Inside The Lines: Get to know Miami commit Deryc Plazz

Heading into his freshman year of high school, football was almost an afterthought for Miami commit Jacksonville (FL) Mandarin three-star offensive lineman Deryc Plazz. 

After playing the sport for most of his upbringing in Jacksonville, the Hurricanes commit turned his focus away from the gridiron, but after a talk with his head basketball coach, he decided to give football one more shot. 

“I came into high school thinking I wasn’t going to play football anymore and that I was just going to play basketball,” Plazz said. “My basketball coach made me play football, and I came late, so my first practice was the day after the first varsity game, so I was on junior varsity. I played two games of JV, then I started on varsity the next week. After that, I thought I might be able to do something with this. Then I started to gain some attention from DI programs, and from there, it started rolling.”

And roll it did; since his freshman year, Plazz earned 40 Division I offers but ultimately chose to stay in the Sunshine State and play for Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes after originally committing to Penn State.

“It feels amazing to be a Hurricane,” Plazz said. “Waking up a Cane has been a blessing.” 

Plazz, who stands at 6-foot-5, 280 pounds, is an extremely athletic tackle, and a big reason for that comes from his background of playing both basketball and soccer. Although football has always been his primary focus, basketball, and soccer helped Plazz become the player he is today.

“In middle school, I played soccer and basketball, so that helps me move around a little bit,” Plazz said. “Being an offensive lineman, soccer and basketball helped a lot. I feel like that’s why I’m able to move the way I do because of those two backgrounds.”

When the three-star offensive lineman isn’t playing ball, he is either perfecting his craft or giving back to his community, which is something he hopes to continue to do when he arrives in Miami. 

“When I’m not playing football, I used to play basketball a lot, but now I’ll just be looking for ways to better myself and giving back to the community,” Plazz said. “That’s something I realized I’m interested in doing. That’s another reason I committed to Miami was because the community service is second to none. That’s something coach Cristobal prides himself on doing, and that’s something I love to do. When you step out into the community you’re in and build it up, that also builds you up. I can’t wait to get down to Miami and start building up the community.”

In CaneSport’s latest installment of Inside The Lines, Izubee Charles goes one-on-one with Miami’s latest commit as they discuss a handful of topics, including his relationship with Hurricanes offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, what he plans on bringing to Miami, and more.

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