5-STAR SIGNING DAY ADDITION: DL Armondo Blount flips back to Miami, signs with Hurricanes
Miami and Florida State scrapped and clawed aggressively for Miami (Fla.) Central 2024 five-star defensive lineman Armondo Blount, a one-time Miami commit who flipped to Florida State in mid-October. But at the end of the day, the Hurricanes got the last laugh when he signed with The U Wednesday.
Blount completed a frenetic and chaotic recruiting battle between Miami and Florida State by flipping back to the Hurricanes, to whom he initially committed to in mid-September, following his last-minute official visit to Coral Gables last weekend. Blount originally planned to take his official visit to Florida State over the weekend but ultimately decided to take an official visit to Miami instead, which gave the Hurricanes the final opportunity to see Blount in-person before the dead period Monday. He announced his decision at his signing day party.
Blount committed to Miami as a member of the 2025 recruiting class but reclassified to 2024 in mid-October when he flipped to Florida State, although the 6-foot-3.5, 250-pound defensive lineman maintained his five-star rating in the On3 Industry Ranking and the On300. He is the No. 3 defensive lineman in this year’s recruiting class and No. 21 overall recruit.
Miami and Florida State emerged as the two biggest contenders to land Blount at the start of the fall season, and he took game-day visits to both programs. It remained a two-team recruiting battle for Blount throughout the season, and both programs’ head coaches made in-home visits to see Blount in the final month before signing day. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes’ defensive staff remained in constant contact with Blount and his family despite his decision to flip to Florida State, and the Canes eventually began to gradually win him back.
Blount told CaneSport following Miami’s in-home visit this month the Hurricanes’ staff told him they planned to fight for him until the end, and Miami was never totally out of the picture.
“Stuff never changed (after the flip to Florida State),” Blount said. “The way they talk to me, throughout the whole recruiting process they’ve stayed the same. We were just talking about regular stuff, their playing style and their plans for the future at Miami. …They said they’re going to fight for me to the end.”
Blount’s flip back to Miami gives the Hurricanes two five-star defensive linemen in the 2024 class (alongside No. 11 overall prospect Justin Scott) and four blue-chip linemen capable of playing along the interior. Blount was frequently featured as a three-technique and a five-technique for Miami Central, which the Hurricanes’ staff told him he would be used as as well.
CaneSport’s Take
Blount may take the cake for our “most chaotic recruitment award” of the 2024 cycle. It was always a possibility he could reclassify from 2025 to 2024, but had you told us in mid-September he would announce his reclassification at the same time as his flip to Florida State, Miami would stay in contact with him and he would ultimately cancel his Florida State official visit in favor of a Miami visit in the final visit weekend of the year, we would have been wowed.
