National expert expects Miami football near top 5 every recruiting cycle

Josh Pate of CBS Sports expects the Miami football program to recruit near the top five in every recruiting cycle. Pate made the comments on his Late Kick show on 247 Sports on Sunday. Pate is buying the Miami stock clearly because of what Cristobal brings as a recruiter. Cristobal has made an impact for Miami immediately.

The Miami football program 2022 recruiting class ranked in the 70s before Cristobal was hired in December. Miami now has a class that ranks 15th for 2022. Miami flipped four-star tight end Jaleel Skinner and surprised national recruiting analysts by signing four-star running back TreVonte Citizen over SEC programs.

Cristobal has hired a high-profile staff of elite recruiters. National analysts are taking notice of what the Miami football program can become in the future. Pate asked what Miami can become if they start signing more players from South Florida. Bringing back the state of Miami will become a priority for Cristobal.

Over 40 years ago Howard Schnellenberger created the idea for the Miami football program to create a virtual fence around Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to keep as many of those players home. If Cristobal can do that, the Miami football program should revert to contending to championships.

Miami football discussion begins at 31:34

"“A lot of these names you recognize. Maybe some you don’t…Here’s what Mario Cristobal’s done with this staff. First thing he did is he went and got a whole bunch of guys who have coached under Nick Saban. Now that’s important for two reasons as it pertains to this Miami staff.Number one: it’s because obviously you want folks who have seen that process play out firsthand up close. But here’s the second thing , they appreciate the grind and they’re not scared away by it.Mario Cristobal’s probably had some guys on his staff in his first few years as a head coach at FIU and then at Oregon that were turned off a little it buy what that grind entails. You don’t have to worry about that. Cause if you’ve ever worked for Nick Saban, then that’s irrelevant. Guys just assume that’s part of the job.Guys embracing that grind, he’s not going to have to worry about that with this crew…There’s also a healthy collection of youth and experience in this crew. But first and foremost, these are recruiters.Mario Cristobal knows that (the importance of recruiting) and so now, this is setting up to where it would very much surprise me if Miami did not have the best talent roster in the conference by 2024. What they do with that is its own discussion, but Miami is about to recruit at a top five level every cycle.Of that, I’m virtually certain.”Transcript courtesy of Will Backus 247 Sports"

Cristobal spoke about using the blueprint Saban created at Alabama in hiring his coaching staff. Three Miami coaching hires during the offseason have been on the Alabama staff during their careers. Two others have worked under head coaches that were assistants at Alabama under Saban.

The 2022 Miami football class ranks sixth overall in average player signed. Under Cristobal, Miami has already proven its ability to recruit the highest-ranked players in the country and win many of those battles. In addition to Citizen and Skinner, Miami also signed top 100 players Nyjalik Kelly and Cyrus Moss in December.

Citizen, Kelly, Moss and Skinner would not have been signed by the Miami football program before Cristobal was hired. Cristobal was able to win five key recruiting battles in a short period of time, add depth with other signees and through the transfer portal. With an entire year, Miami should sign a top 10 2023 Class.

Pate is one of several college football analysts nationally to praise Cristobal and the potential for the Miami football program to become championship contenders again within a few years. Cristobal has assembled a staff of elite recruiters. The next year will show how they compare to elite programs nationally recruiting.