What’s it like for an offensive lineman to have Mario Cristobal around? ‘He’s a teacher’
Justice Oluwaseun said he has “never seen” anything like it. It’s not unusual, the soon-to-be sixth-year redshirt senior said, for the Miami Hurricanes’ offensive linemen to be going through drills and have Mario Cristobal jump right in with them.
The new coach’s arrival at Miami has changed spring practices for everyone, but no one more than the linemen.
“I don’t want to be like, ‘Come here,’” Oluwaseun said, offering up a quick recruiting pitch, “but if you’re an offensive lineman and you come here, I’m just telling you the head coach is with you most of practice. I’ve never seen it. I’ve never had a head coach who is literally doing individual drills and he’s literally teaching me the technique I’m supposed to do, and it just shows you what type of coach he is. He’s a teacher. He’s trying to teach us everything.
“It’s crazy to see, but it’s a good thing.”
Among all the promises Cristobal brought with him to Coral Gables when the Hurricanes hired him to replace former coach Manny Diaz last year, the coach’s experience as a builder of great offensive lines was one of the most tantalizing.
In each of Diaz’s three seasons as coach, Miami ranked in the bottom half of the country in sacks allowed per game, including fourth worst in 2019 when they gave up an average of 4.2. Even after former offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee arrived in 2020 and implemented a more friendly offensive system for his line, the Hurricanes never ranked better than 68th in yards per carry, averaging just 3.8 last season.
Cristobal had to bring a holistic change to the position and, given his track record, he’s equipped to do so.
Before he was ever coach, Cristobal was a first-team all-conference offensive lineman and two-time national champion at Miami. He spent most of his coaching career as an offensive line coach — for the Hurricanes, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks — before Oregon promoted him to its head coaching job in 2018. In each of Cristobal’s four seasons as coach in Eugene, the Ducks never gave up even two sacks per game.
Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal was a big part of their success — he was a high school teammate of Cristobal’s at Miami Columbus and has coached with him at multiple college stops — and offensive linemen have been similarly complimentary of their new position coach.
“Seeing him in the meeting room — he’s literally demonstrating pass sets,” said Oluwaseun, who has spent most of the spring as a first-team guard. “He’s literally going through a three-step pass set and he’s sweating, and I respect that because he’s trying to teach something. You can see that he’s a teacher and he’s trying to teach us, he’s trying to show us, he’s trying to be as detailed as possible, so that’s why I respect him as a coach.”
It all fits in with a bigger theme players and coaches have painted throughout March. Whether it’s because of a changing philosophy or just the sheer amount of off-field coaches Miami has added, the Hurricanes are emphasizing individual instruction and technical teaching in Cristobal’s first spring.
On the offensive line, it means Cristobal and Mirabal both hopping into demonstrations, and providing hands-on instruction.
“It’s nice having this many coaches out there, and being able to get that individual coaching and development that you need, especially for the younger guys.” said offensive lineman Jakai Clark, who has been the first-team center throughout camp. “I feel like in past years we didn’t really have that and this year it’s just been a big improvement.”
The defensive line is another place where the change is most obviously felt. Miami has two defensive line assistant coaches — Joe Salave’a is the defensive line coach with an emphasis on defensive tackles and Rod Wright is the defensive coach — and defensive analyst Jason Taylor, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, is also heavily involved, giving feedback on the practice field and instruction in the film room.
“I feel like I’m growing more as an individual, being the focal point of one specific coach, but I also learn from all the coaches around,” said defensive lineman Chantz Williams, who’s competing for a starting job at defensive end. “They all give their insight, so I feel like it’s a complete difference from just having one position coach to having three.”
Miami announces spring game site
The Hurricanes will be bringing their annual spring game up to Fort Lauderdale this year.
Miami officially announced it will hold its spring game April 16 at DRV PNK Stadium, the home of Inter Miami FC. The game is set for noon and will be televised on the ACC Network.
Tickets to the game are free, but fans must register for them at InterMiamiFC.com/UMSpringGame. The stadium has a capacity of 19,100.
Parking lots will open at 9 a.m. and gates open at 10:30 a.m.
