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CaneSport, Rivals: Miami Hurricanes' recruiting wins shaping College Football Playoff success

Stephen Wagner covers recruiting for the University of Miami for On3 Sports and CaneSport. He can be found on Twitter at @stephenwag22 and reached at Stephen.Wagner@On3.com.by: Stephen Wagner12/22/25stephenwagOn3

CaneSport’s Stephen Wagner joined Rivals’ Josh Newberg following Miami’s massive 10-3 win over Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff to break down how Hurricanes recruiting wins helped shape its rosters, look forward to Ohio State and quickly recall some Miami and Ohio State’s recent recruiting battles.

Miami’s win over Texas A&M was undoubtedly the biggest victory the Hurricanes have had under head coach Mario Cristobal and arguably the Canes’ biggest postseason win in the last two decades, but it couldn’t have happened without freshmen receiver standout Malachi Toney’s go-ahead touchdown and freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald’s game-sealing interception. Fitzgerald committed to the Hurricanes in August 2024 over Florida State and LSU in a recruitment that leaned heavily toward Florida State just a few weeks before his commitment, but Miami’s staff leaned heavily on its relationships at Miami (Fla.) Columbus, his high school, and made an aggressive late push to swing momentum back toward the Canes in the final days before his announcement.

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CaneSport also looked ahead to Miami’s upcoming College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl Jan. 1 and reflected on a pair of particularly captivating recruiting battles the two schools have found themselves in since the start of the Mario Cristobal era.

Miami was pretty clearly the No. 2 team for then-No. 1 overall prospect Jeremiah Smith for much of the 2023 calendar year but came somewhat close to pulling off a last-second miracle to flip him from the Buckeyes. Smith announced his intent to become a Buckeye at a ceremony at his high school the morning of signing day and promptly signed his Letter of Intent, although Miami made a last-ditch effort before he submitted his documents to Ohio State to pull him away from Columbus. Both Miami and Ohio State aggressively pushed for Smith with enticing NIL packages, but Ohio State did enough for him to stick with his commitment and submit his papers to the Buckeyes.

But Miami also had a notable recruiting win over the Buckeyes in the 2024 cycle when the Canes stunningly flipped five-star defensive tackle Justin Scott about a month before signing day. Miami was viewed as the frontrunner for Scott earlier in the year before things went south during the summer and he committed to Ohio State, but the Hurricanes quietly continued an aggressive push for him during the fall that culminated in a stunning flip in November.

CaneSport and Newberg also touched on elite Miami 2026 offensive line signees Jackson Cantwell, the No. 1 overall prospect, and four-star prospect Joel Ervin as potential early contributors in next year’s cycle.

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