Five takeaways as Miami Hurricanes put together another top-10 recruiting class
The Miami Hurricanes’ future put pen to paper on Wednesday, as all 29 recruits from UM’s Class of 2026 formally signed with the team on the first day of the Early Signing Period.
UM then added a 30th signee Wednesday afternoon in four-star linebacker Karsten Busch, who flipped his commitment from Louisville to UM.
The Hurricanes are poised to have a top-10 class for the third time in the past four years under coach Mario Cristobal and the top class in the Atlantic Coast Conference for this cycle.
Here are five takeaways on the class as it stands.
The Hurricanes landed one of the highest-rated recruits in program history.
Miami’s prized signing on Wednesday was Nixa (Missouri) offensive lineman Jackson Cantwell, who was the No. 4 overall player in the Class of 2026 according to the 247Sports composite ranking. With a .9990 overall rating, Cantwell is the second-highest rated recruit based on 247Sports’ rating system to ever sign with UM. He trails only linebacker D.J. Williams, who had a .9998 rating in the Class of 2000 on his way to becoming a first-round pick and carving out an 11-year NFL career.
Once again, Miami signed a slew of blue-chip prospects.
While Cantwell headlines the class, he’s not the only high-end prospect Miami signed this cycle.
Twenty-one of Miami’s 30 signees according to the 247Sports composite ranking are blue-chip prospects, defined as either four- or five-star recruits.
No other school in the ACC has more than 12 blue-chip prospects in their class.
Through five recruiting classes at Miami, 66.1% of recruits Cristobal has landed — 80 of 121 — were blue-chip prospects. Only once, with the 2024 class, did he have a blue-chip rate under 60% and even that was at a 57.1% rate.
A lot of their key additions came late in the cycle.
Over a five-week span from Oct. 28 through Wednesday, the Hurricanes managed to sign eight prospects into their class who were either previously committed to other schools or opened up their recruiting process late in the cycle.
The group: Four-star wide receiver Milan Parris (previously committed to Iowa State), four-star defensive lineman Keshawn Stancil (previously committed to Clemson), four-star defensive back JJ Dunnigan (previously committed to Kansas), four-star defensive lineman DeAnthony Lafayette (previously committed to LSU), three-star defensive lineman Isaac Chukwurah (previously committed to Penn State), three-star defensive lineman Logan Nagle (previously committed to Pittsburgh), four-star tight end Gavin Mueller (previously committed to Colorado), and on Wednesday Busch.
There’s surprisingly very little South Florida talent in the class.
Miami only signed two players from Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties in this class in Miami Northwestern edge rusher Jordan Campbell and West Boca Raton running back Javian Mallory.
Campbell was the longest-tenured member of UM’s Class of 2026, committing to the Hurricanes back in November 2023. Mallory, meanwhile, committed to the class on March 22.
“I always believed in coach Cristobal,” Campbell said. “He’s really gonna get the job done, and I’m gonna help him.”
It’s a rarity to see so few local players sign with Miami.
But UM missed out on several top players from South Florida, including Northwestern wide receiver Calvin Russell (who has been committed to Syracuse but did not sign Wednesday) and Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna running back Derrek Cooper (Texas).
Cristobal had seven signees from South Florida in the Class of 2025, nine in the Class of 2024, eight in the Class of 2023 and three in the 15-player Class of 2022.
Miami continues beefing up the trenches
Nearly half of the class — 14 of 29 players — are either offensive or defensive linemen. That includes six offensive linemen and eight defensive linemen.
In addition to Cantwell, Miami’s offensive lineman signees are four-star tackle Ben Congdon, four-star interior offensive lineman Joel Ervin, three-star interior lineman Canon Pickett, three-star tackle Rhys Woodrow, and three-star interior lineman JJ Sparks.
On the defensive line, the class includes Stancil, Campbell, Lafayette, Nagle, Chukwurah, four-star edge rusher Ashanti Charles, three-star lineman Tyson Bacon and three-star lineman Frederic Sainteus.
The Hurricanes are going to have some major attrition on both lines after this season. Four starters from the offensive line in left tackle Markel Bell, center James Brockermeyer, right guard Anez Cooper and right tackle Francis Mauigoa are expected to depart, with Mauigoa projected to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Rueben Bain Jr., Akheem Mesidor and David Blay Jr. are all set to be gone from the defensive line.
Hurricanes’ Class of 2026 signees
QB: Dereon Coleman, Orlando Jones
RB: Javian Mallory, Boca Raton West Boca High;
WR: Tyran Evans, Cornelius (North Carolina) Hough; Milan Parris, Stow (Ohio) Walsh Jesuit; Vince Spafford, Mission Viejo (California); Somourian Wingo, St. Augustine
TE: Israel Briggs, Clovis (California); Gavin Mueller, South Elgin (Illinois)
OL: Jackson Cantwell, Nixa, Missouri; Ben Congdon, Mineral City (Ohio) Tuscarawaas Valley; Joel Ervin, Fort Myers; Canon Pickett, Tampa Bay Tech; JJ Sparks, Jacksonville The Bolles School; Rhys Woodrow, Orlando Boone;
DL: Tyson Bacon, Hoover (Alabama); Jordan Campbell, Miami Northwestern; Ashanti Charles, Venice; DeAnthony Lafayette, Orlando Lake Nona; Logan Nagle, Wayne (New Jersey) DePaul Catholic; Keshawn Stancil, Clayton (North Carolina);
LB: Karsten Busch, ; Louisville St. Xavier; Justin Edwards, Orlando Edgewater
DB: JJ Dunnigan, Manhattan (Kansas); Brody Jennings, Jacksonville Mandarin; Camdin Portis, Charlotte (North Carolina) Myers Park; Cortez Redding, Jonesboro (Georgia); Jaelen Waters, Seffner Armwood; Jontavius Wyman, Jonesboro (Georgia)
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM.
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