Miami stays hot on the recruiting trail, lands four-star 2026 TE Israel Briggs

Sebastian Font

Jun 24, 2025 2 min read

The Hurricanes have landed a consensus top-10 tight end in the 2026 class with Israel Briggs announcing his commitment this afternoon, making it four commits in four days for Miami’s 2026 class.

It came down to Miami and LSU for the four-star talent from California, who was previously committed to Arizona State before commiting in April.

At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, at the moment Briggs is essentially a jumbo-WR who will transition into a tight end with some added weight in college.

Briggs has consistently demonstrated natural hand catches which are followed by open field moves. Moreover he is very versatile, playing on both sides of the field showcasing his athleticism at multiple positions (he even kick returned for his high school team). And his talent really shined against national competition in the 7-on-7 scene , consistently making big plays and finding himself open. But Briggs was also a highlight machine, bringing down acrobatic contested catches at will.

Following his official visit, he spoke with me on how the staff planned to use him:

“I like how they used Elijah Arroyo, flexing him out, attaching, really can do all around, attack vertically,” said Briggs.

"I'm more of a route runner, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not gonna sit up here saying I'm a good blocker, that's where coach Woodiel will come in.”

And while they might not be the same physically yet, I can see Briggs developing into the role Arroyo thrived in last year — a nightmare matchup that can explode for big plays across the middle. (Keep in mind Arroyo came in at the same height and only ten pounds heavier than Briggs as a freshman).

Briggs was a priority for coach Woodiel and the staff, who were thrilled to beat the Tigers for his commitment. Again, this is a guy who can really open up the playbook for an offense with his route-running and matchup ability, a big time get.

With Briggs’ commitment the Hurricanes now have seventeen commits in the 2026 class as he joins QB Dereon Coleman, RB Javian Mallory, and WR Vance Spafford in the offensive skill position room.

“They call it tight end U for a reason!”

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Invalid Username

Nov 28, 2025

Rocketcitycane06

Nov 28, 2025

Canedude08 said:
It's not so much being wound tight, it's having expectations and not being a meathead. Then again, it's CIS, where logic and sanity go to die.

Come on man. Have you ever played sports before?

Elmer Leghorn

Nov 28, 2025

he threw a punch at a guy with a helmet on. No harm, no foul

Not a big deal. Sometimes things get heated.

WR Cane

Nov 28, 2025

I think it's pretty obvious he was provoked and lashed out due to frustration...

probably should reel it in a little bit I suppose as Emory Williams will be throwing to him next year so we kinda need to nip it in the bud. Just my thoughts. Carry on.

One9

Nov 28, 2025

WR Cane said:
I think it's pretty obvious he was provoked and lashed out due to frustration...

probably should reel it in a little bit I suppose as Emory Williams will be throwing to him next year so we kinda need to nip it in the bud. Just my thoughts. Carry on.

Lightfoot & Briggs when Emory gets back to the bench after 4 straight 3 & outs.

C
Canedude08

Nov 28, 2025

Rocketcitycane06 said:
Come on man. Have you ever played sports before?

Yes, I played sports, and was fortunate enough to be a contributing member of some pretty good ones. The one thing that can ruin a season is having too many knuckleheads on the roster. To quote Don Shula “Don’t beat yourself because that’s what losers do”. Athletes with bad impulse control will beat themselves by regularly making mental mistakes. For an example of that, see George, Jacolby.

Again, if this recruit is a solid kid 99% of the time and this was an outlier, that’s one thing. If this is a reoccurring problem, it’s not worth the headaches, especially if he isn’t a transcendent talent. That’s why Butch was big on talking to everyone a young student athlete regularly interacts with, because you want to have a clear picture. I trust Mario and this staff to evaluate fairly.

gogeta4

Nov 28, 2025

Canedude08 said:
It's not so much being wound tight, it's having expectations and not being a meathead. Then again, it's CIS, where logic and sanity go to die.

lucky for AQM he had that support from the football staff and coaches cause he wasnt getting that from anything else at UM...because they were ready to throw him to the wolves

Look at him now still earning and doing well for himself. GREAT STORY

gogeta4

Nov 28, 2025

cookies said:

I caught that too.....

gogeta4

Nov 28, 2025

WR Cane said:
I think it's pretty obvious he was provoked and lashed out due to frustration...

probably should reel it in a little bit I suppose as Emory Williams will be throwing to him next year so we kinda need to nip it in the bud. Just my thoughts. Carry on.

brah did you see the score...the other team had 70 and it was time to go and its his last hs game lol...
kid got that pick and got up and said some slick sh*t to him right away you can see it.

BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati

Nov 28, 2025

Canedude08 said:
Apparently you don't get it and never will. Self awareness is key, we all know that the University of Miami has been under a microscope for the better part of 4 decades. Therefore, it's on the program and the people managing it to have a mindset of "we're going to do it cleaner and better than anyone else", because you can only control what you can control, and we will never get the benefit of the doubt. It was NEVER about making the NCAA(the nerds as you call them) happy, it was protecting ourselves the best we could.

A classic example of this phenomenon is our penalty situation on the field. We all understand that the refs live to call penalties on Miami, that's why it is infuriating when we commit obvious, preventable penalties because we know they will be called. We are under pressure to play as clean as possible, because the borderline calls will go against us. Not playing clean only serves to make the disadvantage even more pronounced.

Therefore, when you have knuckleheads doing extracurricular stuff, guys allowing themselves to be baited into personal fouls, and presnap stuff, it's even more of an issue than what it would be at other schools. It's also why when recruits do immature stuff, a conversation must be had. This program cannot afford to have student athletes with terrible impulse control, age be damned. I have faith that Mario and this staff have asked the right people the right questions about this young man, and if they trust what they are hearing, I'm fine with it.

What are you trying to accomplish with your comments on this post? Recruit threw a punch in a game cuz he was upset and you're in here trying to be the smartest guy in the room?

Brooklyndee

Nov 28, 2025

CountDookoo said:
Winslow clone?

Why would you go THERE? Unless I'm missing something this is over him throwing a punch during a game?

Brooklyndee

Nov 28, 2025

Canedude08 said:
The reason I said what I said is because people like yourself don't understand rational thought, so I put it in a language you would feel comfortable with. The point of the matter was the same with AQM, and it rings true today: You can't run your program by trying to appeal to people that won't like you no matter what, but there needs to be an enforceable standard. You can't just throw your hands up and say "Hey, people will never like us, that means anything goes". That isn't acceptable. With this young man, if this is a first time thing, and there aren't any other red flags, you evaluate and go from there. That said, if this is the kind of guy that consistently does stupid crap, it may be time to cut bait.

We're you the person that said how wrong Quan was for what he did?

Cane44

Nov 28, 2025

Brooklyndee said:
Why would you go THERE? Unless I'm missing something this is over him throwing a punch during a game?

I took it as skill set/size, not behavior. But i could be wrong.

Lokest

Nov 28, 2025

Elmer Leghorn said:
he threw a punch at a guy with a helmet on. No harm, no foul

Not a big deal. Sometimes things get heated.

happens every saturday and sunday

gogeta4

Nov 28, 2025

Brooklyndee said:
We're you the person that said how wrong Quan was for what he did?

gogeta4

Nov 28, 2025

Cane44 said:
I took it as skill set/size, not behavior. But i could be wrong.

yea he has similar skill set as he is a detached big wr....didnt know about his growth potential but then found out kid is half samoan so doubt putting on weight will be a problem lol

Dark Cane

Nov 28, 2025

Are yall *****ing bc he punched somebody with a helmet on in the heat of the moment?? lol SYBAU

Damiencane86

Nov 28, 2025

Dark Cane said:
Are yall *****ing bc he punched somebody with a helmet on in the heat of the moment?? lol SYBAU

Yeah lots of overreaction happening. Just make sure when he gets here he understands he cant lose his cool cuz Canes are never given benefit of the doubt........ever. He learns that then we are good.

Cribby

Nov 28, 2025

He should fit in perfectly here with stupid penalties

Brooklyndee

Nov 28, 2025

gogeta4 said:

I'd love to see how anyone else would respond to your kid(2 year old)being manhandled by your roommate and physically tossed out of a rolling car & your mother spit at and shoved out of that same car. Anyone who wouldn't at the very VERY least put their hands on that person ,HAS ZERO RESPECT FROM ME...