Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal addresses culture change at program, thoughts on team, recruiting philosophy and more

The Miami Hurricanes are looking to rebound in a big way off a disappointing 5-7 season, and while most pundits are thinking a seven- or eight-win season is in store coach Mario Cristobal is focused on not just surpassing that in the short-term but also instilling that winning culture in the program long-term.

During an interview on Josh Pate’s Late Kick Live show, Cristobal said that “The first thing I want to do is walk in the building, walk in the locker room and see the type of pride that was taken in one’s own house. Because that will tell you a lot. Right away there was a lot of work to be done. …There’s a level of pride in your culture. If it’s strong, a championship level culture how you do anything is how you do everything. There is no light switch, turn it on when I’m practicing, shut it down when I have to go to class, make an appointment, be courteous to someone. The attack was the assessment and then the directives were all geared toward culture knowing talent acquisition was going to take a whole year. That’s what we poured ourselves into.”

Cristobal also said when he arrived and assessed the program that “Miami was in a place that needed repair.” He said it was “a clash of cultures” when he came in and that Miami had to “stack up the pieces.”

“We walked into a culture that wasn’t (where it needed to be),” Cristobal said. “It’s two different philosophies, cultures, so that collision is going to come with some pushback, with attrition at some point of time.

“For decades Miami had dominated the NFL Draft. Right away as a staff we had to put in a lot of work to make sure the culture matched with the type of players we were recruiting and the players in the building. We went right at it.”

In the background, of course, is the lingering issues from last year. There was a total offensive failure under Josh Gattis, and an average defense. The team had a blistering loss to Middle Tennessee State. Nothing seemed to go right.

“Whenever you have a season like that it is tough,” Cristobal said. “I like to think about it this way: For the last 10 years I’ve been part of either a national championship staff, a national championship game, a Rose Bowl game, a conference title and then for the first time in a long time was back to rebuild mode and you have to go through the painful steps you cannot skip. They are hard, they are tough. The job, at least in the beginning, is for tough-minded people.”

Cristobal says the key is surrounding yourself with the right people that have the right mindset.

“The reality is very clear: We have to build from here,” Cristobal said. “Just shut our mouths and go to work.”

Cristobal touched on numerous other subjects as well.

He said there’s “real momentum” in recruiting off “the best class in our history.”

“High character guys that get it,” Cristobal said. “We recruited them for a long time and were very, very honest. We’re excited, we’re rebuilding a championship football program. … It’s not going to be an overnight fix, but we wanted tough-minded individuals that would not flinch when things get tough.

They are football junkies. Myself, our staff, we want to be around people where this is the priority. So far, so good.”

Cristobal is bringing in top recruits for visits this month, including a quartet of five-star players this weekend.

He said talent acquisition is, for him, “a way of life.”

“It’s an everyday thing,” Cristobal said. “I’ve had good mentors as it relates to recruiting and I really want to get to know the people that will be inside that locker room and combine it with player development. We spend time on our guys, scheme, opponents, recruiting. The weekends you’re working. There’s no Friday, time off. You have visits, everyone is fighting for these visits (with unlimited visits for recruits).”

Cristobal reflected on how back in the day before the computerization of recruiting that there were diamonds in the rough you could find and keep secret. But now all the guys in Miami’s backyard, from the smallest to biggest high schools, are well known to everyone in the nation. So it’s a battle for every player in the area.

“The reality is very clear: We have to build from here. Just shut our mouths and go to work.”

Mario Cristobal

Cristobal pointed to the top players Miami was able to keep home in the last couple of classes as “game changers.”

“If you recruit the right guys it helps you build the program and have success,” Cristobal said. “If you miss on that right guy well you better recruit a guy that is able to defuse him when you play that team. If you recruit the wrong guy that guy beats you ever single day, not just once a year. So it’s about still getting the right guys.

“We had a study looking at the national championship teams here, and some were just Florida-laden, they really were. Then you looked at the 2001 team and you realized the left tackle was from New Jersey and the left guard was from Pennsylvania and the center, he’s going to claim he’s from Canada but he’s from right outside Canada over in Detroit. And the right guard was from Iran and the quarterback was from California. That team was built differently, but it was the right guys. Once they got here they became part of the culture. There’s a little bit of give and take there. You have to get the right local talent and when you go outside you better get the right talent as well. If not that can hurt you more than anything, more than missing on a good player.”

Team-wise this year?

On offense QB Tyler Van Dyke is back healthy two years removed from ACC Rookie of the Year honors, and new coordinator Shannon Dawson also expects to run the ball a lot better in a hybrid Air-Raid attack

“He is a very diverse play-caller,” Cristobal said of Dawson. “His menu is very extensive. … What he does fits us really well. He understands that we’re always going to recruit some really powerful offensive linemen. We are always going to have a strong running game. We have a talented quarterback and some talented young guys and we’re starting to get some legitimate speed outside.”

The takeaway from last season on offense, per Cristobal, is the team struggled up front to run the football and protect the quarterback. That started a snowball effect on a group that averaged just 23.6 points and 367.1 yards per game.

“It didn’t look like, was not what we do,” Cristobal said.

So he went about reshaping the offensive line, bringing in two five-star signees (Francis Mauigoa, Samson Okunlola) and Alabama transfers Javion Cohen and UCF transfer Matt Lee.

“Miami with an exciting offense is a really powerful thing and powerful brand,” Cristobal said. “There are so many unbelievable athletes down here, they’ve been screaming for this for a long, long time. That’s why Shannon and that hire is so important. He brings that explosive offense.”

Philosophically on offense, Cristobal said “You have to play with speed and power, control the line of scrimmage, go over the top. You have to be able to take control of the game, and it starts up front.”

The bottom line looking to this upcoming season and beyond?

“I know that this team is getting on a course to build it to what we want it to be,” Cristobal said. “I know we all know what Miami can be, what Miami should be. We know internally the steps that have to be taken for us to get there. We just have to shut our mouths and go to work.”

Cristobal says failure will not be an answer or accepted. He pointed to an upbringing message of hard work from his parents and his experience at other programs.

“25 years, different spots, all the rebuilds, one (Alabama) established,” Cristobal said. “It’s really important about knowing this is about taking Miami to the future. … You feel the vibe within the building. We don’t BS each other. I’m an offensive lineman, man. I was born and raised to be a worker. I don’t believe in BS. Any noise there might be I don’t know and I don’t think our players, people in the building will care. Whoever does, they have to go. I live in that world where we’re up at the crack of dawn, stay late at night. That’s the world we live in, will stay in. It’s a great group of guys, great foundation plus one of what this place is to be. And when you sign the top class in the program’s history and are trending to do it again and top that one, now it starts looking like the teams that have dominated college football.”