Two days before signing day, Miami’s Mario Cristobal talks recruiting, coaches, stadium
With the beginning of the three-day early signing period two days away, new University of Miami football coach Mario Cristobal has been in immersion mode for nearly every facet of the Hurricanes program — none more important at this point than Wednesday’s commencement for high school players to sign Letters of Intent.
Cristobal joined 560 WQAM radio Monday with hosts Joe Rose and Zach Krantz and was asked about everything from recruiting to his coaching staff to when he actually decided to come to UM to the stadium issue.
“Unfortunately, you can’t get back to any friends and family,’’ Cristobal, who was announced as UM’s coach last Monday, said of the whirlwind the past few days. “That’s out of the question. no time for cafecitos and croquettes. We gotta roll. It’s a lot. You just gotta have that suitcase ready and make sure you have plenty of toiletries and a change of clothes because because you gotta go.”
Miami now has eight players committed to the 2022 class.
How many recruits can you save from the class?
“To be solid, expecting some good dudes because there’s been a foundation laid with some of these guys at previous spots,’’ Cristobal said. “Some of the coaches that are here did a great job with some of the guys they’re recruiting as well. While at the same time [it’s important] being selective and not trying to grab at maybe situations that [you don’t] really have full knowledge of — there’s not maybe enough of a foundation to know exactly what you’re getting.
“Because you gotta again trust the local coaches who are the best in the country, [and] you gotta take as deep of a dive as you can into every single player you are recruiting and their families because what we have to do is really hard and requires absolutely every ounce that you have.
“You wanna get people that love this just as much as you do, people that are willing to do whatever it takes and that can’t live without football. Because the regimen and structure we have, the fourth quarter program, it’s a lot so you just gotta be ready to bring it.’’
More, from Cristobal interview on WQAM:
Where are you now with your coaching staff? Any idea? Or is that pretty open?
“A little bit of both depending on what position we’re talking about.
“I’m not coaching the bowl game. I don’t think that’s fair to coaches or to the players. They worked really hard to get there and they deserve to finish the season the way they started it. I get to evaluate, i get to watch, I get to observe, I get to meet different people in the organization and start understanding where it’s at, what things look like, what the talent level is, where the work ethic is. There’s a good core of leaders and a good amount of hunger to want to do the right thing a certain way.
“Football is way different now than it was in the ‘80s, a whole different animal, and you’ve got to pour so much into everything to give them a chance to perform at the highest level. Between trying to figure out rest of the class, setting up for next year, setting up every junior day, every camp, every whatever it may be, selecting staff, down to every analyst, every graduate assistant coach, handling a few speaking engagements, current roster evaluation, full assessment of the roster to make sure we assess what we need to in recruiting, transfer portal as well — free agency reigns supreme in college football — I don’t know where it stops. I kind of know where its starts.
“You just gotta go. The coffee has got to be right because it’s got to keep you going.
You’ve been here before getting top-notch South Florida players when you were at Alabama [as recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach/offensive line coach]. How do you block that now or at least get your share of top local players?
“You’ve got to dominate the ones you really want and really need. There are always going to be a contingent of guys on a yearly basis that want to go away or maybe need to go away. I don’t know if you could stop that.
“But when you look at where we’re at in Coral Gables, it’s almost like going to school out of state. It’s a very unique place. It’s very different. When I first started coaching, the public schools just dominated. A lot them are still dominating but there also been a rise of a lot of private schools. When guys come over to the University of Miami, they see a blend of both. They see a roster set in a private setting that have gone to both private and public institutions. And it feels right. All the things are there to have a tremendous amount of success.
“There is no balance. You gotta go get the best players and keep the best guys home. I remember back in the days the guys that just went away because they felt they had to go away. The difference now is stay on it the whole time because if you lose one or two there’s a pretty good chance they’re going to come back home with the transfer portal.
“All in all it has to be a complete and utter relentless approach to making sure you’re identifying the right guys and sure you’re recruiting them and their families, their surrounding people... Anyone that has an impact or an influence on them, they’ve got to understand that the University of Miami is not playing around it’s time to take it back to another level.’’
You have been down here before when we have had talks about a new stadium closer to campus. Hard Rock Stadium is not close to campus. How important would something close to Coral Gables be for you?
“I’m sure that’s a loaded question. Hard Rock is an awesome venue. I‘ve been there, I’ve seen games there. I’ve spent a lot of time down here. Having played in the Orange Bowl like you did, I mean there’s no place like that in history. And then working at places where the stadium is on campus, you certainly see the advantages. But you also see the advantages to a pro facility like Hard Rock. There’s a give and take. That’s the right conversation for a later time. We’re just ready to roll and attack this thing.”
When did you finally get a chance to talk to Miami and know they were interested? When did you finally make that decision to come here?
“There was no approach, no talks, no anything until after [Oregon’s Pac-12 title game on Friday night], like... Everything, the timing of this, you have a base knowledge of it but it was not what the media made it out to be. I was already out on the road recruiting the next day. It was handled, everything was done, and after toward the latter part of I believe Sunday, Monday. I lose track of the days because it was just a really crazy time. It was not all that stuff the media was making it out to be.”
