Mario Cristobal levels recruiting playing field for Miami Hurricanes

After years of watching ACC rivals and local SEC foes come into their backyard and take away top talent, the Miami Hurricanes made a move on Monday to level the playing field on the recruiting trail. Mario Cristobal is back.

And so are the Hurricanes’ chances of winning over talent that has been escaping Miami’s backyard for decades.

Mario Cristobal one of best recruiters in game

Cristobal is a Miami native who played for the Hurricanes from 1989-92 before starting his coaching career at UM in 1998 as a graduate assistant. Cristobal, 51, spent time on staff from 1998-2000, then again as the tight end coach and offensive line coach from 2004-06. Since then, Cristobal has emerged as one of college football’s best coaches and elite recruiters.

In four seasons as coach at Oregon, he was 35-13 , including 2-2 in bowl games. Cristobal led the Ducks to 2019 and ’20 Pac-12 titles, with another conference championship game appearance in 2021.

Under Cristobal, Oregon has a top-10 class in 2022, signed the sixth-best class in 2021 and was 11^th nationally in 2020. He’s recruited well in the Pac-12 footprint, but he’s also ventured onto the national scene with great success.

Now he’s back at Miami to turn around a program that hasn’t lived up to expectations on the field and in the recruiting wars under former coaches Larry Coker, Randy Shannon, Al Golden, Mark Richt and Manny Diaz.

Experts say it’s the right hire for Miami.

“Mario Cristobal is one of their own,” On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons said. “Mario has ties to the school. He knows what it means to be a Hurricane. He is going to bring a passion that only one connected to the school can bring to Miami.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by On3 National Recruiting Analyst Gerry Hamilton.

“Mario will have the most success recruiting at Miami in more than a decade,” Hamilton said. “Winning at Miami will be his passion. He will know who to hire to maximize the staff. There will be a total buy-in from the former players and alumni.”

Move comes at a key time for Miami

Experts also say it’s the right hire at the right time for Miami. That’s especially true since Cristobal reportedly has been given assurances of improved facilities and the bells and whistles it takes to win over recruits.

“This is a home run recruiting hire for Miami,” Hamilton said. “And comes at a time in which the Hurricanes can capitalize with Florida State not winning and Florida going through another coaching change.

“High-end prospects want a reason to stay closer to home. Cristobal and plans to improve facilities give them a good reason.”

Cristobal knows how to recruit south Florida

Rival recruiters say if Miami was going to make a change it had to be for a guy like Cristobal. Several coaches, including a veteran ACC assistant, said there are only a few coaches who understand what it takes to recruit at Miami. And none have a better track record than Cristobal.

“He knows the landscape,” the ACC assistant said. “He knows the territory. He’s a very hands-on recruiter. He will keep a whole lot more of the best in Dade and Broward county home for sure.

“For Miami to be at the level it wants to be at on the field, it has to recruit at a high level locally. Cristobal is the one do that. This is a huge hire for Miami, and Cristobal will re-energize the program and community immediately.”

Energy will extend to assistants under Cristobal

There are few coaches that have as much passion on the recruiting trail as Cristobal. And he also demands the same type of passion from his assistants.

That’s a good thing. It’ll be needed to beat out Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and the other teams that come into south Florida to recruit.

“He landed a bunch of top prospects from the area while an assistant at Miami and Alabama,” said Charles Power, On3’s Director of Scouting and Rankings. “He also found several future NFL players while the coach at FIU.

“Maybe equally as important, Cristobal runs a top-down recruiting operation. Everyone in his program is recruiting with maximum effort and he’s the tip of the spear. I think this will result in the best recruiting effort we’ve seen from Miami in a long time.”