Mario Cristobal Explains How He Instills Miami Football Culture in the Team
It's no secret that Miami football isn't what it used to be when it truly embodied the nickname "The U." Since 2006, the Hurricanes have made just one trip to a New Year's Six bowl game and have been ranked in the final AP Poll just five times.
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal is in his second season as the team's head coach and has been an assistant multiple times for the program in the past. Additionally, he played on the team for four years and won National Championships in 1989 and 1991.
But with plenty of offseason additions, the Hurricanes have been given outside expectations to immediately revert back to their "The U" days ahead of this season. At ACC Football Kickoff on Wednesday, Cristobal assured the college football world that the only opinion that matters is the team's.
"I don't think there's anything outside that could ever match our internal expectations," Cristobal said. "It's never going to be that way. This has been a life's calling and we came to Miami to make Miami what it's supposed to be. We knew it had to start in the locker room, at the coaching level, the cultural level as well, that was as big as anything, and the academics too."
Cristobal explained how instilling this culture has been a tough task, but believes it is very much headed in the right direction.
"It's been a full-throttle approach of just 24-7 work and as you enter this year, you feel like a lot of those pieces are in place," Cristobal said. "There's a lot of competitive depth at a a lot of positions, the culture is right, the academics are soaring, so there's a lot going really well and there's a hunger and a drive coupled with humility that fits what we want to do. We just want to get to work. Our sole focus is taking all of the things we just talked about and now putting it to use in those meeting rooms, on the field, walkthroughs, academics and to carry it over to gameday."
One way that Cristobal has motivated the players was by bringing former Miami national champions and all-time greats back. However, these legends didn't just come for a happy visit.
"At our alumni reunion, Michael Irvin hit them right between the eyes," Cristobal said. "He flat out told them 'If you can't help us win, I don't want to be your friend...If you're not willing to put in the time and effort to make our program a winning program, then I don't want that part of our family.' I think him, Andre Johnson, Devin Hester, Ray Lewis has been awesome, Greg Olsen, Jonathan Vilma, Jon Beason, they're all over it. We had 300-plus alumni and they didn't speak about anything except culture and the work."
Cristobal said that the alumni may have gotten through to the current players.
"The part that gets me excited is that these guys love to work and we are a work-oriented environment," Cristobal said. "They run to the fight."
