Miami believed to have a roster built to win ACC, make College Football Playoff

The on-field results haven’t necessarily shown it yet, but Mario Cristobal has built an impressive roster at Miami. The Hurricanes have signed the top recruiting class in the ACC each of the past two years, per the On3 Industry rankings. They have also added several talented players from the transfer portal.

On3’s Andy Staples recently joined Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain on their podcast and talked about the Hurricanes. Staples shared that he believes Miami has a truly elite roster.

“I’ve seen Mario build a roster. I saw Mario build a dynamite roster at Oregon. But you also have to get the on-field part of it right,” Staples said. “They have the roster to win the ACC, to make the playoff. They have the talent. It’s all there.”

Cristobal finished 5-7 in Year 1 at Miami, before going 7-5 this past season. The hope around the program is that Year 3 will see the Hurricanes take a sizeable jump and become ACC contenders. Staples believes that with the talent Miami returns, as well as the additions from the high school ranks and the transfer portal, the Hurricanes can compete with just about anybody this fall.

“They just got Damien Martinez out of the transfer portal – a very good running back from Oregon State. You mix that with guys that were highly-touted high school recruits that you took – Francis Mauigoa started last year at right tackle, did a good job. Samson Okunlola, who was the other five-star offensive lineman, he jumps into the starting lineup this year,” Staples said. “Rueben Bain, who you just mentioned. They’ve got those freshmen d-linemen who were very highly touted. Maybe some of them will be helpful along the defensive line this year.

“[Xavier] Restrepo, one of the homegrown guys that can make plays. Like they’ve got dudes. They just have to put it all together.”

Miami will be tested right out of the gate as the Hurricanes open the season at Florida on Aug. 31. Staples feels that the matchup against the Gators will tell us a lot about what kind of season Miami is ready to have.

“I think that Florida game will be a really good test for them because they’re going into Gainesville. They probably have a better roster than Florida. They’re probably more talented than Florida,” Staples said. “But this is where you’ve got to prove that you can get it done in a hostile environment, in the GameDay atmosphere, and win games like that. With Miami’s talent, 10-2 is a very feasible record this year. Very feasible. But you have to not underachieve.”