Podcast: Legendary coaches, high energy and more takeaways from Cristobal’s first spring
The first football of the Mario Cristobal era is finally here.
Cristobal ran his first practices as coach of the Miami Hurricanes this week as Miami kicked off spring practices with a pair of sessions Monday and Wednesday.
It’s still early, but the culture shift Cristobal has promised to bring to the Coral Gables is already looking real, David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, say on a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast.
After watching two days of practices in Coral Gables, Wilson and Degnan give their initial impressions of what a Cristobal-run practice looks like, how the new coach doing things differently from former coaches Mark Richt and Manny Diaz, and what’s new around Greentree Practice Fields this year.
Most noticeable is the increased presence of coaches, with a massive off-field staff and high-profile names like Jason Taylor and Ed Reed working in a hands-on capacity with players.
Once again, the Hurricanes’ newfound willingness to spend big bucks on their college football program is proving to be transformational.
As for what’s actually happening on the field, it’s still too early to tell just what Miami will look like in the fall and new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis isn’t spilling too many details about what his offense might look like this season. The good news is quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, tight end Will Mallory and star tackle Zion Nelson give him a good little foundation to build around, especially after how good the offense was down the stretch in 2021.
It’s obvious Cristobal and Co. like a lot about what they have, but also know they have plenty of holes to fill. It’s why this rebuild still comes down to one word: recruiting, and Cristobal hasn’t stopped focusing on it.
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