The 2026 recruiting cycle is officially in the books, and Miami made sure to leave its mark-again. With the final 247Sports rankings now live, the Hurricanes closed the cycle with a top-tier blend of high school talent and transfer portal additions that keeps them firmly planted among college football’s elite.
Let’s start with the headline: Miami finished with the No. 7 overall class when combining high school signees and transfers. That’s 42 new faces joining the program-30 of them blue-chip prospects, which means they’re either four- or five-star players.
That kind of haul doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s the result of a focused, aggressive approach to roster building under head coach Mario Cristobal, who has now signed a top-10 recruiting class for the third time since returning to his alma mater.
The high school class alone came in at No. 9 nationally, led by five-star offensive lineman Jackson Cantwell, a plug-and-play type who’s already penciled in as the projected starting right tackle in 2026. Cantwell headlines a group that includes 22 four-star recruits, giving Miami a staggering 23 blue-chip signees out of 30 total high school additions. That’s the kind of depth and quality that championship teams are built on.
But it wasn’t just about high school recruiting. Miami also crushed it in the transfer portal, landing the No. 4-ranked portal class in the country.
That group includes 10 position players and two kickers, with seven four-star transfers in the mix. The biggest name?
EDGE rusher Damon Wilson, who comes in ranked as the No. 8 overall transfer and No. 3 at his position after a breakout season at Missouri, where he racked up nine sacks and 54 quarterback pressures. That’s the kind of production that can tilt a game-and a season.
Then there’s quarterback Darian Mensah, who arrives as the No. 18 overall transfer and No. 6 quarterback in the portal. He was the second-leading passer in the nation in 2025, and now he’s stepping into a Miami offense that’s already shown it can compete at the highest level. That’s a huge get for Cristobal and company.
In total, six of Miami’s transfers ranked inside the Top 100, a testament to how targeted and effective their portal strategy has become. And when you take a step back and look at the full picture, Miami’s average recruit rating is 90.78-fourth-best in the country, trailing only Notre Dame, USC, and Oregon. That’s not just about quantity; that’s elite-level quality.
This isn’t new territory for the Hurricanes. Ahead of their 2025 national runner-up finish, they used a similar blueprint: sign a top-15 high school class, hit the portal hard (they had the No. 3 transfer class that year), and retain key pieces on the roster. That formula worked then, and it’s setting them up again in 2026.
Looking around the ACC, it’s clear Miami is operating on a different level. The next closest in the overall class rankings?
Florida State at No. 16, with 56 new players added after missing out on bowl eligibility for the second straight season. But their average recruit rating is 87.78, well below Miami’s and outside the blue-chip range.
North Carolina (No. 20) and Virginia Tech (No. 23) round out the ACC’s presence in the Top 25, but neither comes close to matching the Hurricanes in terms of talent per recruit.
With Cristobal entering Year 5, expectations in Coral Gables are sky-high-and rightfully so. Miami is likely to open the season as a preseason top-five to top-seven team, and with a roster that boasts both star power and depth, they’ll have a clear talent edge over every ACC opponent they face.
The Hurricanes aren’t just building for the future-they’re built to win now.