visits later this month.
The four-star recruit says Sherrone Moore and company are keeping an open mind as visits continue to go down.
“They know great players will visit other schools,” Jennings said. “They know how hard I worked to get here, so they support me even though other schools will be on me.”
Marcus Benjamin contributed to this report.