Message Board Mania: Is Cristobal succeeding in finding happy medium between player development/quick fix transfer portal potential?

When Mario Cristobal took the Miami Hurricanes job, he brought along his reputation as a top recruiter and talent developer. But he took over a roster that was short on talent and depth, so naturally Cristobal headed to the transfer portal. He took 11 transfers after taking the job, then 16 and 15. This year, so far, he’s grabbed 11 transfers.

It’s why you saw last year’s team with 16 transfers that played over 200 reps, per Pro Football Focus, with 15 non-transfers getting the same amount of action.

Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing depends on your perspective. The transfers last year undoubtedly led to a 10-win season behind QB Cam Ward, RB Damien Martinez, et al. But by the same token with 11 transfers starting in 2024 we didn’t see as many of the Cristobal recruits get action. As you sit here today reading this there are numerous linemen on both sides of the ball, receivers and linebackers who were top recruits over the last 2-3 cycles that haven’t gotten much playing time.

Cristobal has taken measures this spring to accelerate the development of the young players on the team, from improving the level of coaching on the defensive side of the ball to a organizational wide mandate to players and coaches to max out the ability of every player on the roster. Coaches have been encouraged not to look at the spring portal as a quick fix for holes and players struggling for depth chart positioning have been urged not to look at the portal as an escape hatch.

It’s been noticeable that numerous young guys really stood out through one week of spring practice, something we recently noted in our “What we want to see in Week 2” column pointing out there’s no reason starters can’t be youngsters like WRs JoJo Trader and Malachi Toney, RB Jordan Lyle, DT Justin Scott, CB Xavier Lucas, S Zaquan Patterson and OLB Bobby Pruitt or MLB Raul Aguirre. That’s a big move in the right direction.

The spring portal will still have its place as it should. For example, Miami will likely seek out 1-2 receivers in the second portal window that opens after spring practice (UM already took one WR in the first portal window, CJ Daniels) along with a MLB, safety (Zechariah Poyser is already a transfer there at one spot) and another DT (the team added DT David Blay in the first portal). The potential transfer additions was a subject we broached yesterday. It would be senseless to ignore the benefits of the portal simply to make a point on the merits of player development. The goal is to win games and championships no matter what it takes.

Which brings us to today’s Message Board Mania.

Titled “Rewatching our games from this past year, one thing is blatantly obvious and can not be repeated,” the thread begins with PH1LLY talking about transfer WR Sam Brown and saying last year he took reps from “players who should have got them,” adding that the team has to “get it right” and not bring in another Brown this year in the second portal window.

But it’s Canethang‘s post less than an hour later that caught our eye.

“Roll w the young guys if what’s left in the portal is merely above avg,” he wrote. “Maybe take a chance on a guy from a smaller school who has skills and a huge upside. Wondering which of our current receivers will be gone after the spring. Addition by subtraction?”

There are a few things to unpack from Mr. Thang. First, one of the biggest issues Miami’s faced is landing too many “just another guys” in the portal (although last year was much better in that regard). In general those JAGs have taken up roster spots that could go to recruits, sucking up NIL money and stealing reps from younger guys. We don’t need to point out names, but there are a lot of them from Cristobal’s portal cycles. So yes, we 100 percent agree that there’s no point taking backup level talent out of the portal. If someone is not clearly better than Toney or Trader, why waste the spot and the money, right? Instead, use young guys you recruited for depth.

As for “taking a chance on a guy from a smaller school who has skills and a huge upside,” well we disagree with that in general. Because gauging some of these guys on tape against lesser talent and trying to project how they’ll do against much tougher competition – bigger, stronger, faster guys – can be difficult. Optimally you find someone who is already successful at a high level program. Typically the guy who is standing out at a smaller school isn’t going to physically be a world-beater, hence why they wound up at that program in the first place. Are there exceptions? Sure. But that’s a general take on it.

As for the other subject on which current receivers will be gone after the spring? That’s an interesting one. Because you saw Isaiah Horton leave last season after he would have been the team’s top returner. So you just never know. Someone dangles a ton of money to a young, talented guy who knows UM is looking for a portal starter at his spot and that can be trouble. So it’s a fine balancing act for Cristobal. Heck, in this day and age you also worry about a guy like Ray Ray Joseph leaving since Miami worked hard to find a starting slot guy in the first portal window and now has Toney looking great to start the spring. Joseph is the team’s top punt returner right now and could wind up starring elsewhere like Brashard Smith, who similarly saw the writing on the depth chart wall and helped SMU to the ACC title game.

We’ll leave the last word here to thread starter PH1LLY (we assume that’s pronounced “PHH…ONE…LIE”. He points out how Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has taken just five TOTAL transfers over the same period of time that Cristobal added 53 transfers to the roster.

“Guess I’m too old school,” he wrote. “I like how Dabo does it. Gets a lot of his young guys reps so that the following year they are ready. Guess that’s why he stays in the ACC championship game. The recruiting and development piece.”

Cristobal would certainly argue that Clemson goes too far in the opposite direction, although both teams essentially landed in the same spot last year.

The portal and balanced use of it remains a challenge throughout college football.