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Assessing this recruiting class

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HurricanesR1 said:
Very disappointing class. Mario better hit several home runs in the portal but most of our portal additions under his guidance have been mediocre, especially on defense.

QB Reese Poffenbarger
WR Frank Ladson
WR Tyler Harrell
TE Cam McCormick
OL Jonathan Denis
OL Logan Sagapolu
OL Lou Cristobal
DL Jake Lichtenstein
DL Antonio Moultrie
DL Thomas Gore
DL Anthony Campbell
DL Marley Cook
LB Caleb Johnson
DB Demetrius Freeney
DB Davonte Brown

Need more guys to make impacts and not fill deep depth spots.
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I'm not going to defend Mario, this class, or our general roster construction issues, but you can't do this type of post without also including the fact that he brought in Lee, Cohen, Barrow, Martinez, Parrish, Mauigoa, Baron, Mesidor, etc...all of whom ranged from legit to solid starters....and, oh yeah, Cam.

The floor has been too low but you have to look at the classes holistically. It's like the NFL and free agency...a small amount are stars, most are solid role players / depth, and a bunch don't work out at all.
 
Ziggy said:
The game has changed with the portal and NIL but recruiting will always be 1A. Make no mistake, this is a good class but it felt Manny-ish and not Mario-ish. I'm pretty surprised that with a heisman finalist, 10 wins, and money we weren't able to close like we all thought we would but losing games late and the defensive product on the field cost us. Florida and in particularly South Florida had a down year in 2025... but we whiffed on big time talents that we went all in on such as Pickett, Hanks, V Brown, Ffrench, Stubbs, etc.

Mario needs to take the secondary personally - both in the portal this off season and recruiting for 2026. That room needs a complete flip like he did with the offensive line.

Anyway, pleased with the class. My fav guys are Pringle, Nickel, Schott, SJ, and Buchanan. Congrats to all the new canes!
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I don't think the falling on our faces finish would have changed many minds. UF somewhat getting their act together along with the Lagway hype made it nearly impossible.

Pickett - Raymond cast a spell on him (I think he's overrated as **** anyway)
Stubbs - always wanted UF and they gave him $ and showed improvement
Brown - legacy and was never coming
Hanks - legacy and was never coming once UFag showed improvement
FFrench - was all about $
 
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We could have rebuilt the entire secondary with what was available in the portal LAST year..and didn't.
I can already tell you this year will be no different with what will be available... question is will we repeat our behavior.
 
Alex Del Piero said:
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This class in terms of average is similar to last class even if it doesn't match the narrative some think it does of how this class is terrible. The players themselves are pretty good. Last season though we simply signed more players and had more at the top of the recruiting class rankings AND more 3star type talent that a lot here wanted cut. Whereas this class there aren't as many 3star types and almost everyone is in the medium high to low 4star range. So average is similar. Honestly landing just 1 or 2 more top end talents is the difference in this feeling like a bad class and this feeling like a pretty great class just small....

Looking at the class as a whole and we were were actually targeting heavily I really don't think this class ever had a shot at topping last year's. The talent we were hard after just wasn't the same level except at DB really. Landing Hanks was the most important thing imo. Unfortunately him being a legacy and UF turning on the Jets with NIL at the end turned a maybe 20% odds of a flip at best in the. Middle of the sesson to like <5% by the end ...

Need like 6 locked in starters out of the portal. And another 4 or so for good rotational snaps and hopefully a couple of them are DBs with multiple yrs eligibility
 
TheATLCane said:
Seems to be a recurring theme around our defense. It's the achilles heal everywhere we look
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I really don't mean to beat a dead horse but it's not lack of interest or money in most cases. We have to be aggressive through Spring practice. Get these guys in early. I can almost guarantee you will see us with a wave of 26 kids post spring like Mario hasn't done yet as a "pivot point"
 
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If you want to use blue chip ratio to spin the overall quality of the 2025 class, that’s fine. I do believe in quality over quantity.

But then don’t call last year’s class elite because there’s a 4 next to it, considering we finished outside the top 10 in 2024 blue chip ratio. You can’t have it both ways, pick one.

www.on3.com

Which schools signed the highest percentage of 2024 blue-chip recruits

Here’s a look at which schools signed the highest percentage of blue-chip recruits for the 2024 recruiting cycle.
www.on3.com www.on3.com
 
cowboycane said:
I'm not going to defend Mario, this class, or our general roster construction issues, but you can't do this type of post without also including the fact that he brought in Lee, Cohen, Barrow, Martinez, Parrish, Mauigoa, Baron, Mesidor, etc...all of whom ranged from legit to solid starters....and, oh yeah, Cam.

The floor has been too low but you have to look at the classes holistically. It's like the NFL and free agency...a small amount are stars, most are solid role players / depth, and a bunch don't work out at all.
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Right but this season, Kiko and Baron were not quality players. The majority of the portal takes have been.....meh. But yeah, he did hit on some of them.
 
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its a defense coaching problem. We beat UF for Moore, Auburn for Upshaw, Bama tried to steal Pringle, Toney got big UF and Oregon last minute. Only loses were brown (that was always a pipedream) and Dallas Wilson who was committed for nearly 2 years. to Oregon.
 
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WeBallinBoyz said:
If you want to use blue chip ratio to spin the overall quality of the 2025 class, that’s fine. I do believe in quality over quantity.

But then don’t call last year’s class elite because there’s a 4 next to it, considering we finished outside the top 10 in 2024 blue chip ratio. You can’t have it both ways, pick one.

www.on3.com

Which schools signed the highest percentage of 2024 blue-chip recruits

Here’s a look at which schools signed the highest percentage of blue-chip recruits for the 2024 recruiting cycle.
www.on3.com www.on3.com
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The CFP Committee gave Bama both ways so why can't we? #Sarcasm
 
1murhurricane said:
I really don't mean to beat a dead horse but it's not lack of interest or money in most cases. We have to be aggressive through Spring practice. Get these guys in early. I can almost guarantee you will see us with a wave of 26 kids post spring like Mario hasn't done yet as a "pivot point"
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The summer recruiting was shockingly quiet this year
 
Chicho Salchicha said:
I'm NOT subscribing to the doom-and-gloom a lot of the fanbase is spewing. While it is fair to say that the '25 haul was "disappointing", context needs to take the lead here. I feel we got a very good baseline for '25 yet saved the bank for instant and proven Day 1 plug-ins via the portal. Thank you in advance for reading.

First, we only signed about 22 kids versus 30 or more for most classes. We signed 15 - 4*'s and 6-7 3*'s. Recruit class numbers rankings on the star quality rating and number of recruits in the class. Conversely, a class of 30 3*'s can "outrank" another class with a lesser number of commits. That is primarily what happened here with Miami in '25. It's basically a game of mirrors. It is absolutely clear that the 22 kids that committed yesterday are solid pieces that also fit the culture. All have outstanding tape and high motors with very little distractions off of the field. Sure, we missed on some whales but lets be honest, they were tough to flip and we got some whales of our own the last 2 cycles that could end up paying off next year.

Second, I am of the opinion that Mario not caving in to extortion from unproven (P4 college level) high school recruits is a solid business decision. While I admit that a prodigy-esque HS kid like Jeremiah Smith and/or Ben Hanks could justify high dollar payouts, I am not on board with just "throwing bags" at kids for the sake of saving face in recruit class rankings, ala DJ Pickett. It was absolutely clear that the Pickett recruitment was guaranteed to be drama-filled based on the dad's X posts (posting chess emoji's and stating recruiting is a business). "Throwing bags" at Pickett, when he showed clearly on tape that he was afraid to hit people in the box and in space as a DB just to save the class would have been egregious and a dereliction of duty. Tackling in the backend was a major problem this year, paying $12 million to a HS kid with meh tape with zero physicality would have been a massive blunder. LSPuke was desperate because of the **** season they had, coaching staff seat getting very warm, along with other high rated decommits. They were extorted by Pickett and deserve everything they will get with him. I wish him (DJ Pickett) the best but he is certainly NOT worth $12 million as rumored.

Third, Mario proved in '24 that he learns from past "mistakes" across a spectrum of criteria. His first portal class was not very impactful, then again, he came in late and had to tear down the foundation of the program to start fresh again. Not sure this scenario impressed high value transfers thus ending up with the best we could get out there. Mario's '24 portal was starkly improved with several high value transfers making positive impact immediately (Cam Ward, Simeon Barrow, Zach Carpenter, Markell Bell, Meesh Powell, Damien Martinez, etc). These transfers vastly improved the on-field product but more importantly the locker room culture. I remember a time when folks were saying Mario was a "QB killer", "Mario meddles too much in the offense", and a "terrible gameday coach." I ask these asshats that have said this to explain Cam Ward (from a projected Free Agent in 23 to a Heisman finalist, ACC Player of the Year, and 1st Round Draft Pick), #1 offense in P4 in most metrics, 10 wins (first time since 2017). Mario went for it on 4th down more times than I would have expected and for the most part, vast majority of the time it worked out for us. Mario kicked FG's when needed and that worked out for us as well. To indict Mario for one single judgement call on a 4th and Goal from the 12-yard line is stupid to me. We can debate whether it was the right call but that is with the luxury of hindsight. Mario evolved, for the better, in many ways in 2024 and that is an absolute FACT.

Fourth, this fanbase is pathetic. They act like the kid that was always picked last at P.E. kickball when the program isn't perfect. Watch any Arkansas football game and every home game is sold out and Arkansas hasn't been relevant since the invention of the TV. Same thing goes for many other mid to lower tier programs. I don't want to hear that bull**** about, "its expected here at Miami because of our 5 national championships." We have been dog **** for over 20 years, and we now have a solid backbone of players on the depth chart, a seemingly healthy locker room culture, and a 10-win season yet you ******* whine and moan? It's literally cuck behavior to act like that. Also, it works against what you want the program to become, a national champion. If you snowflake retards don't think that recruits and their families don't see that garbage and affect/impact their decision to come here, I have beachfront property I can sell you on Mars. We just enjoyed a high-powered offense the likes we have never seen, literally (Cam & Company set program records). Sure, we came up short, Sure, it was heartbreaking to not take advantage of this offense in the playoffs. I will give you that, but, we weren't supposed to be a national contender in Year 3 of the rebuild. We sure came close and more importantly, the vast majority of guys who made this year happen will remain for next year and beyond. Perhaps our team will be more well-balanced next year where we can score points with this proven offense and stop opponents more regularly.

The future is bright. Quit the ***** show, it's not a good look on you or, more importantly, THE MIAMI HURRICANES. You know who you are.

Thank you for reading!

P.S. if I triggered any of you, you are the cuck I'm talking about. :cool:
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It is a little exhausting seeing us like 2 bad bounces away from an undefeated season and people acting like we just went 7-6 and acting like the #15 recruiting class is the #60 recruiting class or something, but people have PTSD, and I get it. But you know, maybe buck up a little.
 
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