Mario Cristobal on coaches accusing teams of tampering: 'Just play ball, man'

Tampering with players and getting them to enter the transfer portal is a big area of concern for some college football coaches. Miami’s Mario Cristobal is not one of them.

Cristobal said at the ACC Kickoff Event last month that too much is made about tampering and he’s not going to be one to complain about it.

“I think tampering existed way before I was put on this Earth, you know what I mean. So I don’t get much into complaining or just flat out bitching about stuff,” Mario Cristobal said. “Work hard, hire good people, do things the right way and that should be good enough. It should be good enough.”

Cristobal has had several players leave his Miami program since taking over as the head coach, and he has also brought in a number of players from the transfer portal.

If players leave because they feel like that’s what they need to do, Cristobal moves on quickly and continues worrying about the players that are on his roster.

“If you get caught in a situation where someone is not part of your program because things were done then it is what it is,” Cristobal said. “It’s probably best for everybody that someone moved on.”

Other coaches at the ACC Kickoff event were outspoke about tampering and how it’s hurting college football. Cristobal insists he doesn’t see it that way.

“There’s a lot of finger pointing around the country. I don’t get into that. I don’t care about that stuff,” he said. “Just play ball, man. Let’s go get our teams ready and let’s go play ball.”

Mario Cristobal sets expectations for Miami defense in 2024

Mario Cristobal has a lot of expectations for the Miami defense going into the 2024 season. He expects them to be better based on progress made.

If the Hurricanes want to get back to that hard-nosed approach, it has to start on defense. That’s certainly something Cristobal preached throughout his career.

So expected an improved unit going into the Fall.

“We made a lot of progress last year from a total defense standpoint, really just about every statistical category,” Cristobal said at ACC Media Days. Part of that was the caliber of player in the building had improved. We bolstered that even more this off-season.”

One thing that helped Miami last year going into this season is defensive coordinator Lance Guidry. As he goes into his second season at the helm of that side of the ball, there’s a familiarity in the air.

“I think when you have continuity at the defensive coordinator position, that bodes well also,” Cristobal said. “A guy you’re going to be speaking to in a little bit, Kiko Mauigoa, he’s a big reason why, as a leader of that defense, being surrounded by people that are driven, hungry and want to be there. We took a good step last year. We expect to take an even bigger one this year.”