Joaquin Gonzalez explains what makes Mario Cristobal an elite recruiter

Mario Cristobal is already making its mark on the recruiting trail with the 24th-ranked class in the country for 2023 in his new role as the Miami Hurricanes head coach.

Former Hurricanes’ and NFL offensive lineman Joaquin Gonzalez recently praised Cristobal’s ability to recruit in a feature written by Andrea Adleson of ESPN.com

“There’s no secret as to why he’s been nominated top recruiter in the nation for three years, why Nick Saban wanted him, why he’s been successful,” Gonzalez said. “When he talks, people not only listen, but they don’t want to let him down. Because he’s genuine. There’s nothing fake about this guy.”

Mario Cristobal is set to enter his first season with the Hurricanes in 2022 following a four-year stint with the Oregon Ducks. A Miami alumnus, he signed a massive 10-year deal worth a reported $80 million to take over as the coach of his alma mater.

The new staff and vision are tasked with rebuilding a Hurricanes program that has struggled to remain nationally relevant in recent years. After claiming five national titles between 1983-2001, Miami has made one major bowl game in the past decade (the Orange Bowl in 2017). Its last conference championship came in 2003.

Cristobal helped lead the Ducks to at least nine wins in three of his four years with the team, including a 12-2 finish in 2019 that included a Pac-12 Championship and Rose Bowl victory. Oregon claimed its second straight conference title under Cristobal in 2020, and made a third consecutive appearance in 2021 but lost to Utah.

New Miami AD explains funding for Mario Cristobal’s new vision

The Miami Hurricanes have their work cut out for them funding the contracts of football coach Mario Cristobal and his coaching staff. The first-year Hurricanes head coach is set to make $80 million over the next 10 seasons, and also hired a much larger staff of assistants than the program has had in the past. 

In a recent press conference, Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich addressed how the program is finding creative ways to raise money for those salaries. It might be a big price to pay, but the hope is that it will be worth it when the Hurricanes improve an on-field product that has been lacking over the past several seasons.

“I think ticket sales are a big part of it,” Radakovich said of funding Mario Cristobal and his staff. “Contributed funds to the Hurricane Club are another part of it. The university certainly understands the commitment they’ve made, so that’s a part of it as well. There’s a finite number of dollars that you can make out of a football stadium, whether it’s on campus or off campus. We’re looking to maximize that and we have been moving forward in the number of season tickets we’ve sold and individual game tickets we’ve sold. We feel really good about that.

“But at a private school, when you have the tuition and fees at a level we have here, there’s always some amount of university assistance that’s going to help balance the books, so to speak, for the athletic program. Our job now is to continue to create revenue streams whether that’s ticket sales, licensing, sponsorship opportunities, contributed funds, monies from the Atlantic Coast Conference revenue share. All of those things kind of pulling together to make sure that we are limiting as much as possible the dollars that come forward from the institution.”

Former Texas, Louisville and South Florida head coach Charlie Strong is the latest to join Mario Cristobal’s coaching staff. He is set to serve as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator along with former Baylor head coach Kevin Steele, who has also been a defensive coordinator at Auburn, Alabama and Clemson.

Although those are two of the biggest names, they are far from the only ones. Miami also brought in former Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who won the Broyles Award in 2021 after helping to lead the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff. UTSA defensive line coach Rod Wright and Georgia secondary coach Jahmile Addae are other big additions to the coaching staff.

Miami is coming off of a disappointing 7-5 finish to the 2021 season, which resulted in the firing third-year coach Manny Diaz. Although times have been rough for the Hurricanes in recent seasons, the hiring of Mario Cristobal and a star-studded coaching staff certainly brings hope of a brighter future. With the Miami Hurricanes administrators showing dedication to funding that future, it seems like it could come sooner rather than later.