Mario Cristobal gives thoughts on latest round of realignment

Thus far, Miami has not been impacted by conference realignment. No new teams have joined the ACC quite yet while the Hurricanes are not at the center of any discussions at the moment. Members of the ACC since 2004, there is no realignment going on in Coral Gables.

Even so, head coach Mario Cristobal gave his thoughts on realignment when asked on Wednesday — saying it’s all come “full circle.” But at the end of the day, he does not see too much change. There are still going to be football games played on the weekends and conferences shuffling teams around will not affect that.

“I think it’s changing but it’s staying the same,” Cristobal said. “We’re still going to play on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. We’re still going to have conference championships and we’re going to have conference championships and bowl games. We’re still finding a different path to get there.

“It almost seems like it’s on its way to coming full circle. So, it’s moving fast but I think everybody knows that regardless of what happens the ball still going to be placed on the tee and kicked at its scheduled time.”

Cristobal is not too far removed from one of the programs making a move. He was the head coach of the Oregon Ducks back as recently as the 2021 season, leading them to a Pac-12 championship game. Had Cristobal stayed past his four years in Eugene, he would have been a coach in the Big Ten.

Mario Cristobal explains mindset moving forward on realignment

Most coaches love the phrase and preach it on a daily basis. They want their players to “control what you can control” and block out the outside noise. A bit cliche around the world of college football but it’s what Cristobal wants to preach when talking about conference realignment.

He is not the one making decisions on the matter. Athletic directors, University presidents, and conference commissioners are at the forefront. Cristobal believes if the Miami staff can keep their head down and get results on the field, their goals will be accomplished, no matter what conference they reside in.

“I think the more players and staffs and organizations can stay focused on the current players and providing them what they signed up for — a great student-athlete experience — and not worry about all the other dynamics.

“There’s large dollars and contracts and extensive deals on the table that we have no control over. The bottom line is, if you take care of your business, no matter where you’re at, what conference you’re at, you’re going to go and play in the games you want to play.”