The University of Miami coaches had every intention of this recruiting trip being about searching for a quarterback.
Running backs coach Don Soldinger had been instructed to use the opportunity in the fall of 1998 to sell the rest of the staff on highly touted QB prospect Chris Stephens, a prep All-American out of Gainesville Buchholz High School. That changed, however, the instant a running back from Buchholz's opponent, Gainesville High, received a kick and bolted down the sidelines for a touchdown.
"We were all about getting a quarterback that night,"
Soldinger said. "Then [head coach] Butch [Davis] looked over at me and told me, 'I don't want the quarterback. I want the kid who just went 97 yards to score on the kickoff return. After that, I started recruiting him."
That other player was running back Clinton Portis. He became one of the cornerstone recruits of the Hurricanes' 2001 national championship team, called by many the greatest team in college football history.
Soldinger said Portis' recruitment was somewhat typical of how the 2001 'Canes came together. Assembling one of college football's most dominant teams had a lot to do with Davis' keen eye for talent.
There was plenty of luck involved, as well.
"Let me tell you something,"
Soldinger said. "You've got to be lucky [with recruiting]. You can get all the lists you want and you can get all these guys with stats and numbers, but you've got to make sure they're going to work out and mesh with each other to win a national championship."
"Really, we just recruited a great group of guys that got along together."
The Hurricanes' staff, which included offensive line coach Art Kehoe and receivers coach Curtis Johnson, recruited off instincts instead of following scouting services. They secured talent from their traditional stronghold in South Florida's tri-counties, grabbing stars like defensive back Sean Taylor and running back Willis McGahee. However, they also took a more national approach than in years past, securing a few big out-of-state recruits like quarterback Ken Dorsey from California and receiver Reggie Wayne out of Louisiana.
