Mario Cristobal Speaks on Recruiting Philosophy
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, at his Monday press conference this week, spoke on his approach to recruiting, and how the addition of the early signing period has affected the way he and his staff tackle the topic.
Cristobal was asked initially about how the aforementioned early signing period affects his week-to-week preparation during this part of the season, and in typical head coach fashion, he answered, "Every ounce of our focus is on playing Syracuse. We don't stop. There's really no talk of anything else within the building."
Later, however; the third year head coach opened up further on his philosophy when it comes to recruiting, saying, "Recruiting is a marathon. It is relentless every single day. Every second you're not game planning and working with your players and meeting with your players, you have to spend on that (...) If you can't identify and recruit, your value to a college football program is very little. It just is."
The coach continued, "I'm talking about everyone in the building. From people in development, people in recruiting, people in academics, it's always going to be about the people. Always. The identification process is even more important than the recruiting process. Because you can recruit your butt off, but if you recruit your butt off and bring in all the wrong ones, you're going to be in worse shape than ever."
In three seasons as head coach of the Hurricanes, Cristobal has put together consistently strong recruiting classes, finishing among the top-25 each offseason. In 2024, Miami finished among the top ten and was second in the ACC only to Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers.
As of now, Miami holds the No. 10 ranked recruiting class in the nation for 2025, according to 247Sports' composite ranking.
