Mario Cristobal says Miami roster could look ‘significantly’ different after portal window

If you liked what you saw from Miami‘s roster during Friday night’s spring game, head coach Mario Cristobal only plans to beef it up during the spring transfer portal window.

He said his roster could change ‘significantly’ following the two-week college football free agency frenzy. The portal officially opens on Saturday and will close on April 30 — but that gives the ‘Canes coaching staff enough time to snag their share of talent from the portal.

“We’re very fortunate to have coached and played for some really great coaches. It’s a blueprint that has stood the test of time and we’re sticking to it,” Cristobal told Pete Thamel after the ‘Canes spring game. “To make that blueprint work, we still have to enhance the talent on our roster.”

Cristobal used the early portal window to do the same. He mainly catered to the offensive and defensive lines and added a couple of linebackers that could find themselves in Miami’s regular rotation when the season rolls around.

Offensive linemen Javion Cohen (Alabama) and Matt Lee (UCF) were the two main snags for Cristobal offensively but mostly kept his eye on defense during the early window. DL’s Branson Deen (Purdue) and Thomas Gore (Georgia State) alongside LB Francisco Mauigoa (Washington State) were three of the biggest defensive wins for Miami.

In all, Miami signed 10 new players from the transfer portal before the window closed. That only added to the massive recruiting class Cristobal has coming in from the high school ranks. Mauigoe’s brother, Francis Mauigoa, is a Five-Star Plus+ OT recruit per the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He headlines a group including 24 other players ranked No. 6 in the country.

Even though Miami is bringing in 35 players into the program before April’s window began — minus some freshman finishing up their high school careers — there is always room for improvement. Recruiting at Miami a nonstop grind, as former ‘Canes star and current assistant director of recruiting Mike Rumph told Thamel during the spring game.

“On vacation, we’re not vacationing,” Rumph said of Cristobal’s recruiting style. “We’re always staying in contact and communicating with the parents, the kids. He remembers birthdays, he remembers everything about the kids, no matter how many come in the building. It’s nonstop. I’ve never been around a recruiter like him.”

Where Miami finds its talent remains to be seen, but Cristobal and company will undoubtedly have their fingerprints all over the portal by the time it closes in two weeks.