Behind the curtain: Lesser-known names who played instrumental roles in shaping Miami's top-10 2026 recruiting class

We’ve thoroughly documented the efforts Miami assistant coaches made for different 2026 signees — like running backs coach Matt Merritt leading the way to land four-star prospect Javian Mallory or defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Corey Hetherman having primary contact with linebacker signees Karsten Busch and Justin Edwards.

But Miami’s recruiting efforts go far beyond just position coaches, coordinators and head coach Mario Cristobal.

More than a dozen off-field recruiting staffers ranging from executive director of football recruiting Stephen Field to first-year staffers like receivers recruiting assistant Kwincy Hall played pivotal roles behind the scenes in helping Miami land, keep and eventually sign its 30-man ninth-ranked recruiting class. Some staffers have more overarching job titles like general manager Dennis Smith or senior director of football recruiting administration Mackenzie Rizzi and senior director of recruiting operations Tia Joseph, but make no mistake that they and more than a dozen other staffers take a tremendously hands-on approach in recruiting talent to Coral Gables.

Cristobal, Smith and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson were all involved in Miami’s efforts to identify and land four-star quarterback Dereon Coleman, but staffers like recruiting and personnel assistant Steven Necuze and recruiting relations coordinator Frank Tucker played huge roles in helping the Hurricanes sign Mallory at running back. Tucker also had a key role in evaluating four-star tight end Gavin Mueller, whose recruiting ranking rose more than 100 spots this fall, while tight end personnel and NIL coordinator Alec Da Silva was instrumental in helping the Canes land its two-man tight end class of Mueller and fellow four-star signee Israel Briggs. Both Briggs and Mueller noted Da Silva’s efforts at different points this fall.

Tucker, Hall and recruiting coordinator Joe Brown all helped Miami land its four-man receiver class of Milan Parris, Somourian Wingo, Tyran Evans and Vance Spafford. One source said Hall did “an unbelievable job” helping Miami pull Parris away from Iowa State while Tucker and Beard were heavily involved in helping Miami land Spafford. Beard and Brown began targeting Wingo several years ago and have communicated with him since 2023.

No. 1 overall prospect Jackson Cantwell was an all-hands-on-deck effort from the staff but was lead by Cristobal and Mirabal. Four-star offensive tackle Ben Congdon quickly rose on Miami’s offensive line board after a strong junior-season evaluation by Mirabal that identified a number of positive traits. Smith pushed hard for Miami’s staff to flip four-star offensive tackle Joel Ervin from Louisville after he committed to the Cardinals this spring. Interior linemen JJ Sparks and Rhys Woodrow both received collective efforts from the staff.

Canon Pickett was a Miami target for several years, was offered shortly after Cristobal arrived in Coral Gables and kept The U as his top school for awhile, but Rizzi and Joseph were huge in keeping his spirits up and reassuring him after he tore his ACL, MCL and PCL four weeks into his senior season. He referenced both of them on several occasions.

Director of player personnel and strategy Steven Schrum has continued to develop Miami’s Midwest pipeline over the last three years by landing players from Illinois like Justin Scott and Marquise Lightfoot in 2024, and Indiana and Ohio tight ends Brock Schott and Luka Gilbert, respectively, in 2025 and Cantwell and Mueller in 2026.

Defensively, senior defensive analyst Juan Navarro helped Miami gain traction with several 2026 targets when he visited schools alongside different assistant coaches in the spring and helped defensive line coach Jason Taylor land four-star EDGE Asharri Charles. Tucker was a large reason why four-star EDGE Jordan Campbell remained committed to Miami this past calendar year despite receiving heavy interest from other programs. Carrico kept in contact with top-100 defensive tackle Keshawn Stancil after all hope appeared lost after he committed to Clemson in June and eventually swayed him back toward Miami. He was also heavily involved in helping Miami land Tyson Bacon earlier in the summer.

Smith, Brown, Tucker and assistant director of player personnel Devontay Love-Taylor were all pivotal in Miami landing defensive tackles Logan Nagle and Frederic Sainteus in the last three months before signing day. Love-Taylor has been a key staffer in Miami’s efforts to build up the trenches since arriving in Coral Gables last summer.

Rizzi and Joseph worked hard to land cornerbacks Camdin Portis and Jaelen Waters and were heavily involved in Miami’s late push to help land James Dunnigan in the final month before signing day, although Dunnigan was identified by Smith and effectively received a push from the full recruiting department. Field was a major point of contact for top-150 cornerback Brody Jennings.