That Miami Hurricanes have signed two freshmen tight ends in the 2026 recruiting class. Gavin Mueller and Israel Briggs are both out-of-state, four-star TE’s that will be added to a position group that has
Elija Lofton, Jackson Carver, Luka Gilbert, and Jack Nickel. Alex Bauman has moved on to updating his LinkedIn page while Brock Schott is now an Indiana Hoosier.
Gilbert is a former four-star out of Ohio, while Carver and Nickel (UAB, Michigan State) were prep three-stars from Indiana and Georgia, respectively. Lofton was also a blue chip four-star out of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
The TE room will return 25 receptions, with 23 coming from Lofton alone. Lofton picked up three TD’s on 9.5 yards per catch in ‘25. Gilbert caught two balls for 18.5 yards per catch during a redshirt season. We can debate the disappointing season that Lofton had on another day.
Gavin Mueller
Gavin Mueeller is a 6-foot-5, 250 pound blue chip TE out of Illinois. He didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school where he played WR, TE, and DE at St. Francis before transferring to South Elgin HS.
Mueller has a basketball background, but is now a full-time football player. Per 247, Mueller was the 7th TE in the country and 124th ranked player in the nation. In the cut-up above you’ll see Mueller at QB, out wide at WR, inline as a TE, and even at D-End.
I clipped his Hudl tape down because a majority of it was him as a “‘wildcat” QB which might work in IL but I have a feeling won’t be quite as successful in the ACC as he was at that level of HSFB.
Above– I like that Mueller gets his eyes, chest, and hands back to the ball. He’s a hands-catcher, not a body-catcher. Some of the harder things to teach, like catching with your hands, he’s already got down.
Above– He knows how to high point the ball, and uses his hands again. Eyes, chest, hands back to the ball. While he’s a man amongst boys he’s got a munchkin draped on him and still makes the play.
Above– One thing I loved about Elijah Arroyo’s tape out of high school was how fluid he ran in space. Mueller can use some work on that. He’s got good chest angle and arm angle but his back leg is long and his front knee and toe aren’t quite high enough. Little things to fix once he’s on campus.
Above– Absolutely not enough blocking, and limited violent blocking on this tape. I get it’s just a Hudl highlight but you want to see a TE dominating his blocks more when the competition is all significantly smaller and less athletic. One of the hardest things to judge as a recruiter is whether or not someone like this can block right away at the college level.
Above– I like seeing recruits be athletic. On Mueller’s tape he’ll run the ball, throw it, catch it, block, and even play DE. I would have loved to see him play in the kicking game but you can’t get it all.
Israel Briggs
Israel Briggs is a 6-foot-4, 200 pound “jumbo receiver” out of California. A three-sport star in high school, Briggs has 100m speed and doubled as a DE. I like players that 1- play multiple sports and 2- play multiple positions in high school.
Briggs was the 15th rated TE in the country and just missed the top 300 list. No special teams clips on his tape is disappointing but again, can’t get it all even if you ask!
Briggs has transferred around quite a bit while getting involved in an on-field incident as well (above). Three schools in one year has started to become the norm in Florida HS Football and the top concern you have is will someone be willing to sit and develop as a redshirt while their body transforms into a P4 physique?
Above– Like Mueller, Briggs is a ‘hands catcher’ the majority of the time. Here he’s got eyes, chest, hands back to the ball.
Above– At times he doesn’t turn his hips back but he does get his eyes, chest and hands around fairly good here on the move. I think this was Y-Cross so a concept he’ll run at Miami.
Above– He makes a completion on the Mesh concept. Miami runs a ton of Mesh and it’s good to know that he’s used to familiar concepts.
Above– The basketball player in him understands how to work the baseline. A nice toe drag TD catch here in the end zone.
Above– He’s undersized (for a P4 TE) but aggressive. He has multiple pancake blocks and aggressive contact plays on his tape.
Above– This is Briggs re-accel after contact. He broke a tackle and got in space and took off. His front knee gets up with his toe flexed up, and his back leg isn’t stretched as long. That’s the benefit of running track and learning sprint form.
The Wrap
Mueller has the body to play right away, I’m more concerned with his lack of experience inline blocking and in football in general. I didn’t see any “Miami concepts” for him to grab ahold of once he arrives. He’s an athletic dude that looks the part of a Tyler Warren type of TE who can play a little WildCane QB and the type of TE Miami wants.
Briggs has the attitude and aggressiveness you like to see. He’s just 30# too light right now and will need a redshirt year to develop into a P4 TE. He’s going to have to show the patience and maturity to know that he’s a year two star if he invests in himself in the long-term.
Mueller had intended to early enroll and I can see him getting some playing time this spring, and again in the fall. He just has to lock in on blocking and actually playing the TE position full-time.
