Hard-hitting 4-star S Cortez Redding signs with Miami Hurricanes
Jonesboro (Ga.) safety Cortez Redding signed with the Hurricanes on Wednesday. A major reason why was the relationship he built with Will Harris and Zac Ethridge – Miami’s defensive back coaches.
“Coach Will Harris and Coach Zac Etheridge, they’re both going to teach me a lot about football, but also about manhood and how to carry myself as a Black man. They’ve got crazy resumes coaching safeties, and it’s my goal to become the most legendary one,” Redding told Rivals Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons.
His connection with Harris was especially significant for the Hurricanes in their pursuit.
“Me and Coach Harris probably have the best relationship of any coach,” Redding said after pledging to UM. “He’s real. Always honest, always direct. He believed in me since he started recruiting me back in 10th grade.”
Redding picked up an offer from Miami near the end of his junior season, and he committed to the Hurricanes in July. He took official visits in the summer to Miami, Indiana, Ole Miss and North Carolina State. During the fall, he took gameday visits to South Florida to watch the Hurricanes defeat Florida in September and Syracuse in November.
“Miami offered me toward the end of my junior year, and ever since then it’s been real,” Redding said. “They’ve been recruiting me hard and consistently from the jump.”
Redding is an instinctive player. He doesn’t play with any hesitation in pass coverage or as a run defender. His senior year tape showed how willing of a tackler he is. Redding closes in on ball-carriers quickly and brings them down violently. He fits the mold of a versatile safety in defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman’s read-and-react scheme.
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“He just has that extra strength that he just found somewhere and I think that’s helping him out a lot,” Jonesboro (Ga.) head coach DeTimothy Floyd told CaneSport in October. “He’s got the frame to be a little more muscular and put on some weight but he just has the extra little (bit) of strength.”
During his senior season, he totaled 113 tackles (four tackles for loss), six pass breakups, four interceptions and three forced fumbles. He is the high school teammate of fellow Miami secondary commit, four-star cornerback Jontavius Wyman.
“So both of them, I think they picked up where they left off and they’re taking it to another level,” Floyd said about the two defenders. “Jontavius is being Jontavius in all three aspects of the game — offense, defense and special teams and Cortez is leading out on special teams and defensively. He’s kind of taking control of the defense now, like having another coach out there on the field. It’s been exciting watching those two grow especially from last season to this season.”
Redding is ranked by Rivals as a four-star prospect and the 30th-best safety in the 2026 class.
CaneSport’s Take
Redding is a hard-hitting safety that we expect to fly around and make plays on a Miami defense that rewards assertiveness. He’s a high-energy player that has a high motor and will to win. We also like his basketball background.
