Mario Cristobal Makes A Joke At Nick Saban's Expense On GameDay
ESPN College GameDay was live from Berkeley, on Saturday morning. Rece Davis and the crew interviewed both coaches from tonight's Hurricanes game against California.
First, they interviewed Justin Wilcox. Wilcox played to the crowd and got it going, The energy was as loud at 6 am local time as it would be at game time.
Then came Mario Cristobal. Cristobal was sitting with his former boss, Nick Saban, from his days as an assistant coach at Alabama. Saban was lionizing Cristobal as a great recruiter.
Cristobal was known as a great recruiter when he was at Alabama. He came to South Florida and picked out whomever he wanted. He took Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy, and others from the clutches of the state schools and told them they would find gold in Alabama.
They did, They both won national titles and were both selected in the first round of their respective NFL Drafts.
Saban told a story of how Cristobal would go into the schools and talk Spanish to the kids and then they would verbally commit to Alabama.
Mario Cristobal said he would protect Nick Saban from Dolphins fans when they recruited in Miami 😂 pic.twitter.com/vjodS7EMKJ
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) October 5, 2024
"I gotta tell you about this guy," Saban said, " We used to go recruting in Miami, when he was on the staff and every school we went to he would talk Spanish. I didn't know what was going on and we would get some players."
Cristobal responded in typical Miami fashion.
"I had to protect him from the Dolphins fans," Cristobal said.
The Canes and the Bears kickoff on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
How to Watch: No. 8 Miami vs. Cal; Week 6 College Football TV Schedule
Follow all social media platforms to stay up to date with everything Miami Hurricanes related: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube
Scott Salomon joined On SI in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins site, and has since contributed to the Miami Heat, Back in the Day NBA, Miami Hurricanes and San Antonio Spurs sites. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. He's covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services.