Miami and Mario Cristobal quickly becoming a recruiting force

For the better part of a decade — and arguably longer — Miami hasn’t been a major threat on the national recruiting scene. Since 2013, ‘The U’ has just a pair of top-10 classes despite being in arguably the most talent-rich state in the country.

And it has largely been overrun in its own state and city by the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Ohio State and even Florida and Florida State.

In that 10-year period, Miami signed only seven of the state’s top-100 recruits in the On3 Consensus. Names like Dalvin Cook, Sony Michel, Calvin Ridley, Derwin James, Nick and Joey Bosa, Brian Burns, Jerry Jeudy, Patrick Surtain II, Tyrique Stevenson, Jordan Battle, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dallas Turner and Ja’Corey Brooks populate the list of South Florida prospects to sign elsewhere out of high school.

A large part of the reason the Hurricanes hired Mario Cristobal — someone deeply enmeshed in South Florida and with ties to Miami’s most historic era — was to reverse that.

Few in college football are better at building relationships than Cristobal, who took Oregon from a program that routinely landed in the low teens and 20s in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings prior to his arrival to finishing No. 6 nationally in his final full recruiting class. He did so by recruiting the West, an area he had no real recruiting ties to, almost relentlessly.

In that final cycle, 16 of 23 (70%) of the Ducks’ signees hailed from Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. And prior to his departure in December, Oregon was zeroing in on another top-10 class, this time with a national footprint.

Mario Cristobal has reshaped Miami recruiting in a hurry

Since his arrival in Coral Gables, Cristobal’s influence is apparent. Despite being hired on December 6, he and a piecemeal Miami recruiting staff put together a class that finished 11th in the team rankings with only 14 commitments.

Between his hiring and the February signing period, Miami landed four prospects ranked among the top 110 nationally, including three from outside the state. Now, with a full year to recruit the 2023 cycle, Miami is a much bigger factor both in its own state and nationally.

“This time a year ago, I’m not hearing from near as many national prospects the name Miami come out of their mouth,” On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons said. “Just in the schools they’re considering. They’re not all going there; you’re not going to get them all. … But he has quickly put Miami back in the discussion of those guys, where it be on the East Coast, Southeast, or even the West Coast.”

Relationships are the top priority

This cycle, he and his staff have put a major emphasis on the southern part of the Sunshine State. But those relationships elsewhere are paying big dividends, too. The biggest example of that came this weekend, when Miami won out over Alabama, USC, Florida, and nearly every other program in the country for five-star Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. The nation’s No. 2 offensive tackle originally hails from American Samoa, though, and came onto Cristobal’s radar at Oregon.

He was a major priority with them in Eugene, but their recruitment of him only increased when they showed up in Miami. The same goes for four-star Pittsburg (Calif.) quarterback Jaden Rashada, who chose the Hurricanes over a host of local California schools, as well as Florida and Texas A&M. Cristobal and Co. even went back into Oregon and stole the country’s No. 2 tight end Riley Williams from the Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State. And on Saturday, he landed top-40 IMG Academy (Fla.) EDGE Jayden Wayne, a prospect he had been recruiting for nearly four years.

His ability to not only build those connections, but to strengthen them once he moved across the country, puts Cristobal in elite company.

“To me, he’s one of a handful of coaches who understand their need to recruit kids as well,” Simmons added. “It’s not just passed down to the position coaches, coordinators and all the staff in the office. The head coach has to be involved with the player and the family, and Cristobal definitely understands the importance of that. … It can’t be once a month or every few weeks.”

Top prospects trending in Miami’s direction

At home, meanwhile, he’s making major inroads within the state. The Hurricanes flipped four-star Miami Edison wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph from Clemson last week and beat out Georgia, Oregon and Arkansas for On3 top-100 prospect Robert Stafford from Melbourne. And in the 2024 class, top-100 Fort Lauderdale Dillard cornerback Antione Jackson, an early Georgia pledge, eschewed Kirby Smart for Miami and flipped to the ‘Canes.

The calendar is just turning into July, and Miami already has a top-10 class building with a few major national prospects still on the board, including Brockton (Mass.) five-star offensive tackle Samson Okunlola and Miami Central four-star lineman Rueben Bain, among others.

The path to a foundational, program-changing class is very much there. Wayne, Brown, On3 top-150 safety Jayden Bonsu and Orlando top-50 EDGE Malik Bryant are very much in Cristobal’s sights. And given that he’s only been on the job recruiting the 2023 class for six months, that list is expected to grow.

It’s still premature to say Miami is back. But if they’re ever going to get there, the recent string of recruiting success over the past few weeks will be just a precursor what’s to come.