Mario Cristobal emphasizes the importance of practice, preparation

First-year Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has made it clear since he took the job that his goals for the program include a long-time culture change. While many know the Hurricanes for tough defense and flashy stars, he remembers the hard work put in behind the scenes from his days on the roster.

With that, Mario Cristobal has promised to change the way Miami practices and prepares for each week and each season. He spoke about the importance of creating unity under the new mindset across the roster during a recent interview.

“Let’s call it what it is, we want to build a championship program with a championship culture,” said Cristobal. “To get there, it’s all about the process. The process on and off the field. So your elite habits are tied into elite practices, pushing to the point where – come gametime – you’ve seen it before. And you might have seen it even harder, in a more difficult fashion in practice because of the effort level or the caliber of talent that’s mimicking the opponent and what they’re trying to do.

“All those things go hand-in-hand. Again, there’s progress. And we want to accelerate that as best we can. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s some painful steps that you won’t skip.”

Mario Cristobal on preparation off the field

In addition to hard work on the practice field, Mario Cristobal believes that for Miami to return to its former glory there must be accountability off the field. His vision for a program shows a strict standard which has come from years working under high-profile coaches before implementing his ideas during his first Power Five head coaching opportunity at Oregon.

“Life and ball are so tied in, it’s got to be about trust,” said Cristobal. “You’ve got to be able to trust each other on a play-by-play basis. You’ve got to trust that you’re going to do the right things off the field as well. So there’s just a lot of improvement. A lot of improvement from a cultural standpoint. And we’ve got to take another step, so it all shows, not just bits and pieces, but that it all shows on Saturday to get the result that we want.”

While the plan is not a short-term one and could hit some bumps along the road, the Hurricanes have shown great faith in him to turn things around. Early recruiting returns and a 2-1 record thus far suggest the investment could pay off given the foundation behind the results.