48 Days Later: 'Canes Recruiting Changed Over 6 Weeks

Two weeks into June, Mario Cristobal is in the middle of his first offseason as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. And his recruiting class hasn't quite come together yet.

As of June 13, the 2023 recruiting class for the Hurricanes was made up of Robby Washington, Antonio Tripp, Bobby Washington, and Frankie Tinilau. Robby Washington is the only one in that group ranked higher than a three-star recruit.

Over the next 48 days, Miami would add 12 recruits in the class of 2023 including seven four-star recruits and one five-star. They also added two players in the class of 2024.

June 14th - Jackson Carver Commits

The first commitment in June came from the 25th-ranked tight end in the country, Jackson Carver. At the time, it didn't feel like a monumental get, but it was the beginning of something huge.

June 19th - Reid Mikeska Commits

Less than a week later, the Hurricanes added the second three-star tight end of the 2023 class with Reid Mikeska. Though these two are just ranked as three-stars in the composite, they got the ball rolling for this class in June.

June 20th - Emory Williams Commits

The next day, Miami got great news as three-star quarterback Emory Williams committed. Since committing, Williams has moved up boards with appearances at the Elite 11 camp.

June 26th - Jaden Rashada Commits

A week after getting a quarterback into the 2023 class, Cristobal and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis got another in Jaden Rashada, the 7th-ranked quarterback in the country.

Maybe the most notable piece of Rashada committing was what he did immediately afterward. He didn't tweet about himself. He tweeted to other top recruits about wanting them to join him.

Rashada became the highest-rated commit for the Hurricanes at this point. This is where the class really took off.

June 28th - Nathaniel Joseph Commits

Exactly two weeks after decommitting from Clemson and two days after Rashada committed to Miami, four-star receiver Nathaniel Joseph also committed to play in Coral Gables.

Stealing a former Clemson commit is not only big because they are usually extremely talented players, but it is something the Hurricanes are not usually able to do. It marked a moment in recruiting we have not seen much of in recent years.

June 30th- Robert Stafford Commits

With a lot of momentum over the previous two weeks, Miami added another top recruit in four-star athlete Robert Stafford. Rated as the ninth-best athlete in the country, the 2023 class was just stacking talent at this point and moving up the team rankings.

July 1st - Riley Williams Commits

On the first day of July, the Hurricanes added the third tight end of the cycle with four-star Riley Williams. Rated as the third-best tight end in the country, Williams chose Miami over Alabama and Ohio State.

This was the commitment where I truly felt a shift. Rashada was a huge get, but beating out Florida felt like a regular win. Beating two of the top programs in the country for Williams felt like a moment we all need to remember.

July 2nd - Antione Jackson Flips

Part of the class of 2024, four-star safety Antione Jackson committed to Georgia back in March. But on July 2, Jackson flipped that commitment to the Hurricanes. As big as getting a four-star recruit feels, it is also important to include the context.

In less than a week, Miami had a player go from being committed to Clemson to committed to the Hurricanes. They beat Alabama and Ohio State for a top-80 recruit. They then flipped a four-star safety from Georgia. Those are probably the four-best programs in the country and mainstays in the College Football Playoff.

July 4th - Francis Mauigoa Commits

And then this happened. For as big as stealing players can be, that was nothing compared to getting a top-10 recruit. Francis Mauigoa chose Miami and shook the college football world showing how great of a job this coaching staff does on the recruiting trail.

Not only is Mauigoa one of the best recruits in the country (6th overall in the country), but he has completely bought in as the in-class recruit who recruits as well. If things would have slowed down a little bit after this, it would still be a great run for the staff. But it didn’t.

July 9th - Jayden Wayne Commits

Five days after landing Mauigoa, they did it again. Jayden Wayne, a recruit who has been ranked as high as 12th in the country, committed to the Hurricanes. Wayne is currently rated as the 43rd-best player in the country and sixth at edge-rusher.

We all knew Cristobal and his staff place extreme importance on the line of scrimmage and dominating it. Picking up Wayne and Mauigoa within a week did a lot to help that happen for Miami.

July 12th - Raul Aguirre Commits

For as important as each of the recruits were up until this point, maybe the biggest position of need for the Hurricanes was linebacker. And they picked up another good one with Raul Aguirre, the 10th-ranked linebacker in the class.

Aguirre, the 124th-ranked player in the country from Georgia, had official visits to Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, and Florida in the five weeks before committing.

July 27th - Malik Bryant Commits

It felt like Miami may have cooled off in recruiting for about two weeks. But then they got even more help at linebacker when Malik Bryant committed on July 27. Bryant, the fourth-ranked linebacker in the country, joined Aguerro and Bobby Washington to make up one of the best linebacker classes the Hurricanes have put together over the last two decades.

Bryant became the fifth player in the top 100 in the country to commit to Miami and the fourth in July.

July 28th - Tommy Kinsler Commits

With Cristobal being a former offensive lineman and offensive line coach, it shouldn’t come as a shock that he has put great value into improving the position group since arriving.

Three-star interior offensive lineman Tommy Kinsler committed to the Hurricanes about a month after de-committing from Florida. He had backed off his commitment to the Gators about a week after going on a visit to Miami. He became the fourth offensive lineman in the class.

July 31st - Abram Murray Commits

On the final day in July, the Hurricanes added one more commitment with 2024 kicker Abram Murray. Ranked as the number one kicked in the class by Kohl’s Kicking Camps, Murray is a huge addition because he will be a freshman while current kicker Andres Borregales is playing his senior season.