Hurricanes’ recruiting class takes a hit before early signing period. How will UM finish?
The Miami Hurricanes have stacked back-to-back quality recruiting classes under coach Mario Cristobal.
His third looks to be in jeopardy of falling below expectations despite the Hurricanes going 10-2 and still having an outside shot of making the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Cristobal’s 2025 recruiting class took a major hit in the days leading up to the start of college football’s Early Signing Period on Wednesday.
On Monday, Jacksonville Mandarin four-star safety Hylton Stubbs flipped his verbal pledge from UM to the Florida Gators. On Tuesday, four-star linebacker Gavin Nix out of Bradenton IMG Academy also left the class and is now committed to Oregon.
Stubbs was the highest-ranked recruit in Miami’s class according to the 247Sports composite ranking — No. 57 nationally, the No. 5 safety and the No. 8 player in the state of Florida regardless of position.
And Stubbs didn’t hold back when explaining his reasoning, citing concerns he has for the Hurricanes’ future with the defense struggling in conference play this season and the nation’s top-ranked offense set to lose most of its key contributors from this year’s team.
“It was looking like it was a player thing and a coaching thing, and that’s most likely a coaching thing,” Stubbs said on Stadium and Gale, a UF-centric podcast. “I think I didn’t want to go into a bad situation, and it’s a way better situation at Florida on defense right now. And offense, but defense, too.”
Nix, tabbed as the No. 26 linebacker recruit in the Class of 2025, posted on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account that his choice to leave Miami’s class was “not an easy decision, as I hold deep respect and admiration for the coaching staff, players, and fans at Miami.
“This decision comes down to what I believe deeply in my heart,” he added.
The team also has also reportedly “moved on” from three-star defensive back commitment Timothy Merritt, according to CaneSport, the Miami-based site for recruiting outlet on3. Merritt has been committed to the Hurricanes’ class since June 9.
As of Tuesday, the Hurricanes’ recruiting class was 13th nationally according to 247Sports, although this still includes Merritt in the class. For comparison, Miami hauled in the nation’s No. 7 class in 2023 and No. 4 class in 2024 by 247Sports.
“We like the balance of what we’ve done the last couple years — really build it through the high school ranks and at the same time pick up the right [transfer] portal pieces to put it together,” Cristobal said last week. “We feel really strongly about our evaluations and the guys we have committed and a couple targets that we’re zeroing in on. To have a chance to have three straight top-10 classes is the goal — obviously, top five is the goal. But our rankings sometimes differ [from] the services, and that’s OK. That’s never part of the equation. We will continue to work our way to making sure this roster looks like what a Miami roster is supposed to look like, and we’re getting closer and closer every year.”
Cristobal is known as a recruiting guru, hence his success on the trail his first two years despite lackluster results on the field — a 5-7 mark in 2022 and 7-6 record in 2023.
This year, with the Hurricanes having been in contention for both the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and a spot in the playoff field all the way until their final regular-season game, Cristobal and his coaching staff had to burn the midnight oil to make sure both tasks — winning in the present and recruiting for the future — were handled in an efficient manner.
Miami’s 20-member Class of 2025 as it currently stands includes 14 four-star prospects and six three-star commitments according to the 247Sports Composite ranking.
But these commitments are non-binding until a player signs his financial aid package.
“Recruiting is a marathon,” Cristobal said. “It is relentless, every single day. Every second that you’re not game-planning and working with your players and being with your players, you have to spend on that. … And the identification process is even more important than the recruiting process. You could recruit your butt off, but if you recruit your butt off and bring in all the wrong ones, you’re gonna be in worse shape than ever. [The process] never stops.”
And there’s always a chance that Cristobal and the Hurricanes can make an 11th-hour move. He has done it before. Among the big names he has flipped in at the end of the cycle last year included defensive lineman Justin Scott, running back Jordan Lyle, defensive lineman Armondo Blount and linebacker Adarius Hayes.
“Treat it like prom: Just keep asking and going at it,” Cristobal said. “Don’t worry about rejection. Don’t take it personally.”
Beyond what happens with the recruiting class, the Hurricanes will also look to add reinforcements via the transfer portal to round out its roster once it knows which players it has signed and who from the current team leaves either via the transfer portal, declaring for the NFL Draft or exhausting their collegiate eligibility.
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 10:55 AM.
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