No Pena, No Haulcy, No LB, No DTs, No #1 WR…

[Damiencane86]

Depending where you look, we only had 1 or 2 composite top 100 guys last year. We had a lot of 4 stars in the 100-300 range.

Yep. Last year we had lots of guys in that 150-450 ranking range. Some of them were underrated I believe but we fell short of elite recruiting. The class before we had 6 guys in top 100 and 5 more to round out the top 300 rated guys. That's where we need to be + a handful of high impact portal guys.

 

[CANESCANES]

There's a pretty direct correlation with 4/5 stars acquired, basically top 100 overall prospects, and winning natty's + high draft picks. Of course great programs can develop some guys who are lower ranked into studs but most of the doninant programs the last couple decades (Bama, OSU, LSU, Clemson, etc) are winning off of recruiting elite talent and not by developing more average into elite somehow. I think composite top 100 is the most important metric. You need at least about 1/3 of your class yearly to reach that benchmark which equates to 8 kids per year.

, which turns in to 30+ on your roster

 

[Calinative]

Throughout the years, the names that I have heard would raise some eyebrows but there were others that I didn’t hear specific names for. For example, some of the names I heard were rumored on the internet while others were never mentioned by anyone.

Kids and their camps are constantly in communication with our staff because they know Miami can pay well when they want. Months ago, I mentioned one name in Gator Tear thread.

This spring, I was told we were working a LB behind the scenes (name was not given) for a quality LB we nearly closed on but it didn’t work out at the end. A position of need.

There’s always next year

 

[Damiencane86]

Are we not there with Mario's last 3 classes? Even though last year we were 13# but it was full of blue chippers more then 8 I believe! I believe we have passed Clemson as far talent in the acc? If so wouldn't that put us at least knocking on the door of elite?

2023: 4 guys were top 100 (francis, bain, samson, fletcher)
2024: 6 were top 100 (blount, lighfoot, scott, trader, carr, zaquon)
2025: just 1 top 100 guy (lowe)

So, that's 11 total top 100 guys MC has landed. To have a legit shot to win a natty he needs to double this number, or get much closer and close the gap with portal adds.

This is why landing guys like Cantwell, Cooper, etc matters so much.

 

[CANESCANES]

Exactly! Aren't all 4* considered elite? And top 100 cream of the crop?

Not at all

Top 100 is elite, and 5 star is cream of the crop

 

[Pearson704]

Evaluate properly is the criteria. You dont find out what you have on the field till you see them with the rest of your players. Then you find out when we all say "why is he not player?" then he hits the portal plays somewhere else you find out why they didn't play, regardless of ranking.

No.

Recruitment is the process of actively seeking out, finding and hiring candidates for a specific position or job. All things being equal, Mario is one of the best recruiters in CFB and it's not debatable.

Talent-evaluation is a separate process that assesses ability.

 

[CANESCANES]

2023: 4 guys were top 100 (francis, bain, samson, fletcher)
2024: 6 were top 100 (blount, lighfoot, scott, trader, carr, zaquon)
2025: just 1 top 100 guy (lowe)

So, that's 11 total top 100 guys MC has landed. To have a legit shot to win a natty he needs to double this number, or get much closer and close the gap with portal adds.

This is why landing guys like Cantwell, Cooper, etc matters so much.

It’s a numbers game with the elite players, the more you add, the deeper your roster becomes, the more competitive your practices become, the better development that happens, the better you look as a coach

And you certainly squash inferior teams just off superior talent gap

 

[Scorpioncane]

Not at all

Top 100 is elite, and 5 star is cream of the crop

Ok! The top 15-20 are 5* so still top 100

 

[CANESCANES]

Ok! The top 15-20 are 5* so still top 100

There’s 32 - 5 stars every cycle

A 5 star is 9x more likely to get drafted in the 1st round over a 4 star and 85 times more likely to get drafted in the 1st round over a 3 star

 

[Scorpioncane]

2023: 4 guys were top 100 (francis, bain, samson, fletcher)
2024: 6 were top 100 (blount, lighfoot, scott, trader, carr, zaquon)
2025: just 1 top 100 guy (lowe)

So, that's 11 total top 100 guys MC has landed. To have a legit shot to win a natty he needs to double this number, or get much closer and close the gap with portal adds.

This is why landing guys like Cantwell, Cooper, etc matters so much

2023: 4 guys were top 100 (francis, bain, samson, fletcher)
2024: 6 were top 100 (blount, lighfoot, scott, trader, carr, zaquon)
2025: just 1 top 100 guy (lowe)

So, that's 11 total top 100 guys MC has landed. To have a legit shot to win a natty he needs to double this number, or get much closer and close the gap with portal adds.

This is why landing guys like Cantwell, Cooper, etc matters so much.

23 and 24 were top 7 and 23' was top 3 you sure it was only 4 guys!..find it hard to believe we only had only 4 top 100 and finished 3rd!!!

 

[Scorpioncane]

There’s 32 - 5 stars every cycle

A 5 star is 9x more likely to get drafted in the 1st round over a 4 star and 85 times more likely to get drafted in the 1st round over a 3 star

You convinced me!

 

[Damiencane86]

23 and 24 were top 7 and 23' was top 3 you sure it was only 4 guys!..find it hard to believe we only had only 4 top 100 and finished 3rd!!!

That 2024 class we had i believe 7 other guys who ranked between 100-300 so the overall volume of talent was excellent on that class. For 2023 we've already seen lots of the middle and lower ranked guys transfer out so we missed too much on that first MC class.

 

[Scorpioncane]

That 2024 class we had i believe 7 other guys who ranked between 100-300 so the overall volume of talent was excellent on that class. For 2023 we've already seen lots of the middle and lower ranked guys transfer out so we missed too much on that first MC class.

Ok! I can get with that this class has to be at the very least top 10! Because our quality depth is taking a hit!

 

[CANESCANES]

You convinced me!

Ohio State class of 2021 had 14 guys in the top 100, some transferred out, others left for the NFL draft early , but this was the senior core of the national title run this year. 2 of them went 1st round, 2 went 2nd round, and the 5th went 4th round

 

[TexasCane90]

He’ll be the only draft pick out of that 2024 WR room fwiw

Jojo won’t be a draft pick? Mind you Horton was a goofy uncoordinated looking true sophomore WR even in that TAMU game he caught a TD that felt like got stuck in his face guard….

Dude shows a pulse with a #1 overall pick and now he’s getting probably more credited than he deserves…

 

[CANESCANES]

 

[JayCane20]

Jojo won’t be a draft pick? Mind you Horton was a goofy uncoordinated looking true sophomore WR even in that TAMU game he caught a TD that felt like got stuck in his face guard….

Dude shows a pulse with a #1 overall pick and now he’s getting probably more credited than he deserves…

**** forgot about Jojo.

Only draft pick of the guys that actually contributed in 2024.

I don’t think Horton gets enough credit tbh. I think he goes off at Alabama.

 

[ALLoverCANE]

I don't even care anymore.

At some point, we can't keep relying on the transfer portal to paper over massive holes on the roster. Slotting in Beck over Nickel or Brockermeyer over SJ is one thing, but being completely reliant on the portal because the HS recruiting has been a total failure is another.

We have to be able to develop the guys on the roster at that position, and hope the rest of the defense is good enough to compensate.

 

[TexasCane90]

**** forgot about Jojo.

Only draft pick of the guys that actually contributed in 2024.

I don’t think Horton gets enough credit tbh. I think he goes off at Alabama.

I don’t… a kid named Ryan Williams is there and will be getting spoon fed in that offense. If a stat line like 30-40 catches with 500 yards with a random go off game against day Arkansas is all he musters it won’t be much.

Jojo was looking real nice with Cam throwing him the ball in the pop tarts bowl until we sent the water boy Emory in the second half.

 

[305to954]

I don't even care anymore.

At some point, we can't keep relying on the transfer portal to paper over massive holes on the roster. Slotting in Beck over Nickel or Brockermeyer over SJ is one thing, but being completely reliant on the portal because the HS recruiting has been a total failure is another.

We have to be able to develop the guys on the roster at that position, and hope the rest of the defense is good enough to compensate.

LSU chose the other route & supplemented that DB room with transfers. So have other elite programs.

DB recruiting for us has to level up at the hs ranks for sure. We’ll see with the 2025 bunch. Our transfer DBs all have years of eligibility left so they aren’t 1 year rentals. That’s a positive.