Miami AD Dan Radakovich provides initial impressions of new head coach Mario Cristobal

As Miami enters a new era of athletics, two of the key pieces are Dan Radakovich and Mario Cristobal. Things seem to be going well so far.

Radakovich is taking over for Blake James as athletic director and Cristobal returns to his alma mater to replace Manny Diaz as head football coach. As Cristobal got started as head coach, he took his time getting his staff together — and Radakovich said that spoke to his attention to detail as he tried to build the program.

“You used the word ‘relentless’ and I think that is a good word to describe Mario, whether it’s in recruiting student-athletes or recruiting his staff,” Radakovich said on the ESPN College Football Podcast. “I think that he took an incredibly intelligent approach as it related — he didn’t have to get everybody on board right away. He took his time [and] got some really good coaches at the end. I think that showed patience, that showed maturity on his part. Just keeping the important thing, which is getting the right people here, and not worrying about the timing of all of it. Recruiting … is 365 days a year. That’s just how football coaches work. He enjoys it and like anything you might enjoy, you’re going to try to do it well. I’ve been really surprised at his level of organization.

“Mario knows a lot of people in Miami. I shouldn’t have found that surprising have had him grow up here and play here, but my goodness he knows a lot of people here. Everybody has an affinity and a fondness to Mario. It’s been a pleasure and we still have a lot of things to get over and things to work though, but certainly excited about the prospect of continuing to assist him and all the other coaches here at the University of Miami as we continue to move the athletic program forward.”

Miami coach Mario Cristobal makes two big splashes to fill coordinator roles

Cristobal’s two highest-profile hires came late in the cycle, but they’re still big names.

Miami hired former Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele to fill the open coordinator positions. On top of that, the Hurricanes brought in the No. 12 recruiting class in the country, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking — which shows the recruiting success Cristobal and Co. have had so far in South Beach.