Mario Cristobal reveals how defense has improved at midpoint of preseason camp

New Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal comes to a Miami team with tons of hype surrounding it. The Hurricanes are ranked 17th in the Coaches Poll, despite firing their coach at the end of the 2021 season.

Of course, that turnaround isn’t going to happen without work. Mario Cristobal inherited a Miami team that finished 75th in total defense and 82nd in scoring defense in 2021. Fixing that defense is going to be key in turning around Miami’s prospects for 2022. Cristobal addressed this, explaining how the defense has improved at the midway point of Fall camp.

For Mario Cristobal, improved defense starts with tackling. To improve at tackling, it’s more than hitting hard and wrapping up, though. You need to know where you should be and how you should approach the tackle.

“We’re getting guys on the ground,” Mario Cristobal praised the improved tackling on his Hurricanes defense.

“Our angles are better, our pad levels are better, our eyes are more disciplined–that’s the biggest thing–and understanding where our help is. I mean, if you know how to leverage the ball. You know who’s working with you, whether you’re icing it, whether you are the force player if you clearly understand where your help is, you’re gonna do well because you can play fast.”

At the same time, if you don’t know where you need to be or where you’re going, then you can run into major issues on defense.

“And if you don’t, you’re guessing. If you’re guessing in football, you’ve got problems,” Mario Cristobal warned.

Mario Cristobal wants to raise Miami’s intensity

One thing that Mario Cristobal wants to do at Miami is raise the team’s intensity. He explained how a new intensity is going to be part of his team’s culture.

“The level of intensity, it just doesn’t really throttle down,” Mario Cristobal said. “We go. Now we have our days where we scale it down of course, because you got to make sure you take care of the body. You ramp up when you have to, you scale it down when you have to. But we’re adapting and we’re getting there, but it’s obvious we’re not there yet.”