Let’s face it, Clemson’s had Miami’s number in recent years. In the last three games, the Hurricanes were outscored by the Tigers by a combined score of 138-20. The last time Miami beat Clemson, was in 2010 with a 30-21 win in Death Valley.

How did that gap become so great in just over a decade?

Clemson started to extend its gap on Miami with the 2011 recruiting class. The Tigers finished with the 8th-ranked recruiting class while the Hurricanes finished with the 36th-ranked class. In the previous year, Miami had the 16th-ranked class while Clemson finished 13th. Here’s a look at where the two teams ranked every year afterward.

In that ten-year span, Miami averaged the 16th-ranked class while Clemson averaged the 10th-ranked class. In the last four years, Miami ranked as the 17th ranked class while Clemson ranked 6th.

The last six champions (Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and LSU), which include two titles from Clemson, the average rank of its recruiting class in an eight-year span from 2013 to 2020 is 5.8.

The last time Miami was ranked in the top ten was in 2018 while Clemson has ranked in the top ten every year since that year. Much should be said about Clemson doing the most with less, which comes down to player development and coaching.

The only way Miami starts to close the gap starts with recruiting which Head Coach Mario Cristobal has put at the forefront of his rebuild plan.

During his time at Oregon from 2018-2021 (full cycles with Cristobal as head coach), the Ducks averaged the 8th-ranked class in the country. In that span, Oregon walked away with two conference titles and a Rose Bowl victory.

The rebuild will take time but what’s evident is that recruiting has not been up to the standard that it should be to compete for conference championships let alone national championships.

Clemson has established a championship-level program because they have championship-level talent, but based on what Cristobal and his staff are doing with the 2023 class, Miami should be back to consistent relevant form in two years.

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