Could UM land its best consecutive classes ever? And many Canes personnel notes

A six-pack of Hurricanes notes on a Wednesday:

▪ If going “1-0” for the week is Mario Cristobal’s favorite phrase, then “stacking” things can’t be far behind. As in stacking good days of practice or stacking recruiting classes.

And arguably nobody in the country is stacking recruiting classes better than Cristobal.

247 Sports ranked UM’s last three recruiting classes third, 14th and ninth in the country.

And now, 247 has UM’s 20-player 2027 class fourth, while On3.com has the class third (but first in average ranking of each commit).

And if things break right for UM, the 2027 and 2028 classes could be UM’s highest-ranked consecutive classes ever, when evaluated in tandem.

For the 2028 class, the nation’s No. 1 overall prospects at safety, receiver, offensive tackle and cornerback visited UM for the FSU game and the Canes are in the mix for all of them.

On3.com’s EJ Holland reported that Miami “has the lead” for Jacksonville-based receiver Brysen Wright, the No. 1 receiver and No. 3 overall player in the 2028 class. Florida and Texas also are in the mix.

On3.com’s Steve Wiltfong said no “program has been recruiting him harder than Cristobal and his staff…. The Hurricanes continue to check many of the boxes Wright is looking for.”

After his UM visit last weekend, UM remains firmly in play for Casey Barner, a Powder Springs, Georgia, defensive back, who is rated the No. 1 safety and No. 2 overall prospect in the 2028 class. “This visit definitely helped them,” he told Rivals.com. Georgia and Ohio State are also in the mix.

Newark-based Nasir Richardson, rated the nation’s No. 1 cornerback and No. 10 overall player in the 2028 class, took his first visit to UM last weekend and reportedly came away impressed. Miami is in Richardson’s top three, with Michigan viewed as the strongest challenger, per On3.

Utah-based Maui Tonata, the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 11 overall prospect in 2028, spent last weekend in Miami, and on3.com predicts he will pick the Hurricanes.

“A big thing for me is comfort level and the culture in the program,” Tonata told on3’s Greg Biggins. “That’s what I’m looking forward to building here at Miami. I want to build the Polynesian culture here. I saw what Francis [Mauigoa] did when he was here, and that’s what I’m looking forward to as well.”

The nation’s No. 2 Class of 2028 edge player, Jacksonville-based Asher Ghioto, and the No. 2 defensive lineman (Georgia-based Prince Che) also visited and emerged impressed. On3’s Holland said Miami “has the lead” for Ghioto, who is rated the No. 7 overall player in the class.

“Love how they stumbled but kept fighting back!” Ghioto told on3. “What excites me about the opportunity is how [Cristobal] coaches and made adjustments. Was a great time!”

Che, rated the No. 12 player overall in the 2028 class, told on3: “Miami has a lot to offer, and I like the way Coach Cristobal is building the program.”

Georgia and Florida are among formidable challengers for both Ghioto and Che. UM likely isn’t going to end up with all of these players, but who can put anything past Cristobal and his staff at this point?”

For the 2027 class, UM already has nonbinding commitments from on3.’s No. 1 cornerback (Donte Wright), No. 3 quarterback (Israel Abrams), No. 3 receiver (Nick Lennear) and No. 4 edge rusher (Jaiden Bryant), among several other blue-chippers.

The Canes also continue to try to flip several 2027 players, including linebacker Aston Whiteside, a Texas A&M commitment who raved about his UM visit last weekend. He’s on3.com’s No. 21 linebacker and 254th-best prospect.

▪ Javian Mallory isn’t only one of the top freshmen running backs in the country. He’s already one of the top backs in the country, period.

Of the 192 FBS running backs with at least 50 carries, Mallory is fourth in yards-per-carry average (7.6) and 13th in average yards after contact (4.73).

“Right away, you could tell he’s a downhill guy that plays with a lot of power, a lot of juice,” Cristobal said Monday, noting his ability to accelerate and decelerate is “off the charts. And he worked hard at changing his body and continues to do so. Really trimmed himself down, got leaner, better balance and body control, more explosive. And he’s got great mentorship in that room with Mark Fletcher and Marty Brown and really Jordan Lyle, as well.”

▪ Speaking of Lyle, he had his best game in more than a year, with nine carries for 42 yards against FSU.

“He’s back to being Jordan Lyle,” Cristobal said on his weekly TV show. “He ran hard and physical. He had to run through some tackles.”

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said: “He’s making huge strides. That game was big for him. He came in and did some great things. You can see his talent.”

Against FSU, with Mark Fletcher Jr. limited to 36 snaps, Mallory played 28 offensive snaps and Lyle 17. Girard Pringle Jr. played only four. (Cristobal has said that Fletcher will be fine for Saturday’s home game against Pittsburgh.)

▪ UM cornerback Xavier Lucas’ struggles against FSU (6 of 9 targets caught for 115 yards and two touchdowns, 149.3 passer rating) appears to be an outlier. Keep in mind that he had not played since the opener because of an injury. And he permitted a 69.4 passer rating in his coverage area last season.

Lucas was beaten on Duce Robinson’s 75-yard touchdown in the final minutes of regulation against FSU. Omar Thornton was late with his help; safety JJ Dunnigan blitzed on the play.

“We are in a situation, probably 15 or so plays left in the game, just outside two minutes, a one-score lead,” UM defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “They changed it up and ran a fade. X is playing really well at that point; we liked that matchup for us. A really good play. Give them credit; they win a one on one, good throw from the quarterback.”

Cristobal said of Lucas: “Minus two plays he looked good. I take responsibility for not finding ways to get him more in one on one situations in practice.”

▪ Quick stuff part 1: Hetherman said the defense should have attempted to knock the ball down, not catch it, on FSU’s game-ending pass that Bryce Fitzgerald intercepted.

“We didn’t play with very much detail there at the end of the game,” Hetherman said. “It’s something we practice twice a week. We practice [that] every Thursday and Friday.”…

After allowing seven pressures against FSU, left tackle Samson Okunola has now permitted 14 this season, per PFF. That’s 40th most among FBS tackles. But he hasn’t permitted a sack…

Though UM this week is ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the first time since December 8, 2002, one voter (Syracuse Post-Standard’s Javon Edmunds) left UM out of his top five altogether, ranking BYU, Ohio State, Indiana, Notre Dame and Mississippi ahead of the Canes. Two others — the Baton Rouge Advocate’s Koki Riley and San Jose Mercury News longtime college writer Jon Wilner — ranked UM fifth.

▪ Quick stuff part 2: Though linebacker Mo Toure, who had 12 tackles against FSU, remains outstanding as a run defender, he has permitted 297 yards in coverage, the fifth most of any FBS linebacker, per PFF. After allowing 5 of 6 targets to be caught for 117 yards against FSU, he has now permitted 18 receptions in 20 targets, with three touchdowns. But UM will need to live with that because of his value in other areas …

ESPN executives will decide next weekend whether to put the Halloween night UM-North Carolina game on ABC and Texas-Mississippi State on ESPN or vice versa…. Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick were assigned to the Hurricanes-Pittsburgh game at noon Saturday on ESPN.

This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 11:11 AM.