With veteran Elija Lofton leading the room, explosive four-star recruits Gavin Mueller and Israel Briggs battle to secure pivotal roles in the Miami Hurricanes' evolving, high-stakes offensive scheme.
MIAMI, Fla. – Although questions mainly revolve around the offensive line, the Miami Hurricanes might have more to figure out with the tight ends room. Last season, Elija Lofton and Alex Bauman split snaps and went on to have productive seasons, despite limited opportunities. They combined for 384 receiving yards on 41 catches, scoring four touchdowns.
Lofton returns to the Coral Gables program, but Bauman departs with no extra NCAA eligibility. Given the shakeup of the roster, the tight ends room is essentially inexperienced outside of the veteran junior. Lofton is strongly likely the starter, but who provides that second punch?
Luka Gilbert could be the easy selection, but the Hurricanes have a couple of intriguing freshmen that make the depth chart interesting. Gavin Mueller is the more prolific tight end prospect coming from South Elgin High School.
Before taking football seriously, the Illinois native was playing basketball. Once the switch in priority happened, Mueller climbed the rankings quickly. As a senior, he caught 32 passes for 515 yards, scoring 10 touchdowns.
Mueller possesses a remarkable frame among the Hurricanes' tight ends: 6-5 and 255 pounds.
The four-star top-100 prospect was explosive on the high school recruiting trail and earned scholarship offers from Florida, LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M, among others. After originally committing to Colorado, Mueller flipped to Miami ahead of December’s National Signing Day.
Alongside him in the 2026 class is four-star top-400 prospect Israel Briggs. In one season at Clovis High School – a public California institution – he caught 48 passes for 599 yards, scoring eight total touchdowns in 10 games. Briggs committed to Miami over Florida State, Michigan, Nebraska, and Oregon, among others.
Both tight ends can be utilized as route runners, but blocking will make up the difference in playing time. Mike Viti was hired as the program’s new position coach after coming off 10 seasons at Army. He was previously responsible for the Black Knights’ offensive line – ranked the best among Football Bowl Subdivision programs last year.
Missing a blocking tight end arguably cost the Hurricanes a National Championship.
A new chapter emerges, but Mario Cristobal and the staff don’t shy away from playing freshmen. Mueller and/or Briggs could carve out a rotation role by the end of this upcoming fall camp. The depth chart outside of Lofton is wide open. It’s an open opportunity for anyone to collect snaps on the field.
Mueller and Briggs could rise from the shadows, but it’ll only be shown in real-game action.
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Anthony Aguirre is the Miami Hurricanes beat writer for Roundtable Sports. Contact info: [email protected] | 305-987-3290 | Follow on Instagram/X: @AnthonyA_Sports
