Mario Cristobal expects 'big things' out of transfer addition Javion Cohen

Head coach Mario Cristobal knows that he needs to take a step forward in his second season at Miami. One player who he is relying on to help get that done is transfer Javion Cohen.

During spring practice, Cristobal explained that he expects big things out of Cohen.

“He’s a huge acquisition,” Mario Cristobal said. “I mean, we really wanted to continue to develop our players at that position but also increase the level of size, girth, explosiveness, strength at the point of attack, power.”

Javion Cohen is coming to Miami from Alabama, where he was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020. There, he was a starter who played in a total of 26 games for the Crimson Tide.

“Right, he’s got a ton of experience playing at the University of Alabama. He’s just an awesome, awesome guy to be around because he has great energy. He works hard and he lets you push him hard. You know, he’s very, very smart. Naturally just blended in right away and also has really good leadership skills,” Cristobal said.

“So, we are expecting big things from him. Couldn’t be happier to have a guy in the portal to be like that. He’s great to be around.”

Miami is ranked 19th in the On3 2023 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. The Hurricanes brought in 10 new transfers. That includes former UCF center Matt Lee, who was a three-year starter and will now likely anchor the Hurricanes’ offensive line beside Javion Cohen.

The culture that Cohen brings

One thing that Mario Cristobal is excited about is that Javion Cohen brings the type of culture that Cristobal wants to re-create at Miami.

“You’ve got to understand the dynamic of — you go to a place because they’ve done well and they’ve moved on or they haven’t done so well, they want to try to get it right,” Cristobal said.

“So, Javion comes from a place where the culture has been in place for a while. Right, and we’re coming into a place where every single day we want to work on improving our culture. It’s very helpful. Okay, because he understands that blueprint. They’re all very similar, right? Coach Jimmy Johnson out there, Coach [Nick] Saban at Alabama, what we did over there at Oregon, they’re all very similar blueprints and that’s at the forefront of just about everything that we do, so he’s been great and he’s backing it up with the way he plays. And, again, but it’s a guy you can push and get after like all the time and he wants that. It’s why he came, you know? We’ve had some really good success with offensive linemen over the years and we don’t intend on stopping anytime soon.”

Mario Cristobal doesn’t want Miami to slip

While Mario Cristobal does feel like he needs to rebuild the Miami program, he doesn’t want the program to slip while the program gets built back up.

“Well, what made Miami, Miami, is; I always go back to telling people in high school why I chose Miami. And it wasn’t because of the building or palm trees, and it really wasn’t because of the nice weather. It was [because] I was addicted to coming to practice and watching Michael Irvin and Benny Blades annihilate each other in practice. And Jerome Brown and Greg Rocosa go at it nonstop; Alonzo Highsmith, Rod Carter,” Cristobal said.

“It was a culture that just pushed and worked to a level that they knew when they hopped on a bus or a plane on Friday; they were not going to be beat. I mean, they just loved competing, they loved practicing, they loved work. That’s what made Miami, Miami.”