Mario Cristobal Unsure Whether Miami Should Retire Sean Taylor’s No. 26

The coach doesn’t necessarily agree that the program should retire any more numbers.

Miami head football coach Mario Cristobal was asked this week whether the jersey number of Sean Taylor, the Hurricanes great who was murdered during a robbery attempt at his Florida home in November 2007, should be retired.

Taylor played for the Hurricanes from 2001–03 before he was selected No. 5 by Washington in the 2004 NFL draft. The Commanders retired his NFL number, 21, last season.

Cristobal, who is entering his first season at his alma mater, said a player requested to wear No. 26 this year but was turned down. The 51-year-old coach remains uncertain about retiring his number in the Hurricanes program.

“I don’t know if numbers should be retired in general,” Cristobal said, via the Sun Sentinel. “They should be honored, I do believe that. If you start retiring numbers at the University of Miami, you’re going to retire 40 plus numbers in a hurry.”

I asked Mario Cristobal about no one wearing No. 1 and No. 26 and if Sean Taylor’s number should be retired. pic.twitter.com/hF4RreKkhg

— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) August 5, 2022

The program only has four total numbers retired in its history: No. 10 for George Mira who played quarterback from 1961–63, No. 14 for Vinny Testaverde who played quarterback from 1982–86, No. 42 for Jim Dooley who played halfback from 1949–51 and No. 89 for Ted Hendricks who played defensive end from 1966–68.

So, no players from the last three decades have had their numbers retired at Miami. The question of whether Taylor will have that special honor of a retired number at Miami, therefore, remains up in the air.

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