Canes await final word from top local prospect. And Cristobal/Herbstreit/opener
If Friday goes as UM hopes, the Canes would become the only school with commitments from two top-10 prospects in the 2027 class.
UM is a finalist for Mark Matthews, a five-star offensive tackle from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas who will announce his college choice at 5:30 p.m. Friday on CBS Sports. But Texas A&M has been pegged as a front-runner by 247 Sports and On.3/Rivals.
“This is clearly a Miami vs. Texas A&M battle,” Rivals recruiting analyst Josh Newberg said.
247 Sports rates Matthews the No. 3 player in the country and No.1 offensive tackle.
Gaby Urrutia, who’s as plugged into UM recruiting as anyone, said this week:
“I expect the Aggies to be the selection. The Hurricanes will continue to battle throughout the week, but the writing has been on the wall for a few weeks, and the expectation is that Matthews announces for Texas A&M. Miami will still try to pull it off in the coming days, but that’s the sense I have at the moment.
“Regardless, the Hurricanes are going to play the long game with Matthews with zero intention of slowing down their pursuit of the Broward County standout until pen meets paper in December.”
UM snagged another five-star prospect in recent days when cornerback Donte Wright — rated the No. 10 prospect by 247 — flipped from Georgia to Miami.
He told Rivals: “From the jump when Miami was recruiting me, outside of the NIL, outside of the business and stuff like that, I just had love for Miami,” Wright said.
“I love the way they play football. I love coach Cristobal. “There are a lot of people who are going to say I took the bag or whatever. If I’m being real with you, I could’ve gone somewhere else and taken a way crazier bag and surprised everyone.”
Wright, who attends Long Beach Poly Tech, said UM’s long playoff run made a difference with him.
“It was huge they played for a natty,” Wright said. “My doubt about Miami was they play in the ACC. I want to play for the best and there’s talk that the Big 10 has the best, that the SEC has the best ball. But if I have a chance to get to the playoffs and get deep in the playoffs then that’s good for sure.”
He said UM defensive backs coach Will Harris “has a good connection with Travon Patterson, my head coach here, and my pops. We had a good relationship. We match the same vibe because he’s a Cali guy so that matched out perfectly.”
And new UM cornerbacks coach Terry Jefferson “recruited me and showed he believed in me and he’s trying to get something done with me. He just got the job so he’s believing in me and I’m believing in him and we’re going to make it work.”
The Canes also have commitments from 247’s No. 14 prospect (quarterback Israel Abrams) and No. 16 prospect (receiver Nick Lennear).
Herbstreit’s thoughts
Count ESPN’s Kirk Herbstriet among the Canes’ biggest advocates this season.
“I think Miami might be the team to win it all this year,” Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. “That team is loaded.”
Herbstreit’s network, ESPN, on Tuesday set a 9 p.m. kickoff time for UM’s opener against Stanford on Friday, Sept. 4.
The kickoff time has been set for only one other UM game — Nov. 7 at Notre Dame, a game that will start at 7:30 p.m. and be televised by NBC.
The start time for a few early season UM games will be announced in the final week of May.
Playoff talk
Though the Big 10 and ACC support expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams, Cristobal does not. “I’m not for the 24-team thing,” he told Kevin Clark. “I think that’s just a lot. Like why play a regular season then?”
Cristobal wants the championship game earlier; the later stages of the playoffs overlap with the sport’s single transfer portal period.
“Just move everything up,” Cristobal said. “Just finish as early as possible in January, so there’s time for you to put together a team. Have one bye week and let’s roll.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 9:36 AM.
