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Posted

Considering all the information they have on this guy, if they're taking him while so many others are still on the board, they must see him on the same level as those guys.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Atticus said:

Considering all the information they have on this guy, if they're taking him while so many others are still on the board, they must see him on the same level as those guys.

Dunno if you watched the OTF segment, but Gerry said they liked him so much that they pulled back from the North Shore DB.  Joseph and Gideon didn't seem overly interested, but all three new DB coaches seem quite enthusiastic about him.

Edited by cafe society
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Posted
5 hours ago, TexMexBuddha said:

Awesome to get one from Anderson. Hook'em Yaheim.

Welcome to the 40 Acres family! emoji869.pngemoji202.png

I mean, Texas could get one from Anderson every year if they wanted. 

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Posted

Jordan Scruggs from Horns247 extensively quotes his trainer, Bernard "Bam" Blake, on what kind of player Texas is getting. 

I'll be honest. I don't worry about whether Texas hits on every recruitment. Not every kid has to be a 5 star - nor can they be. What I get concerned with is if Texas is filling up with players who are not as highly touted because they're trying to build momentum, they can't successfully recruit the more talented athletes, or they're too lazy to do the work to go outside the immediate area to identify the highest level of talent. None of those three things describe this staff. The worse thing I could speculate about this recruitment is they're trying to maintain tight relations with Blake, but given his track record with DBs, including Taafe, Barron, and Mukuba, that's not the worst thing in the world to happen. They decided this kid would be a good fit. Whatever role he plays - and for all I know he's a multiple year AA - he seems like he'll be an amazing culture fit. I'm excited to see how he develops.

Here's the article Scruggs wrote quoting Blake:

Texas lands Austin Anderson three-star safety Yaheim "Miami" Riley

Quote

Texas landed a commitment from Austin Anderson safety Yaheim "Miami" Riley. The commitment came about a month and a half after the Longhorns offered Riley in late March, but the process of getting to this moment has been a long time coming that no one saw more of than Austin area defensive back transfer Bernard "Bam" Blake

A Bastrop native who played college football at Colorado State and eventually in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers before his football career was ended due to a brain aneurysm, Blake has spent the past few years training defensive backs in the greater Austin area. 

One of those DB's is Texas' newest commitment in Riley, who Blake has trained for several years. 

That said, Horns247 caught up with Blake to hear his thoughts on Riley as a person, player, and what his fit at Texas will look like.

As stated earlier, it's been a long time coming for Riley to get to this moment, and it was a long time coming for those like Blake who helped mentor and train the Austin area product into the player he is today. 

"Being that this isn't the first go around for me, it's always special when you get to spend time with the kids and really learn about what they overcome and what they battle everyday, and then just seeing what the game of football can do not only to change their lives but their family's lives. A kid like Miami, if you know him, you know he's a real personable person, real good kid, funny kid, goofy kid, and those are the ones you cheer for and you root for. So it's been special just getting to see him develop as a player but as a person also. He's one of the hardest working kids that I know, he really doesn't miss (training) sessions, doesn't miss anything related to the game of football if he doesn't have to. If he can find a way, he's gonna be there. So it's just a blessing to see it all play out for him."

Blake knew Riley would be a special player the minute he saw for the first time back in Riley's freshman season in 2022. 

"It was his freshman year at LBJ. At the time I was still coaching (at Austin LASA), and we showed up to the game, and this kid got three interceptions in one game. And I was like 'who is that!?' and I remember talking to coach (Jahmal) Fenner (who was coaching LBJ at the time) and being like 'who is that!?'. And he started laughing and said 'that's baby Drew (Mukuba)' and I said ok because not too many people would say that especially Fenner. So from there, being able to watch him week by week, I coached in the same district that he was playing in and he just showed up on tape time after time and it was like damn this kid right here really is special."

But it's not just what he does on the field that makes him a versatile and special player, it's the drive he had and the work he put in to get to this moment, as Riley literally got a job at Whataburger as a freshman just so he could pay for training sessions with Blake. 

"To describe him and his drive, I would probably say the best way to put it into a sentence is he would make an effort way before he would make an excuse. The kid literally went out, got his own job, and then contacted me about training after he got the job and got everything taken care of. In today's game that's unheard of, so many of these kids not only want it for free, but a lot of them are used to getting stuff for free because of the notoriety or whatever it may be but here's a kid right here who, at the time probably didn't know how special he was gonna be but knew he had some type of talent to him and he still went out of his way to secure any financials he needed to in order to train, and then not letting that be a reason that he's not training so it was really special. I see him two to three times a week and if I have a session he's there. There's times where I'll go out of town to train and he's in the car with me riding along. He's been to Temple, he's been to San Antonio, if there's an opportunity for him to work he's gonna do it. And I think that going to a prestigious university like Texas, that's one of the things that he's gonna have to continue to love."

Blake then broke down what separates Riley from the rest of the defensive back prospects he's trained. 

"Miami has a drive to be great and he's motivated to be great. He has a really, really natural football IQ that's really high, he gets a feel for the game early. And especially for a kid of his age, for him to be able to understand the x's and o's of football and to see it all play out and react to it in real time, that's a special trait to have because not too many players in the country can do that really on all levels. So he has a unique understanding of the game, high IQ, very physical player, fluid with his movements, great change of direction, and he's versatile. He can play corner, he can play safety, he can play nickel. So I think he's the ultimate defensive back in terms of his IQ and knowledge of the game, because it allows him to be available for multiple positions."

Blake loves Riley's fit at Texas playing under Duane Akina in his hometown. 

"I think Akina and Miami might be one of the greatest connections that could possibly be made. When you have a guy that has all the physical tools that a kid like Miami has, paired with the football knowledge and history and resumé that Akina has. I mean it's no secret what he did last time he was at Texas back in 2005 with those guys like Mike Griff who was a converted running back. So he's used to having athletes at his disposal and turning them into eight plus year NFL vets so it's only gonna be the opportunity to be the next great chapter in the story. He's a guy who's a sponge to all types of knowledge in Miami, and a guy who knows the game in and out in Akina who's been around the game for a long time, been around the block, that's a blessing to have."

The next one up in Blake's stable as Riley will follow in the footsteps laid ahead of him by Blake's other longtime clients in Jahdae Barron, Michael Taaffe, and Drew Mukuba, Blake couldn't be more proud of the journey Riley has gone on to get to this moment. 

"I'm extremely proud of him, not only for him, but what it means to the city of Austin. Being that next guy. He's kinda had that behind the scenes view of Jahdae Barron, Andrew Mukuba, and Michael Taaffe and some of the things that they battled to get there, some of things that they continue to battle to put on for the 512 while staying in the 512. And just overall, just seeing his talent and his process, it wasn't the traditional Texas process. I mean you have a kid who normally if you got the UT offer you got the OU, you got the 'Bama, you got all of that, but here's a kid where UT kinda really in hindsight wasn't necessarily late on. They trusted what they saw, they gave him the offer, and now he's having the ability to go ahead and change his life and play the game right here and really be the next one out of that stable that continues that burnt orange tradition."

 

Texas lands Austin Anderson three-star safety Yaheim "Miami" Riley

The Texas Longhorns have landed their eighth commitment in the 2026 cycle, and the first commitment from an Austin area high school prospect since Colton Vasek in the 2023 cycle.

Jordan ScruggsJordan Scruggs19 hrs21
 

The Texas Longhorns have landed a commitment from Austin Anderson three-star safety Yaheim "Miami" Riley

The eighth prospect to join the burnt orange's 2026 class, Riley had been committed to Willie Fritz and the Houston Cougars since December 23 but decommitted following a mid April visit to Texas. 

Riley ending up at Texas happened rather quickly, as the Longhorns extended an offer the late night hours of March 24. Riley visited the Forty Acres not too long after on Apr. 12, and the day after posted his decommitment from Houston on the 13th. He's now committed to the Longhorns after today's announcement, and it only took Duane Akina, Mark Orphey, and Keynodo Hudson a little over a month and a half to land his commitment. 

While Riley committing to Texas happened relatively quickly, landing the offer from the Longhorns was a long time coming. Originally from south Florida, Riley didn't play organized football until he moved to Texas when he was in middle school, but after the move was made and he began playing football in the Lone Star State, Texas became his dream school. 

But Riley wanting to go to Texas wasn't just about the proximity to home, Longhorn logo, or the fact that Texas is back in their rightful place in the college football landscape, as there was much more to it than that. 

Though he's now a Trojan after he transferred into Anderson earlier this spring, Riley started his high school career at Austin LBJ and immediately made an impact for the East Austin powerhouse program as a freshman playing varsity minutes. Riley spent three years with the Jaguars, and the first year at LBJ the Jaguars' head coach was Jahmal Fenner, who would depart the LBJ program in January of Riley's freshman year to take the Director of High School Relations job on the Forty Acres. Fenner's move to the Forty Acres made the Longhorns become even more of a dream school for Riley, who now had an important figure in his life and a crucial connection on staff in Austin.

Riley also had other "in's" with the program through Jahdae Barron, Michael Taaffe, and eventually Drew Mukuba once Mukuba transferred from Clemson to Texas and returned home to Austin. Those connections to Barron, Taaffe, and Mukuba happened through countless group training sessions over the years across the Austin area with defensive back trainer Bernard "Bam" Blake. Those sessions went all the way back to 2022, and in the time since Riley not only grew close with Barron, Taaffe, and Mukuba, but he was also able to get a first person viewing of the developments Barron, Taaffe, and Mukuba had made from the beginning of their college careers to the end. 

Riley was able to not only get a first person view of the work that went into Barron and Mukuba getting drafted, but he was also at both Barron and Mukuba's draft parties. Though Texas became the immediate leader in the race the minute they offered in late March, Riley decided he'd officially be going to Texas after back to back nights of seeing his role models get selected in the NFL Draft. 

"After coach Akina came down to Texas and offered," Riley said of when he knew he'd be going to Texas. "But really after Drew and Jahdae's draft party because that's where I want to be."

Those two along with fellow Austin area native Michael Taaffe paved the way for Riley and showed that regardless of where you come from or what program you play for in the often overlooked Austin area, you can still accomplish your dreams of putting on the burnt orange.

"It feels great," Riley told Horns247 the night he got offered by Texas. "I'm just grateful for those guys being the role models that they are and that they've shown us little ones that it can happen and that it can be done. And I'm just thankful for them and that they've been those role models for me and for the other kids around Texas. I also look at their footsteps as something I would want to become because they're very good people and like, Jahdae, he's just a good person and he'll set up goals for himself and he knows where he wants to go and knows what he's trying to get done so he's been a good person to have around me just to know that there's always work to be done."

In what was a long time coming that even had time periods where there was extreme frustration from Riley's camp towards the Longhorns not offering, Riley is now officially on the path to accomplishing his dream and becoming a Texas Longhorn and he couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity. 

"It feels great," Riley told Horns247 Friday afternoon. "I'm just ready to work and become the young man that they've been preaching that they'll make me so I can be a great player that I can be on the field. So I'm just ready to go there and work and I'm ready for the journey and ready to be what they make me."

Riley is the first Austin area prospect the Longhorns have landed since Colton Vasek (Westlake) in the 2023 class, and he's the first Austin ISD prospect Texas has landed since Charles Wright (Austin High) in the 2021 class. 

At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Riley is ranked as the No. 775 overall prospect in the nation, the No. 67 safety in the nation, and the No.  116 overall prospect in the state of Texas according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

What I get concerned with is if Texas is filling up with players who are not as highly touted because they're trying to build momentum,

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they can't successfully recruit the more talented athletes,

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or they're too lazy to do the work to go outside the immediate area to identify the highest level of talent.

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