Mario Cristobal opens up on how recruiting has changed since his time as a player

The Miami Hurricanes and their head coach, Mario Cristobal, have put together another impressive recruiting class for the second year in a row. Not only was Miami able to keep some of the top talent within the state of Florida at home, but they were able to flip a few other highly touted recruits from across the country.

On Wednesday, with the Hurricanes pulling in a top 10 recruiting class, according to the On3 recruiting class rankings, Cristobal dropped in as a guest on the Andy Staples On3 Podcast to discuss the whirlwind National Signing Day he and the program just had. And while doing so, the Miami headman revealed how he believes he would have fared as a recruit today.

“It’s so different. I don’t know if I would have done well in a photo shoot. I don’t know if I would be comfortable with all the flashing bulbs and those extras. But it’s completely different,” joked Cristobal.

“I remember when I started working at Alabama, and they said, ‘Hey, here’s your recruiting assistant.’ And I’m like, ‘What are we talking about? I do my own work. I don’t need an assistant.’ But there’s so much following; there’s so much ground to cover. The world is a lot smaller now. With the use of private jets, transportation, [and] helicopters, you could cover a lot of ground. But you still don’t want to lose the grassroots mentality. You don’t want to lose the mentality of cultivating certain areas and having area coaches. That’s how you build relationships.”

Cristobal is known for being an excellent recruiter and has demonstrated that both with his signing classes and within the NCAA transfer portal. Being a former player himself, the way recruiting is handled in this day and age still catches the Hurricanes head coach off guard at times.

However, when it comes to grassroots recruiting, Cristobal still sees the importance in that, which allows him not to lose sight of the goal at hand: developing the best possible Miami roster year in and year out.

The job is still not over for Cristobal and his Miami coaching staff. There are still several highly talented players whom Miami is in hot pursuit, including arguably the top quarterback prospect in the NCAA transfer portal, Washington State transfer Cam Ward. If the Hurricanes can add Ward this offseason along with their impressive recruiting class, the ACC could very well have a new champion in 2024 who resides in Dade County, Florida.