Miami Hurricanes have a huge opportunity at flipping the commitments of some difference-making on Sunday against Notre Dame
An all-star list will be in attendance this weekend.
All eyes across the country will be on the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday night in primetime, as they look to knock off the 2024 national runner up Notre Dame Fighting Irish in front of a rabid crowd at a sold-out Hard Rock Stadium and make a big statement to start what they hope will be a run to their first ever College Football Playoff appearance.
A handful of very important individuals will have their eyes on the action up close and personal. According to Rivals recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong, five top 100 players will be in attendance at the game as weekend visitors – WR Calvin Russell, RB Derrek Cooper, DL James Johnson, CB Justice Fitzpatrick, and DL Nolan Wilson. All are committed elsewhere.
Four of the five are local players that Miami is looking to keep from leaving the area. Johnson, a Texas pledge, and Russell, a Syracuse commit, are teammates at Miami Northwestern. Justice Fitzpatrick (Georgia) plays for St. Thomas Aquinas, while Derrek Cooper (Texas) is at Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Wilson is from Picayune, Mississippi, so the distance is a bit more of an issue there as far as getting the talented defensive lineman to break from his commitment to Alabama.
However, if there’s one area where Mario Cristobal is at his best, it’s selling his program. He’s already landed a huge name in this class in #3 overall prospect Jackson Cantwell. His class sits just outside the top 10 nationally, and getting a flip from any of the group in attendance would be enough to push the class into the top 10. It’s hard to call for a flip by a top recruit, but you never know with Cristobal, and the stage is set for a terrific sales pitch.
And that pitch would be the recreation of the 2017 defeat of Notre Dame. Not necessarily by the same score, but by atmosphere – one that Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler marveled at and mused the possibility of it being the loudest they’d heard. Win, put on a show as far as game environment, and show that Miami is a legitimate national championship contender.
That can only help the sales pitch as Cristobal works to finish his 2026 recruiting cycle with an exclamation point.
