Mario Cristobal reveals importance of setting early tone on mistakes, penalties

Mario Cristobal returned to Miami to try and bring the program back to prominence. Since then, they’ve worked to continue to announce their presence on the national stage. Part of that is changing the culture around the program. That means improving mental discipline on the team.

While speaking to the media, Mario Cristobal explained the importance of setting the tone early on mistakes and penalties.

“Knock that out,” Mario Cristobal said. “You gotta knock that out, and rules are rules.”

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“We don’t play football on our own terms. We play on football rules’ terms. Kam’s (Kinchens) a great, great human being. Great player. Great team leader. Excited, caught up in the moment, but you know what, we gotta feel and conduct ourselves in a manner where, you know, we’re used to doing that or we expect to do that.”

Part of what Mario Cristobal was doing was trying to contextualize Kamren Kinchens’ interception when he made a great play but was also penalized.

“And now, you know what we need to do, we need to go and get our teammates and the rest of that stadium rocking and fired up. You know, the self-glorification stuff and he’s not that. He’s a good guy, real good guy. But, you know what, it’s all about the teaching moments. That’s what we’re here for. So, we’ll learn. We’ll move forward.”

Mario Cristobal assessed the team’s first-half effort

Effort and work ethic are incredibly important things to Mario Cristobal and the new Miami staff. It’s an aspect of changing the culture around the program. At halftime, Cristobal gave his assessment of the team’s effort in the first half against Bethune-Cookman.

“We’re doing what we’re supposed to, but we’re also having too many lapses,” Mario Cristobal said. “Overall, the level of intensity and level of physicality is getting better as the game goes on. We have to have a better second half.”

At the time, Miami led 42-10.