Will Miami Beat Florida State For This Blue Chip South Florida Defensive Back?

The Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles are going head to head for the verbal commitment of Miami Columbus HS standout Bryce Fitzgerald .

The four star safety will announce his choice on Saturday, August 17th. Miami and Florida State are believed to be his top two. 247Sports national recruiting analyst Tom Loy believes Miami to be pulling ahead over the past couple days.

"From what I’ve gathered, Florida State was in a terrific position to land him on Wednesday," Loy wrote on Friday morning. "A really good spot. However, now I’m told Miami is making a huge move to land him right now and I’m starting to lean that way based on everything over the last 24 hours. Things absolutely could still change."

Meanwhile, Florida State insider Brendan Sonnone dropped a crystal ball prediction on Friday for Fitzgerald to pick the Hurricanes.

Miami would do well to keep Fitzgerald home. He's rated by 247Sports as the 18th safety in the entire class of 2025. The 6-1, 170 pounder recorded ten interceptions in his junior season at Columbus. He returned two picks for touchdowns. Two of his interceptions came in the State Championship game against Jacksonville Mandarin.

The Hurricanes have plenty of connections to Columbus High School besides the proximity. It's the alma mater of head coach Mario Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal.

Miami currently has the tenth rated class of 2025 with 20 verbal commits. The Hurricanes have five verbal pledges from five defensive backs: four star safety Hylton "Drake" Stubbs , four star cornerbacks Jaboree Antoine , Chris Ewald Jr and Amari Wallace, and three star corner Timothy Merritt . Stubbs recently earned a fifth star from the Rivals recruiting service.

Will the Hurricanes beat the rival Seminoles for Fitzgerald?