National CFB analyst names Miami football program that needs 2024 bounce back

Adam Gorney the Rivals.com National Recruiting Director named the Miami football team as one of “Ten programs that need to bounce back in 2024.” The other nine programs named by Gorney are Arkansas, Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, South Carolina and TCU.

All of the 10 programs that need to have bounce-back 2024 seasons are in different situations. Arkansas and Baylor have head coaches who will likely be on the hot seat entering the 2024 seasons. Cincinnati and TCU had down seasons after a College Playoff appearance in the last two seasons.

Colorado started the season 3-0 including a win over TCU. The Buffaloes were the talk of college football early in the season under Deion Sanders. Colorado lost eight of its last nine games to finish the 2023 season 4-8. Florida and Nebraska are similar to Miami trying to recapture past glory among the elite programs in college football.

Two seasons removed from an ACC Championship, Pittsburgh finished 3-9. After winning seasons in the first two years under Shane Beamer, South Carolina slumped to 5-7 in 2023. All 10 of these programs need to improve in 2024. Gorney summarized what each program needs to accomplish next season.

"MIAMI“Mario Cristobal flipped Miami from 5-7 in his first season to 7-5 in Year 2 but this still feels like a missed opportunity for the Hurricanes, who didn’t bring Cristobal in just to have average outcomes. After starting 4-0 and whipping Texas A&M, the Hurricanes lost to Georgia Tech and then North Carolina beat Miami as well.There was another stretch in November when Miami lost three-straight to NC State, Florida State and Louisville before trouncing Boston College to end the regular season before a bowl game. But quarterback play took a step back and was never really figured out, either.There is a lot of young talent on the roster and much more on the way as Cristobal continues to be a phenomenal recruiter. The Hurricanes are ranked No. 10 (at the time this was written) in the team recruiting rankings and second in the ACC behind Florida State with two five-star pledges and 10 four-stars.Cristobal probably has a little longer leash to turn Miami back into a national power because of his connections to the school but 7-5 felt like a miss this season.”"

The Miami football program projects to sign a top-five 2024 class. Miami signed a top 15 2023 transfer portal class. Expect Miami to sign another top-15 transfer class in 2024. Miami is among the suitors for Cam Ward of Washington State and Will Howard from Kansas State. Ward is the top 2023 transfer QB and Howard is third.

Getting one of the top transfer QBs will help set the foundation for the 2024 season and other transfers Miami will add in 2024. Ward is also being strongly pursued by Florida State and Ohio State. A commitment from Ward would significantly elevate the expectations for the 2024 Miami football team.

Mario Cristobal and the Miami football program will be under a lot of pressure in 2024. Cristobal would be the first to say that the production during his first two seasons was unacceptable. Miami improved by two games in 2023 and the numbers offensively and defensively were significantly better than 2022.

Miami has to continue to show improvement, offensively, defensively and on the scoreboard in 2024. If Miami has another mediocre record in 2024, the hot seat will begin to get warm for Cristobal. The talent on the Miami football roster is too gifted for another seven-win season in 2024.