Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes are looking to bounce-back with a reloaded roster ahead of the 2024 college football campaign.
The additions they’ve made in the transfer portal has those in Coral Gables excited, as players like Cam Ward and Damien Martinez are coming to town. During the latest episode of Andy Staples On3, Pete Nakos joined the show to discuss the Hurricanes.
“The Miami situation. … They’ve done a good job finding the guys who are potential impact players,” Staples prefaced. “Because this is what we talked about, all through this spring portal, is there’s not a ton of impact players at higher level schools. Miami does feel a lot deeper, than maybe, than when they started.”
With the way it’s shaken out for the Hurricanes, Nakos is even ready to proclaim the Hurricanes as the major winners from the spring portal window, setting them up for success in 2024.
“Someone asked me the other day, ‘Is Miami the biggest winner of the spring portal window?’ and I think the answer is obviously yes,” Nakos stated. “Not only because of the number of pickups they’ve had, but it’s so evident that, with the addition of Cam Ward obviously flipping from the NFL back to Miami, that there’s some confidence right now in Coral Gables, that this year’s team, on paper, has everything it needs to make a real run.
“I know we’ve talked about the schedule before, but I think the Cam Ward commitment, and then what they’ve done the spring, really has them feeling good.”
Additionally, Staples isn’t giving all the credit to the transfer portal, as he added that Miami’s combination of player development and utilizing the portal to their advantage is the real difference.
“It’s also not pure transfer portal,” Staples said. “Like, we’re talking about what Miami’s gonna be. We’ve mentioned the guys they got out of the transfer portal … it’s not like they don’t have players that they’ve been signing.
“This is when we talk about the combination of signing the good players out of high school and developing them, and then filling the holes in the roster through the portal. Now, you’ve still gotta call timeout, or you know, kneel on the ball against Georgia Tech. But the roster feels good.”
Alas, Miami figures to be one of the best teams in the ACC in 2024, and with the expanded College Football Playoff, there’s no telling how high the Hurricanes can fly next season.
The post Why Mario Cristobal, Miami is the biggest winner of the spring portal window appeared first on On3.