Miami football 3rd best job by recruiting opportunity among coaching changes
The Miami football program is the third-best job by recruiting opportunities for schools with new head coaches per 247 Sports. Miami is behind USC and Florida after firing former head coach Manny Diaz and replacing him with Mario Cristobal from Oregon on Monday. Miami has more local talent than any program nationally.
USC also has a vast amount of local talent to choose from. The big difference for the Trojans is they have far less competition on the West Coast than the Miami football program has with primarily but not exclusively SEC programs going into South Florida to poach local players. Cristobal was brought in as an elite recruiter.
Cristobal has signed the sixth, seventh, 11th and 13th ranked recruiting classes since taking over for Willie Taggart after the 2017 season according to Andrew Ivins of 247 Sports. Oregon currently has the 12th ranked class for 2022 in the 247 Sports composite rankings. Miami currently holds the 55th ranked 2022 Class.
The Miami football program lost three-star linebacker Justin Medlock from their class on Monday to drop from the 51st ranked class. There is some hope that Cristobal can secure commitments from several high-level four and potential five-star prospects in the Class to significantly boost the Hurricanes 2022 ranking.
"3. MIAMI (opened Dec. 6)Since 1980, no school has won more national championships on this list than Miami. The problem is, three of those came in the 1980s, one in the ’90s and then of course their legendary 2001 team.Miami is obviously mired in a drought of title contention, but thanks to its incredible fertile recruiting base, all it takes is the right hire to make the ‘Canes once again a national threat."
The above analysis is from Brandon Huffman of 247 Sports in the previously mentioned “2021 coaching carousel: Ranking FBS jobs by recruiting opportunity.” Huffman refers to 28 other programs in the article. LSU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Oregon are the four schools directly behind Miami.
Cristobal was an elite recruiter at Oregon. Now he has short drives to see recruits instead of having to fly. Four of the top 100 players in the Class of 2022 are in South Florida and 15 are statewide according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. Cristobal and his staff have a sprint to Early National Signing Day.
“how about one week!” @Andrew_Ivins @247Canes @GabyUrrutia247 @EndoGains @Truly_Jas @Canes_Kid pic.twitter.com/xxQsNToKYl
— Jason (@Canes_Chief) December 6, 2021
Early National Signing Day is December 15, just eight days away. The new Miami staff likely will not be put together by that. Cristobal, whoever he brings with him from Oregon and any potential new hires will have to work hard in the next week to keep the commits Miami has and potentially convince anyone new recruits.
Mario Cristobal assistants most likely joining Miami staff. dark. Next
The transfer portal and traditional National Signing Day on February 2, 2022, will be critical for Miami. One player to watch will be five-star Monsignor Pace defensive lineman Shemar Stewart. Stewart is the eighth-ranked player, third-ranked DL and top-ranked player in Florida for 2022. Stewart is signing in February.