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So, REALLY, how bad is the recruiting?

QB - Portal Yearly or 5star HS player you fully expect to start 3 years. Also get a good developmental player.

RB - Always add 2 Rbs out of HS yearly. This should not be a position you look to the portal for. RBs need to declare for draft as early as possible or transfer out by their 3rd year if they aren't top 2 in rotation. So this is a position that should have a lot of attrition. We should probably just get the top Florida RB we can and 1 national guy that is mid to high 4star type. I don't think we need to really take swings on 5star RBs tbh.

WR - Mix of HS and Portal. Only use the portal to fill hole or specific role. We have fully failed at recruiting portal WRs, and if our strategy is going to continue to be portal QB, why should we expect something different when targeting portal WR when we wont have an incumbent QB in place to make coming here as a portal WR attractive? We need to just stack top HS WRs without question. Ideally every 3 years or so we can get a 5star WR. But getting 1 high 4star, 1 mid 4star, and 1 low 4star yearly should probably be the baseline goal.

OT - Strictly HS. Need to take 2-3 HS OTs yearly. We should be averaging a 5star OT recruit at least once every 3 years and a bunch of low 4star high 3star developmental types with athleticism and size. Definitely should not ever have to rely on the portal for OT as it'd be very expensive.

iOL - This is where I think adding 1 portal starter per year wouldn't be a big deal. Especially if its a portal OG. With Mario and Mirabal I don't think it should be neccessary as we should have guys ready to step up especially now that we are entering yr 4 and beyond. But I have basically zero qualms with getting portal Interior Olineman really. They aren't all that expensive and should be high floor type of adds.

DL - I think max you want to have to rely on getting just one top 6 snap count player on the Dline per year out of the portal (so like a top 3 Edge or top 3 DT in the rotation). We need to add 3ish DT and EDGE out of HS yearly. I'd say we need to get 4 5star Dlineman every 3 years. Dline wins championships.

LB - I view similar to iOL. No problem getting portal Starters at LB. I also don't think we should break the bank on HS Lbs either. I think at most you want one mid to high quality 4star type per year - especially if it's a true 3down Mike type of LB.

DB - If there has been one thing about the portal we have seen it's that it is absolutely loaded with Cbs yearly. It's honestly surprising. I don't mind being in a position of taking 1 portal CB yearly or other year. CBs I view as more mercenaries where you don't need to have developed them yourself. You can stick a good CB on any team I feel like. Whereas Safety I think you want them experienced in your system and not have to rely on 1 year solutions constantly. We Significantly need to improve our Safety recruiting out of HS. Like it's real bad right now. Safety is a position I'd prefer to be developed internally rather than constantly looking to the portal. I think maybe getting for 1 5star DB every 3 years would be good, but not neccessary. I think just getting a LOT of mid 4star types with good athleticism and build is the desire.
 
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Gi0logy said:
It hasn't been perfect but it's been significantly better.

It's not elite across the board but there are elite pieces across several position groups.

I'm of the belief that if Mario can scrape and claw his way to consistent 10+ win seasons + playoff appearances that the top 3 recruiting finishes will come. There's no doubt in my mind we will consistently bring in whoever we want, whenever we want if he can win.

What remains to be seen is....can Mario actually win consistently? We'll find out a ton this year.
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"Mario the coach is hurting Mario the recruiter" This is one of the best descriptions I've read! Mario is stuck selling Mario's ability to coach and develop and win games. When you look at his track record of making horrible coaching decisions in the heat of battle and costing us the W's I'm constantly impressed with his recruiting wins. When his recruiting wins are placed against his coaching and development skills backdrop I think he's batting way over his abilities. When Mario sells the fantasy of Mario...no one recruits better but when he has to sell the reality of Mario he struggles. Great graphs, charts and analysis on this page BTW ... hopefully he hasn't peaked as reality starts to overtake the fantasy ...really want to see us in the playoffs this time around and I think it's really doable
 
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OrangeBowlMagic said:
I had to take a step back from myself out of the Misery Puddle this place has become in the last couple days and start to compile some facts and data.

Full disclosure, I'm not saying people shouldn't be concerned, I'm not saying everyone should say everything is lollipops and ice cream, etc. In the 2026 class, we've gone after a ton of big fish, and recently, we've missed on **** near every one of them. So, I get the mood, genunely.

Full disclosure #2...it's July. Again, see the point above, I get it. But until this class is signed, for the positives and negatives, let's just try to have some perspective.

Full disclosure #3....this does NOT take into account attrition, on-field performance once the kids arrive, etc. Obviously this is what it's all about, but right now, we're all smacking our wives around and kicking our dogs because the 2026 class is going to cause the collapse of Western Civilization, and obviously we have no idea how any of these kids will pan out. So this is purely recruiting rankings, which is all we care about in July for an upcoming class.

I looked at the last 3 classes, on the composite, and averaged them. Here is the average of the last 3 classes for every school up to where we stand.

1. UGA - 1.67
2. Alabama - 2.00
3. Texas - 3.33
4. Ohio State - 4.33
5. Oregon - 5.67
6. LSU - 7.33
7. Miami - 8.33
8. Oklahoma - 10.33
9. Notre Dame - 11.00
10. Florida - 11.00

18. FSU - 17.00

So there are exactly six schools in the entire country who have recruited better classes than Miami over the last 3 cycles. Only 7 schools have an average class ranking in the single digits over the past 3 cycles, Miami is one of them.

The mopery has even gotten to me a little bit in the sense that I'm starting to really examine Miami's recruiting ceiling. But look at this. Is there anyone here who thinks there's any coach on the planet we could have hired who would have us ABOVE UGA, Alabama, Texas, or Taint at this point? Show of hands? Who has a name for me that, if hired the same day Mario was, would have us in the top 4? I'm going with zero point zero humans. So....is this really that terrible? Genuinely, I was curious myself, it's been a long time since I looked at this data like this, so I wanted to see where we stood. This kind of reels me in a little bit.

Now, one final mope before I go, the 2025 class was the worst of the three. And 2026, RIGHT NOW, looks to be about the same. So again, I genuinely do get the pessimism. I don't think people are crazy for shaking their heads a little bit here. But let's use a tiny bit of perspective and look big picture. Let's see where this class ends up in December and we can go from there. Because though the 3 real cycles this dude has had here, #7 is pretty **** elite if you ask me. Every single one of those programs above us have been WILDLY more successful than we have in the past 20 years.
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I Guess If You Say So GIF
 
Memnon said:
Missing on the top targets on your board is bad.

Not having a backup plan for replacing them is what causes the hysteria.

The combination of nothing of significance going on right now + not having anybody in the fold as backup plans for these misses is what made people react the way they did.

And then D$'s Foreclosure thread gave the impression that the staff got knocked out in the 6th round of a 12 round fight.

That's really all it is.

What they have to do is pivot & land some more prospects, otherwise, it looks like they just swung & missed on 4 or 5 top prospects on their board & then just packed it up.

They'll keep pursuing some of the misses, but ultimately, they're gonna have to reshuffle the deck & land some solid players in response to their big misses.

Particularly at Safety, RB & WR, they should be aggressively scouring prospects that are either uncommitted, or committed to schools that can't match our NIL deals & applying pressure.

The 2nd tier programs who still manage to sign good players despite not having the strongest financial arrangements are where we should be looking for Fall flips.
The NC ST's, Penn ST, UNC, Baylor, Arkansas, Mizzou, Oklahoma, Miss ST, Kansas, South Carolina, OK ST type programs.
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I touched on it in this piece below but there's something two-fold going on:

1. Ending a promising season with a 1-3 skid and no ACC title game appearance or CFP berth; it absolutely undid all good will of the 9-0 start and a damper on a magical season from Cam Ward—which unfortunately carried over to the recruiting trail this season as if left Mario still selling the dream and what "could be" at Miami when the Canes finally get over the hump; which coaches have sold for 20 year in Coral Gables now.

Miami had a full-fledged opportunity to make the dream a reality last season and would've gotten the ACC title game show against a beatable SMU team, with a CFP berth to follow.

To go from the highs of early November to a loss in the Pop Tarts Bowl .... yeesh.

Yes, 10-3 was a step forward—but in regards to a Cooper; again, Texas has been a power program for years now, beating Alabama two years back, switching the SEC, getting to the CFP, winning 12+ games back to back years, etc.

Miami needed to reach the ACC title game and CFP after a 9-0 start last year and losing two of three to end the regular season 10-2 was just brutal.


2. Not all local kids want to stay home. Not sure why this is so hard for this fan base to grasp, but not every kid wants to "put it on for the hometown" and stay at a smaller private school like Miami, or a city that has no college football vibe or experience.

Again, lots of kids do and it's awesome, but some kids go to an Athens, a Tuscaloosa, a Columbus, a Baton Rouge, an Austin, a Knoxville—or even a Gainesville or Tallahassee—and they're enamored with the smaller college town where football is the biggest show going; where they will be that big fish in that little pond, where the on-campus stadium is packed every home Saturday and where the pageantry and experience are the complete opposite of staying in a large, diverse, metropolitan, pro sports town like Miami.


Miami lost a Cooper (for now; let's see where it goes in December) because he was enamored with what he saw in Austin with the Texas brand, the Longhorns' recent success, Sark's need for a power running back like Bijan and just a different experience than Coral Gables offers.

Had the the Canes gone 13-2 last year and won an ACC title and CFP game ... it's a totally different trajectory this recruiting season, but Mario still has to prove it and not all kids are going to sign on for the 'what if'.

Jeremiah Smith's dad said as much last fall; loves Miami, loves the Canes and his son wanted to play there—and while he trusts things are turning a corner, his son's future is on the line—and while Miami WILL get back to being Wide Receiver U soon enough, Ohio State has been there for years and is sending top kids to the NFL every year, ready to ball.


Nothing more important right now than Miami finding a way to do in 2025 what it didn't do last fall; ball with Beck, play defense under Hetherman, hit the ground running against Notre Dame and Florida—and close strong with two tough road games.

Need to face Clemson or an ACC title and dethrone a power and THEN we'll see the trajectory turn for December recruiting; the Canes need to close STRONG for once—too many years of fading late and ending the year on a sour note.




itsauthing.com

UNPACKING THE PAST AND BREAKING DOWN THE UPCOMING MIAMI HURRICANES' SEASON - ItsAUThing.com — Formerly allCanesBlog.com — It's All About 'The U'!

Mario Cristobal is gearing up for his fourth season back home in Coral Gables; the quest to turn his alma mater from a long-time pretender and back into a
itsauthing.com
​
 
ItsAUThing.com said:
I touched on it in this piece below but there's something two-fold going on:​
​
1. Ending a promising season with a 1-3 skid and no ACC title game appearance or CFP berth; it absolutely undid all good will of the 9-0 start and a damper on a magical season from Cam Ward—which unfortunately carried over to the recruiting trail this season as if left Mario still selling the dream and what "could be" at Miami when the Canes finally get over the hump; which coaches have sold for 20 year in Coral Gables now.​
​
Miami had a full-fledged opportunity to make the dream a reality last season and would've gotten the ACC title game show against a beatable SMU team, with a CFP berth to follow.​
​
To go from the highs of early November to a loss in the Pop Tarts Bowl .... yeesh.​
​
Yes, 10-3 was a step forward—but in regards to a Cooper; again, Texas has been a power program for years now, beating Alabama two years back, switching the SEC, getting to the CFP, winning 12+ games back to back years, etc.​
​
Miami needed to reach the ACC title game and CFP after a 9-0 start last year and losing two of three to end the regular season 10-2 was just brutal.​
​
​
2. Not all local kids want to stay home. Not sure why this is so hard for this fan base to grasp, but not every kid wants to "put it on for the hometown" and stay at a smaller private school like Miami, or a city that has no college football vibe or experience.​
​
Again, lots of kids do and it's awesome, but some kids go to an Athens, a Tuscaloosa, a Columbus, a Baton Rouge, an Austin, a Knoxville—or even a Gainesville or Tallahassee—and they're enamored with the smaller college town where football is the biggest show going; where they will be that big fish in that little pond, where the on-campus stadium is packed every home Saturday and where the pageantry and experience are the complete opposite of staying in a large, diverse, metropolitan, pro sports town like Miami.​
​
​
Miami lost a Cooper (for now; let's see where it goes in December) because he was enamored with what he saw in Austin with the Texas brand, the Longhorns' recent success, Sark's need for a power running back like Bijan and just a different experience than Coral Gables offers.​
​
Had the the Canes gone 13-2 last year and won an ACC title and CFP game ... it's a totally different trajectory this recruiting season, but Mario still has to prove it and not all kids are going to sign on for the 'what if'.​
​
Jeremiah Smith's dad said as much last fall; loves Miami, loves the Canes and his son wanted to play there—and while he trusts things are turning a corner, his son's future is on the line—and while Miami WILL get back to being Wide Receiver U soon enough, Ohio State has been there for years and is sending top kids to the NFL every year, ready to ball.​
​
​
Nothing more important right now than Miami finding a way to do in 2025 what it didn't do last fall; ball with Beck, play defense under Hetherman, hit the ground running against Notre Dame and Florida—and close strong with two tough road games.​
​
Need to face Clemson or an ACC title and dethrone a power and THEN we'll see the trajectory turn for December recruiting; the Canes need to close STRONG for once—too many years of fading late and ending the year on a sour note.​
​
​
​
​
itsauthing.com

UNPACKING THE PAST AND BREAKING DOWN THE UPCOMING MIAMI HURRICANES' SEASON - ItsAUThing.com — Formerly allCanesBlog.com — It's All About 'The U'!

Mario Cristobal is gearing up for his fourth season back home in Coral Gables; the quest to turn his alma mater from a long-time pretender and back into a
itsauthing.com
​
Click to expand...

Well said but a couple thoughts:

1. I don't think Miami beating Syracuse would've had anything to do with Cooper. Obviously pure opinion, but this dude has now committed to TWO different schools, neither of them being Miami. I think it's pretty obvious how he feels at this point. It's not December yet, and I know Miami will continue to lean on him, so maybe a hyper-successful season this year will change his mind, but I don't think it's as simple as ending the season with a dud killed recruiting.

2. I have zero data to back this up, so maybe if someone with more time and a desire to be massively depressed can confirm or refute, but it sure seems like kids from other areas like to stay home a **** of a lot more than theirs. How many kids from Alabama DON'T go to Bama or Auburn? How many kids from LA DON'T go to LSU? How many kids from Georgia DON'T go to UGA? Again, I completely understand not every single kid from Georgia who is a big-time recruit goes to UGA. There are exceptions. But it sure seems to me like there are a LOT more exceptions here than there are other places.

Regardless, this thread wasn't specifically about SFL recruiting. I know we're all caught up in the Cooper stuff right now, and that's fine. But this was an overall recruiting class thread. Right now, we're 10th in class rankings, and 12th in average recruit ranking. That's not good enough, but it's probably not cause for massive panic, either. Let's see how the class ends in December. I think we all understand this is an incredibly important year for the program. Go win some football games and see maybe if two seasons where things look like they're headed in the right direction long-term change some opinions out there.
 
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