On3 Roundtable: Where Miami stands after battling 'culture shock' in Mario Cristobal's first season

Miami’s first season under Mario Cristobal went way off track considering that the Hurricane’s went 5-7. Even so, CanesSports’ Gary Ferman expects things to be much better in Cristobal’s second year in Coral Gables, especially from a cultural standpoint.

Ferman addressed Miami’s culture in a recent appearance on On3 Roundtable alongside JD PicKell. He said that Cristobal may have been too heavy-handed when instilling his philosophy before his first season. Now, with a roster and program that looks different, Ferman anticipates that their culture will be ‘significantly better’ in 2023.

“Well, I think last year was a culture shock. And I think that contributed to some of the losses and some of the problems that they had on the field,” Ferman said. “The expectations of being a Miami Hurricane were amped up massively last year.”

“Now you’ve had that roster purge. And the guys that are in the program are accustomed to the standards that are being set,” said Ferman. “I expect it to be significantly better this year from a culture standpoint. No question about it.”

Again, something about Cristobal’s first season, whether it be culture or other, didn’t sit right. A double-digit home loss to MTSU as well as four losses in their last six ACC matchups by an average of 30.5 points per game highlighted Miami’s lackluster campaign.

However, Ferman tried to calm the frustrations by preaching patience ahead of Cristobal’s second shot. He said building a culture, especially in this era of college football and considering the previous years at Miami, is much harder than you’d think.

“When you have so much roster purge and guys coming, guys going, one year loaners through the portal? Things like that? It’s really difficult to establish a culture when you’re a new coach coming in, especially when your culture is so drastically different than what they had in the previous years which was contributing to the program getting to the point where they had to make a coaching change in the first place,” Ferman said. “This is not a come and snap your fingers kind of thing when you’re talking about a program that had been struggling the way Miami has.”

In the end, the most important step from year one to year two is growth and improvement. That’s why, ahead of Cristobal’s second year, Ferman thinks that Miami will have a lot more to look forward to.

“Like I said, I’m seeing a big difference this go around,” stated Ferman. “I would be stunned if this football season coming up is not significantly better than last year.”