Even in transfer portal era, Canes still land freshmen ready to make immediate impact

College football is different than it was when the Miami Hurricanes hired Mario Cristobal late in 2021.

The transfer portal means programs are content to build with veterans and shy away from playing freshmen in crucial rules. Name, image and likeness, paired with the portal, means continuity is hard to come by even for the most successful programs in the country, let alone Miami. Cristobal, who came to Coral Gables with a reputation as one of the great recruiters in the nation, has had to change and yet some things remain the same.

The Hurricanes’ Class of 2024 is poised to still finish in the top five, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and Miami is expecting some of the centerpieces of its 2024 recruiting class to help out right away.

Transfers are nice. High school recruiting, Cristobal believes, is still the way for the Hurricanes to get back to prominence and Miami’s haul on the first day of the early signing period is proof.

“Sometimes programs are built not solely, but for the most part through the transfer portal, and then some others are built mostly through high school classes and maybe a couple junior college acquisitions,” Cristobal said. “We like to have a pretty good blend of both, but primarily we want to be a developmental program.”

On Wednesday, the Hurricanes signed more than 25 players out of high school, including about a dozen blue-chip recruits, and they currently have only three transfers committed to join the roster next year. Miami will fill gaps through the portal -- and almost certainly find its next starting quarterback there -- but its long-term stars will still come from good old-fashioned recruiting and Cristobal already has his sights set on a few freshmen who will help out in a major way in 2024.

Star safeties Kamren Kinchens and James Williams are both of to the NFL. Enter four-star athlete Zaquan Patterson.

Tight end was a mess for the Hurricanes this season. Enter four-star tight end Elija Lofton.

Star defensive lineman Leonard Taylor III is headed into the 2024 NFL Draft and no one can ever have enough great defensive linemen, anyway. Enter five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott and maybe the best group of defensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

“Unfortunately nowadays, and fortunately, because the of the transfer portal, the movement in college football, the unpredictability of rules changes, your freshmen have to be ready to play, so they almost have to bypass the immaturity of freshman year and get right to it,” Cristobal said.

On Day 1 of the early period, Cristobal singled out Patterson, Lofton and four-star tackle Markel Bell -- transferring into Miami from Holmes Community College, a junior college in Goodman, Mississippi -- as three members of the 2024 class probably ready to help out the Hurricanes next season. They might not be alone as freshmen to play significant roles for Miami in 2024, but they’re certainly high on the list of the most likely candidates to, especially after five freshmen started at least one game for the Hurricanes in the regular season.

Bell, as an older JUCO prospect, is a logical one, although perhaps not as needed with offensive linemen Jalen Rivers and Francis Mauigoa both coming back after starting every game at tackle in the regular season. Patterson and Lofton, both of whom were MaxPreps All-Americans this year, fill major needs and have the pedigree to step right into a contributing role.

Patterson finished his senior year at Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna with 47 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one blocked field goal, nine passes defended and six interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, to help Chaminade-Madonna win a third straight state championship. Miami badly needs someone to help fill the void left behind by Kinchens and Williams, and Patterson, a top-50 prospect, should be able to follow in their footsteps as a South Floridian to start games as a freshman at Miami.

“Zaquan is an absolute stud, top to bottom, as a competitor, as a physical presence,” Cristobal said. “He sets the tone for that team in a couple different ways.”

Lofton finished his senior year at Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman with 29 catches for 594 yards, 10 touchdowns and a two-point conversion, and 17 carries for 76 yards, nine touchdowns and another two-point conversion. He also threw a touchdown pass and had a sack. After the Hurricanes’ tight ends combined for just 17 catches for 141 yards and one touchdown last year, Lofton will have every opportunity to compete for a starting job once he gets to campus.

“That is as versatile of a football player as I have ever seen,” Cristobal said. “He’s another guy that we feel is college ready and we’re looking forward to getting him.”

College football is different, but Cristobal is still the same. At least on signing day, that makes for some good days for Miami.

“We always said, Hey, we’ve got to come in here, we’ve got to restructure the roster. We’re going to have to build, we’re going to have to progress and we’re going to have to become competitive, and we’re going to become pretty good and then we’re going to become really, really good,” Cristobal said. “They know. They’ve been told. When they come in here in January, they’ve got to be ready to compete, they’ve got to be ready to fit in and adapt to a culture that’s going to demand the most of them in turn to make them the best that they can possibly be.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 4:32 PM.