Tony Elliott comments on Miami's 'transition' under Mario Cristobal

There are several ACC programs going through transitional seasons. Tony Elliott, in his first season as a head coach after being a long-time Clemson assistant, has taken over the Virginia program. The Cavaliers have struggled during their transition season. However, much more attention has been paid to Mario Cristobal and Miami’s struggles in a transition season.

While speaking to the media, Tony Elliott was asked if he saw comparisons between the first-year struggles that both programs have been dealing with. Elliott would go on to praise Miami’s talent, saying that they’re very close, but there are some issues related to the transition that have been springing up.

“I would imagine you’re seeing it if you just watch us, in particular offensively,” Tony Elliott said.

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“Guys that had success and now you’ve got a new system coming in. It takes time. It’s a whole new chemistry that you have to develop.”

As Tony Elliott pointed out, both of these teams are having major issues on offense. However, given the preseason hype around their quarterbacks, this is a bit of a surprise. At the very least, most people expected them to put points on the board in a way that the two teams have struggled to do.

“And the same thing defensively. You know, you see those guys flying around at times, but you see times where you’d like to see a little bit better. And, again, that’s to be expected,” Tony Elliott said.

“I haven’t been around Coach Cristobal long, but in my time, the impression that he’s made on me is that he’s going to do it the right way. He’s going to make it about building the right culture. You know, based off of the values that he believes, and in my opinion, I believe his values are in the right place, based off what I know about him. It’s just a transition. It’s just a process, and, obviously, all of us hope and wish that it would happen faster than it does, but the gurus that talk about changing culture and things like that say it takes at least 18 months or so before you really get your culture set”

Virginia hosts Miami at 12:30 PM on Saturday. Both teams are a disappointing 3-4.

“I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but I do see that the guys are playing hard. They’re trying to have fun, but at the same time you can see that there are opportunities,” Tony Elliott said. “I think they had eight turnovers last game.”

Mario Cristobal gave a timetable for Miami’s rebuild

Mario Cristobal is already starting to feel outside pressure for the pace of the rebuild at Miami. This disappointing season after an offseason of excitement has been difficult to deal with. However, Cristobal has insisted that rebuilding a program takes time and has set a timetable for the rebuild.

“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,” Mario Cristobal said.

“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.”