Mario Cristobal shares importance of signing strong defensive linemen

Mario Cristobal went to work on the recruiting trail this season, earning his team a No. 8 ranking in On3’s 2024 Industry Rankings after early signing day on Wednesday.

Specifically, Cristobal focused on improving Miami‘s defensive front by singing five-star DL Justin Scott, four stars Marquise Lightfoot and Artavius Jones, among others.

“It’s a true iron sharpens iron mentality that now comes to fruition because both sides have acquired some really high-level talent that loves to play physical and works really, really hard,” Cristobal told On3’s Andy Staples of his incoming freshman. “So, these practices will be epic. It’ll start to look a lot like what it looked like back when we were players here, certainly. Those guys were a lot better players than I ever was. I had a tough time trying to block [my former teammates] — I couldn’t.

“Now, it’s just that I can’t wait to see these guys on campus. About 26 or 28 of these guys are going to be here in January. So, we’re really, really excited.”

Specifically, the 5-foot-4, 315-pound Justin Scott is the crown jewel of Cristobal’s 2024 class as the consensus No. 15 player in the entire cycle. He’s the No. 2 defensive lineman in the class and No. 1 player out of Illinois.

Scott wasn’t always a lock for Miami, however. In fact, Scott was originally committed to Ohio State before flipping to Miami on Nov. 29. According to a statement at the time, Scott said that Cristobal and Miami never stopped recruiting him after committing to the Buckeyes, always emphasizing a need for his services down low while continuing building relationships with Cristobal and his staff.

There was an entire team effort within the program to stay on the pursuit of Scott’s commitment. Alongside Cristobal, it was Miami’s defensive player of personnel Steven Schrum, associate head coach Joe Salave’a and NFL great and defensive line coach Jason Taylor are all considered to be main contributors to these efforts.

Scott also revealed that the ‘Canes defensive staff plan on using him throughout the defensive line, which certainly seems to be a selling point to the incoming blue-chipper. After all, the late flip to the ‘Canes almost certainly had to have come with a stipulation or two.

Whether he plays significant minutes right away or not remains to be seen — but Miami has put enough effort into his recruitment for them to give him a shot in his true freshman season in 2024.