CORAL GABLES — When Shemar Stewart signed with Texas A&M over the Hurricanes at his high school in Miami Gardens last year, he said his “heart will always be” in Miami.
A year and a half later, there may be some caveats to that.
The former Monsignor Pace five-star defensive lineman and second-year Aggie said UM, the team he strongly considered signing with, won’t be getting revenge for their loss in College Station last year when the teams square off in Miami Gardens on Saturday.
“They’re a completely different team. I know it,” Stewart said Monday. “They’ve been working hard all offseason. I just know how hard they’ve been working. I know they want to get their revenge on us after last year, but it ain’t going to happen this year. Maybe some other time, but not this time.”
Stewart was a highly recruited player coming out of high school. He was listed as the No. 9 player in the 2022 class by 247Sports’ composite rankings, and he held off on making a decision until February’s National Signing Day. Stewart said he grew up a Miami fan.
“It’s the home team,” Stewart said “They had that great run in the early 2000s. Everybody in Miami talks about, ‘UM this, UM that. They used to be great.’ I always wanted to go there. When I was first getting recruited, I was like, ‘Oh yeah I want to go here,’ because I saw all my friends committing there. But I just had to choose a different route.”
Ultimately, Stewart picked the Aggies, saying his family pushed him to go to college away from home.
“(I chose Texas A&M) mainly because the coaches and the staff,” Stewart said. “They treat me like family and they never lied to me. My parents didn’t want me to stay home at all.”
Stewart said after he picked the Aggies, he heard the displeasure from fans of the home team.
“Being a highly rated player out of Miami, everybody expects you to stay and play for the home team, right?” Stewart said. “When I committed here, basically the whole city was mad at me. They basically shunned me for a while. But we got over it.”
Stewart said he has been looking forward to this year’s game in South Florida since the schedule for this season came out. He played 52 snaps in the Aggies’ win last year, making five tackles. Stewart said he still has friends on the Hurricanes but, “come Saturday, we ain’t friends no more.”
Stewart will have to face Miami’s revamped offensive line, which allowed only one sack in the season opener on Friday.
“They’re really strong up front,” Stewart said, “so it’s going to be a real good challenge this week.”
