Cristobal updates plan for coaching staff. And early impressions of players on campus
University of Miami football coach Mario Cristobal’s Wednesday included signing four players on national signing day in running back TreVonte’ Citizen, defensive lineman Ahmad Moten, and offensive linemen Anez Cooper and Matthew McCoy.
He anticipates his next round of additions — the final pieces of his Hurricanes coaching staff — will come in the not-so-distant future.
“Next week, we plan on having a lot of our hires — hopefully most of them, if not all of them — over the course of the next seven days or so,” Cristobal said Wednesday as part of his half-hour press conference.
Some pieces of Cristobal’s staff are in place. This includes the addition of Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator, who Cristobal said he is “super fired up” about working with.
“He is certainly someone I’m really happy about,” Cristobal said.
But there are still several hires to be made, primarily an offensive coordinator. Bryan McClendon, who was hired in early January as wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator, was hired by Georgia on Monday.
The rest of the staff that has been announced so far: Kevin Smith as running backs coach, Joe Salave’a as defensive line coach and associate head coach, Alex Mirabal as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, Aaron Feld as strength and conditioning coordinator and Jeff Eaton as assistant strength and conditioning coordinator.
But Cristobal said he does not believe having staff positions in flux had an impact on their recruiting efforts.
“When we bring in people, whether it be a student intern, a volunteer, a coordinator, we are about getting it right,” Cristobal said. “Getting your priorities is a lot more important for myself than getting it done fast, especially with the way football works — when guys can actually be available [and] when you’re allowed to talk.”
First glimpses
Of the Hurricanes’ 19 new additions — 14 high school players and five transfers — 11 are on campus in Coral Gables.
That includes six four-star prospects from December’s early signing period: Edge rusher Cyrus Moss, defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly, tight end Jaleel Skinner, cornerback Khamauri Rogers, linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and quarterback Jaccuri Brown.
The other five come to Miami via the transfer portal: offensive lineman Logan Sagapolu, edge rusher Antonio Moultrie, running back Henry Parrish, wide receiver Frank Ladson and defensive lineman Jake Lichtenstein.
Size is key
Cristobal specifically took the time at the start of his press conference to single out Moss and Skinner, both of whom signed in December after his early signing period press conference.
Their size immediately pops out — Moss is 6-6 and 220 pounds, Skinner is 6-5 and 216 pounds.
“These guys almost look like twin towers,” Cristobal said, adding that both of them are now “eating, going to class, studying, working out, training, getting to know the guys and being part of the culture” after playing in the Polynesian Bowl on Jan. 18.
Size was a theme among Cristobal’s newest additions.
He called 6-6, 364-pound Cooper “one of the largest human beings you’ll ever see in her life” and at one point during his press conference forgot a question he was asked because he looked down at his list of signees and reminded himself about the offensive lineman’s height and weight.
He is excited about McCoy’s “enormous wingspan” and the fact that he’ll be able to add weight to his 6-6, 292-pound frame.
“He actually played some tight end before,” Cristobal said, “but he’ll never do that again.”
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