Five-Star Plus+ DL Armondo Blount is Miami's 'biggest get' under Mario Cristobal

Mario Cristobal and Miami are trying to put the finishing touches on another top-20 recruiting class in the 2024 cycle, but the Hurricanes are already off to a flying start with the 2025 class.

On Sept. 14, Miami Central Five-Star Plus+ defensive lineman Armondo Blount pledged to his home program, choosing Miami just two days after announcing his top five schools. The 6-foot-3.5, 250-pounder is the No. 4 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle, per the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

“Now that I’m getting to be around them more, it’s the culture they’ve got,” Blount told On3. “They’re bringing back Miami kids. Coach Cristobal’s recruiting kids from here, so that’s something I like too, because I want to play with people who are from where I’m from. If Cristobal pulls all of the recruits from South Florida, hey…”

CaneSport recruiting insider Stephen Wagner spoke with On3’s Josh Newberg, breaking down what the commitment of Blount means for Miami and why it’s a positive sign for the state of recruiting in Coral Gables moving forward.

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Blount felt comfortable around the Hurricanes’ program

Blount has had six visits with Miami, including a visit at the end of July and a game visit on Sept. 9, which sealed the deal for his pledge soon after. Among plenty of other reasons, Blount felt the love from the Hurricanes’ coaching staff.

“I think he just really felt comfortable in the setting and the environment that Mario Cristobal has created down there at Miami. Cristobal and this staff have recruited him incredibly hard,” Wagner said. “This is a guy who even in the waning hours, just before the August dead period, Cristobal, Joe Salave’a, Jason Taylor, they managed to get him down to campus for a quick, last-second unofficial visit…

“They have maximized every opportunity to get any sort of interaction with Armondo Blount and that has really paid off.”

So just how big is the addition of Blount? Wagner, On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power and more have seen the potential that the elite lineman possesses. “Looks like one of the more physically-gifted defenders early on in the 2025 cycle,” Power wrote. The hype is real with the South Florida trench monster.

“I do think this is Mario Cristobal’s biggest get since he’s gotten to Coral Gables. You’re talking about a guy who is top six on all four of the major recruiting sites,” Wagner said. “This is a guy, who depending on how his body shapes out, he could both play as an interior defensive lineman and the three-technique, or he can be a full-on edge rusher … wildly talented, incredibly versatile, he really is one of these guys who is an absolutely essential must-get.”

“The proof is in the pudding” for Mario Cristobal

Like many coaches trying to rebuild once-prominent programs, Cristobal has kept a similar pitch for many of the top recruits that the Hurricanes have targeted since he arrived in Coral Gables in 2022: a trope about restoring the program to its rightful spot, while simultaneously urging these prospects to come be a part of the new era.

That’s hard to fall back on when recruits aren’t seeing results on the field. After a 5-7 season last year, Cristobal and his staff were well aware that there had to be improvement in 2023, or else that pitch could begin to fall on deaf ears.

Insert a dominant victory over Texas A&M two weeks ago in front of a great environment at Hard Rock Stadium. A win that came in front of a hoard of elite recruits that were in the building visiting. Blount was one of those, and that weekend propelled him to his commitment.

One win or loss can be game changing on the recruiting trail, with that weekend being a picture-perfect example of what it can do, whether that be good or bad. Cristobal’s picture that he’s been dying to paint is beginning to look better by the week, and players like Blount are taking notice.

“I think a lot of it comes down to the proof being in the pudding for Mario Cristobal,” Wagner said. “Now he finally has evidence that he can point to — on-field proof — and say ‘this is what I envision my program looking like.'”