Miami’s 2025 class talented, balanced, and building momentum
Talent acquisition never stops in college football and no head coach in the country attacks that phase of running a program harder than Mario Cristobal.
This 2025 recruiting cycle is the third full cycle of the Cristobal era at Miami and the Hurricanes are entering late July with a top ten recruiting class that features talent and balance.
According to the 247Sports Team Recruiting Rankings, UM’s class ranks No. 9 overall in the country with 18 commitments—and 13 of those commitments are ranked as four-star prospects.
Miami’s class average comes in at 90.79, which equates to a low four-star prospect.
The Hurricanes currently claim the top class in the ACC with Clemson ranking No. 15 nationally and Florida State checking in at No. 17 in the country.
Since his arrival at UM, Cristobal has significantly upgraded the Miami roster with this 2025 class coming on the heels of two consecutive top ten classes—which were also the top classes amongst ACC teams. The Hurricanes have never signed three straight top ten classes during the 247Sports era, which dates back to the 2011 cycle.
It takes three to five full classes for any head coach to put together a roster that reflects the vision of a head coach and this 2025 class is starting to reflect Cristobal’s tenure because it is a talented class that features plenty of balance as well.
The goal for every head coach is to get recruiting to a point where each position group can be addressed with quality year after year after year. Unbalanced classes that have to overload a specific position group to address a need can have a domino effect of disjointed talent acquisition for a couple years.
In mid-July, however, this 2025 Miami class is quite balanced—with more commitments on the way.
The Hurricanes have 18 commits with commitments from ten of the 11 major position groups (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback, safety, and nickel). Defensive tackle is the one position group that Miami still needs to address.
Here is the look at UM’s top pledge at each position group in this 2025 class:
– QB: 4-star Luke Nickel
– RB: 4-star Girard Pringle
– WR: 4-star Daylyn Upshaw
– TE: 4-star Brock Schott
– OL: 4-star SJ Alofaituli
– DE: 4-star Herbert Scroggins
– LB: 4-star Gavin Nix
– CB: 4-star Chris Ewald
– DB: 4-star Hylton Stubbs
– Nickel: 4-star Amari Wallace
This is the starting point of a big time recruiting class that features four-stars across the board.
On Saturday evening, Miami landed the commitment of Daylyn Upshaw from Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama. A four-star prospect, according to the industry generated 247Sports Composite, Upshaw was ultra productive as a junior in 2023, totaling 1,185 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.
At 5-feet-11 and 180 pounds, Upshaw is a versatile receiver who can play in the slot or on the outside.
Miami is not done recruiting plenty of top targets at other position groups such as wide receiver, cornerback, defensive back, and defensive end, but in terms of filling out the class with position balance, defensive tackle is the one position remaining.
After signing a defensive line centric recruiting class in the 2024 cycle, the Hurricanes are circling two top targets at defensive tackle at this point in July: 5-star Elijah Griffin and 3-star Jarquez Carter.
Griffin hails from Savannah, Georgia and the in-state Bulldogs have most of the buzz in these summer months. Griffin’s commitment timeline is unknown at this stage. Carter hails from Newberry High School in the Gainesville, Florida area and his recruitment appears to be a battle between Miami and Ohio State.
Plenty of other top targets are expected to make commitments by the end of July, including 5-star DB DJ Pickett, 4-star CB Jaboree Antoine, and 4-star WR Vernell Brown.
Cristobal has worked hard to land two consecutive top ten classes in 2023 and 2024, which set the table for a balanced AND talented 2025 class. The Hurricanes have generated plenty of recruiting momentum during the month of July as UM is poised to sign another top ten group in the country.
