Mario Cristobal weighs in on fair timetable for Miami rebuild

Miami‘s loss to Duke set off some early alarm bells in Mario Cristobal’s tenure, but the first-year ‘Canes coach isn’t in panic mode. Asked what his timetable is for the program’s rebuild to begin producing more results, Cristobal declined to speculate.

“I just don’t know if it’s fair to talk in timetables,” Cristobal said. “You have to have a snapshot of what the starting point is, right? Different teams have different starting points. To me, that’s the exciting part. Maybe it hits me different because I played here and love this place inside and out. It still doesn’t interfere with the fact that we have work to do and a ton of work to do.

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“In terms of a timetable, I think that’s for a long, long discussion. An A to Z assessment and description of each position, where we have to go, where we are, everything from experience to talent level to depth, to scheme adjustments, there’s a lot that goes into it. I don’t think you could answer that question and I certainly don’t want to dance around the question. What we do takes hard work and it takes time.”

Up next for the 3-4 Canes is a road game at Virginia. Miami is a two-point favorite against the 3-4 Cavaliers. It’s an opportunity to provide the team with some much-needed momentum ahead of their Week 10 matchup versus in-state rival Florida State.

Paul Finebaum still believes in Mario Cristobal

Miami‘s loss to Duke in Week 8 action proved how far the Hurricanes still have to go in the rebuild of the program under Mario Cristobal. Despite the 45-21 drubbing, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum says he still believes in the first-year head coach.

“I like Cristobal, in fact, a couple of weeks ago, I was on SportsCenter and I unloaded on the program, I said they were the biggest frauds in college football, and they are,” Finebaum said to Matt Barrie in ESPN’s Week 8 recap. “I got a text from Cristobal that night and he said, ‘Hey man, you know me, this is going to be a tough turnaround.’

“And that’s true. That doesn’t excuse losing to Duke though, which is a bigger turnaround. I do believe… that he will turn the corner.”

Although he supports Cristobal and believes in his ability to turn things around. However, he also thinks he could use help from the higher-ups – and perhaps, a new stadium.

“I think it becomes a lot more of an issue in a year or two but I can’t imagine being a Miami fan right now, it would be insufferable,” Finebaum said.