Podcast: What’s a fair expectation for Mario Cristobal’s first season as coach at Miami?
The Mario Cristobal era is just about officially underway for the Miami Hurricanes.
The new coach will officially begin his tenure Saturday when Miami hosts the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at 3:30 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium. Expectations are high in South Florida, but how just how high should they be?
It’s a season preview edition of the Eye on the U podcast, and David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, begin by trying to answer this one big question.
The Hurricanes’ over-under projection is set right around nine wins, which feels like a fair expectation for Cristobal in Year 1. There’s a rebuild to be done, but the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division always sets up nicely for Miami to contend for a spot in the ACC Championship Game.
Of course, the Hurricanes have barely ever hit this standard in their time in the conference. Cristobal is promising something different, though, and a run at double-digit wins and a spot in the 2022 ACC Championship Game would be hard to complain about.
What about seven or eight wins, though? What’s the floor for where Miami fans should feel OK about Cristobal’s debut season?
In the second part of the episode, Wilson and Degnan make some preseason award picks. Can anyone other than quarterback Tyler Van Dyke be the Hurricanes’ most valuable offensive player? Why are Wilson and Degnan so high on star safety James Williams as Miami’s most valuable defensive player? Which freshmen are really going to contribute in 2022?
Finally, Wilson and Degnan wrap up with some score predictions for opening weekend, and why no one should read too much into the Hurricanes’ likely rout of Bethune-Cookman.
Thanks, as always, for listening and please continue to rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
