ANALYSIS: Top programs don’t rely heavily on the portal, and Miami Hurricanes may be on cusp of getting to that point as well
A championship level roster. Is that too much for Miami Hurricanes fans to ask as they ache for a time machine warp back to 2001?
Maybe … or maybe not.
Certainly it’s possible, but the route to take there could rely mainly on recruiting, mainly on the transfer portal or a hybrid of both with a slant edge to either side. The right answer to the above depends on who you ask.
But if you ask coaches at the nation’s top programs, well their answer is simply in the facts. Here is a look at how the nation’s perennial top programs managed their roster since Dec. 1:
Alabama has taken 2 portal transfers
Georgia has taken 3
Clemson has taken none
Ohio State has taken 4
Those are arguably the four programs that have shown they are built best for sustainability in competing for national titles. The coaches there have built the roster well enough through recruiting that they only need to fill those few misses/roster holes each year, and sometimes it’s simply caused by players leaving early for the NFL.
So far this year Miami has taken eight transfer additions, and CaneSport has learned Mario Cristobal is targeting as many as 6-9 more before fall camp kicks off. His goal, of course, is to make the current roster strong and to try and win as many games as possible in 2023. Last year Cristobal took 11 transfers into the program … and the team won five games.
Manny Diaz, who many labeled the “Portal King”? He took four transfers in 2021, five in 2002 and eight in 2019.
Cristobal knows this roster is underdeveloped and not talented enough. Hence, the portal.
But, as you can see from ‘Bama, Georgia, etc., it seems the road to being a consistent contender is NOT through the portal.
So let’s take a deeper dive under the hood of this Miami roster.
Cristobal has, to his credit, tried to trim the fat. Twenty-nine players with eligibility remaining have transferred out since Dec., 2021 after he arrived (and 20 so far this year).
So when will the cycle of massive transfers out and in end? That might be sooner rather than later.
As you look at the CaneSport eligibility tracker, you’ll find maybe 10 guys that you’d say are unlikely to be contributors now or in the future.
There are also eight current seniors, and four roster openings.
So do the math. If you trim those 10 guys that gives you 22 open spots right this minute for next year’s recruiting class. There could be a few more if a Tyler Van Dyke, Leonard Taylor or Akheem Mesidor, etc. go pro early.
But, by the same token, if Miami takes another six or so transfers this year and a few of them aren’t one-and-done guys, that number of scholarship openings will be fewer.
The expectation is there will be room for around 20-25 in the next recruiting class, and that will include trimming the rest of the fat on the current roster.
That’s actually good news.
Because as the top programs around the nation have shown, consistent high-level success comes from building a roster through recruiting and development. So if Miami takes another top 10 recruiting class of, say, 20 guys, in 2024, then there will only be a handful of spots if that for transfers a year from now.
That’s when this team can start to see really stacked freshmen and sophomore classes that will be the backbone of the program.
And that’s when fans can stop talking about hoping for a 10-win season.
Instead they can talk about expecting a 10-win season.
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