Podcast: Miami’s season is (abruptly) over. The Mario Cristobal era is officially here.
The Miami Hurricanes’ season came to an abrupt end Sunday when a COVID-19 outbreak within the program forced Miami to withdraw from the Sun Bowl.
After an up-and-down season mostly turned positive in the second half, the Hurricanes’ seniors unfortunately won’t get the send off they deserve and we all miss out on another chance to watch Tyler Van Dyke make a run at the record books.
On a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast, David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Miami Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, discuss what led Miami to the point where it had to pull out of its bowl game, why it might have actually been a good thing considering how shorthanded the Hurricanes were going to be, and what Miami and new coach Mario Cristobal will miss out on.
The seniors, who thought they got one more game as Hurricanes, are the biggest losers, but so is Cristobal, who was going to get to watch a few weeks of practice and a game in person to better evaluate Miami’s roster going into the spring. Instead, the Hurricanes only got a handful of practices in and most were just walkthroughs or sessions with each position group working out alone.
The abrupt end of the 2021 season means the Cristobal era is finally here, though. With the early signing period behind him, Cristobal is now working to finalize his coaching staff. We run through some of the rumored names — like Oregon Ducks assistant coaches Jose Mirabal, Bryan McClendon and Joe Salave’a — and what they might bring to Coral Gables if and when they’re hired.
Cristobal has a few moves he needs to nail. His coordinators will go a long way to determining his success and he could have most of his staff in place by the end of the weekend.
Thanks, as always, for listening and please continue to rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
