{"id":166351,"date":"2026-02-24T00:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/166351\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T00:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:30:25","slug":"mario-cristobal-aims-to-secure-no-3-recruit-mark-matthews-for-miami-hurricanes-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/166351\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario Cristobal Aims to Secure No. 3 Recruit Mark Matthews for Miami Hurricanes’ Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 college football<\/a> season marked the rise of a major brand in the sport, as the Miami Hurricanes made their first appearance in the College Football Playoff, finishing the season with a record of 13- 3.<\/p>\n

This was the second consecutive double-digit win season for head coach Mario Cristobal. The team achieved notable victories against the Texas A&M<\/a> Aggies, Ohio State Buckeyes<\/a> and Ole Miss<\/a> Rebels on their journey to the national championship game, where they ultimately lost to the Indiana Hoosiers with a score of 27-21.<\/p>\n

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Cristobal is hopeful that this isn’t just a one-time success but rather the norm for the program. He is working towards this goal through recruiting. Currently, his team is well-positioned to secure five-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews, who is ranked as the No. 3 player in the 2027 recruiting class, according to Rivals and 247Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal takes the field.Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

(Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)<\/p>\n

“Miami continues to set the pace for the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.)\u00a0St. Thomas Aquinas\u00a0standout but Texas A&M remains the biggest challenger, and it\u2019s now\u00a0Georgia\u00a0generating buzz as another program in this recruitment,” Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong wrote.<\/a> “Matthews is intrigued by\u00a0Notre Dame<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tennessee, and has also recently mentioned\u00a0Florida,\u00a0LSU<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Oregon.”<\/p>\n

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The immediate ripple effect of landing Matthews would extend far beyond the offensive line room for the Miami Hurricanes. After a 13-3 season and a national championship appearance, Cristobal has positioned Miami as a legitimate national brand again. Securing the No. 3 overall player in the 2027 class would reinforce that the Hurricanes are not simply capitalizing on one playoff run; they are building sustained momentum.<\/p>\n

Competition remains fierce. Programs like the Texas A&M Aggies and Georgia Bulldogs<\/a> are pushing hard, while other top programs, such as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Tennessee Volunteers<\/a>, continue to monitor the recruitment closely. Matthews\u2019 profile as an elite tackle prospect fits perfectly with Cristobal\u2019s philosophy of building from the trenches outward, a foundational trait of championship-caliber programs.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Miami\u2019s loss to the Hoosiers in the title game could serve as motivation rather than discouragement. Turning a CFP appearance into elite recruiting wins is often the clearest indicator of a program\u2019s staying power. If Cristobal secures Matthews, it would signal that Miami\u2019s resurgence is not a moment; it\u2019s a movement.<\/p>\n

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Related: Mario Cristobal, Miami Named ‘Likely’ Favorites to Land Star College Football QB<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Feb 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 college football season marked the rise of a major brand in the sport, as the Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[10241,4669,6795,7122,79128,123,125,5079,124,10961,4684,10253],"class_list":["post-166351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-college-football-playoff","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-mario-cristobal","tag-mark-matthews","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-miami-news","tag-notre-dame","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-texas-am-aggies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}