The Miami football program closed National Signing Day ranked 15th nationally with 14 signees. Miami finishing with the 15th ranking nationally is remarkable for head coach Mario Cristobal and his staff. The Hurricanes began National Signing Day with the 38th ranked class. Miami signed four players on Wednesday.
The Miami football program added four-star running back Trevonte’ Citizen and three-stars, legacy defensive tackle Ahmad Moten and offensive linemen Anez Cooper and Matthew McCoy. Miami signed Citizen after he was trending to Florida. Moten is the brother of former Miami DT Anthony Moten.
Cooper and McCoy provide depth to the Miami OL. Cristobal said of the 6’4, 330 pound Cooper “(he is) one of the largest human beings you’ll ever see in your life.” Cooper and McCoy are the only OL Miami signed in the 2022 Class. Miami also added Oregon transfer OL Logan Sagapolu. Cristobal also addressed the DL.
In addition to Moten, Miami signed DL Nyjalik Kelly and Cyrus Moss during the Early Signing Period in December. Miami added transfer DL Jacob Lichtenstein from USC and Antonio Moultrie from UAB. Lichtenstein and Moultrie are versatile DL. During his National Signing Day press conference, Cristobal said Moultrie will be a DT.
The new 247Sports Composite rankings which combine transfers and high school recruits has Miami ranked 15th overall with its 19 new additions. Florida comes in 17th (24 signees), FSU 18th (26 signees). Miami 3rd in the ACC behind UNC 11th (19 signees), Clemson 13th (21 signees).
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) February 3, 2022
TCU is the second-highest-ranked team with 14 signees. The Horned Frogs 2022 Class ranks 47th. Cristobal and his staff signed 10 blue-chip prospects out of their 14 signees. The average Miami signee received a rating of 91.54. That is only behind Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
The four additions on National Signing Day allowed Miami to pass Florida and Florida State in the recruiting rankings. Florida has the 19th best class and Florida State 20th. The average rating per player for Florida is 88.60 and Florida State is at 89.48. Miami also has the third-best class in the ACC behind Clemson and North Carolina.
Amazingly, Miami signees have a higher average rating than Clemson. The Tigers signed 20 players with an average rating of 90.46. North Carolina averages one-hundredth of a recruiting point ahead of Miami at 91.55 in their class. Clemson and the Tar Heels signed two five-star prospects and four four-stars.
Less than two months after being hired, Cristobal was able to improve what would have been the worst class Miami signed by over 30 spots in the rankings to a top 15 class. Cristobal has backed up the praise he received as a recruiter when he was hired in December. The 2023 Miami class has the potential to be in the top 10.