Cristobal’s message that sparked the Hurricanes’ turnaround and why it resonated
The Miami Hurricanes were fresh off their second loss in a three-week span — a 26-20 overtime defeat at SMU on Nov. 1. Their season was hanging on by a thread. One more misstep, one more off week, and all they had hoped to accomplish in 2025 would be gone.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal knew this. He knew things could unravel quickly. He’s seen it before. Doubts can creep in.
“There can always be some internal dialogue,” center James Brockermeyer said. “Are we going to be ‘the same old Miami’ or are we going to do something different this year?”
So before it could get to that point, Cristobal acted.
At the next team meeting, he played a highlight reel from their early season success — wins against Notre Dame, USF, Florida and Florida State. There was no audio coming from the players or the video during that maybe 15-minute span. Just sit back and watch what you have already accomplished this season.
And then came the message.
“Let’s realize who the ‘F’ we are,” Cristobal said. “I think it hit everybody right between the eyes. When it was over, we turned the lights back on, went to work and haven’t looked back since.”
What happened afterward has the Hurricanes where they are today. Miami won its final four games — home contests against Syracuse and NC State, road matchups at Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh — by a combined score of 151-41. The offense found a new gear. The defense continued to play at an elite level. Belief grew with each passing week.
Now, they’re in the College Football Playoff as the No. 10 seed after getting the final at-large into the 12-team field. The Hurricanes (10-2) open postseason action against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies (11-1) on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas (noon, ABC/ESPN).
“We knew what we were capable of to put ourselves in a position for the people that were making the decision to see ‘Hey, these guys are ready and can compete with anybody,’” quarterback Carson Beck said. “And obviously they made the decision to put us in. Here we are.”
Here they are indeed.
For Cristobal, Miami’s response following that meeting epitomizes the team’s fortitude that he knew they had from the start. A couple bumps in the road weren’t going to derail this team like it did in years past.
“They exercised one of the greatest things we have, one of the most powerful things we have: The power of choice,” Cristobal said. “They just decided, ‘You know what? We know who we are. We have shown it this season, very recently. We’re gonna do it again.’”
And they did.
A 38-10 win against Syracuse.
A 41-7 win against NC State.
A 34-17 win against Virginia Tech.
And a 38-7 win against Pittsburgh.
It was validation — and perhaps a needed reminder — for the Hurricanes that their strong start to the season wasn’t a fluke.
“I think a lot of times, just in the world that we live in with media and social media and just everything that sometimes the outside noise can start to kind of leak in, and it’s really hard to keep that out,” Beck said. “Everybody hears it. But I think that meeting really resonated with us because all the negativity that was outside leaking in, we watched that, and we see that, and we met about it and it’s like ‘Guys, this is who we are.’”
The Hurricanes got back to the basics. Simplified their mentality. Focused on the task at hand. Didn’t overthink what needed to be done or worry about things that were out of their control.
They put in the work at practice, executed on Saturdays, let the results speak for themselves.
“At the end of the day, this is a kid’s game,” Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher Jr. said. “You’ve got little kids playing this game. It’s simple. People make it hard. At the end of the day, we all have a goal that we wanted to set, and when we just came together as one, I don’t feel like there’s anybody who can stop us.”
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