CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Many positive developments have already occurred this season, with the Miami Hurricanes off to a 4-0 start. One thing that has stood out to Canes head coach Mario Cristobal is the collective level of maturity from top to bottom.
This has played an integral role in their emergence as one of the nation’s top teams—something that had not been consistently said about the program for about two decades. Miami has not won a national championship since 2001 and has not been at the title game stage since 2002.
“The leadership at every level, especially in the locker room, I think the guys have adopted that mantra because they decided they’ve had enough,” Cristobal told media members in a press conference on Monday (Sept. 23). “They’ve learned that positive anger burns clean. It keeps going. It’s almost an endless supply of juice. And it’s real. There’s no gimmicks to it.”
In four weeks, Miami has risen from No. 19 to No. 7 in the Associated Press national rankings. This has been a testament to the program’s overall pursuit of excellence in more ways than one.
“You are what you are, 24-7,” Cristobal said. “I don’t think you can Jekyll and Hyde much in life, right? The advances in football it’s so much more complicated now. The demands and rigor that come with it, with the regiment, you have to have just Class A, top-notch human beings that understand betterment and being a high achiever in all things. It becomes part of your DNA. You refuse to lose, and you refuse to settle for anything but your best.”
Cristobal has also noted that despite the Canes success after four games played, they cannot get ahead of themselves. Next up for Miami is the ACC home opener against Virginia Tech (2-2) on Friday night (Sept. 27; 7:30 p.m.) at Hard Rock Stadium.
“They’re staying focused and the right type of mad,” Cristobal said. “Their humility shines through all the progress. The most important thing is that they know we’re playing a great football team this weekend. They know it’s the most important and the biggest game on our schedule right now. Our focus is on that, and we’re going to stay that course.”
The timespan between Miami’s two games against USF (50-15 road win on Sept. 21) and Virginia Tech is six days instead of the typical seven. Depending on the roster and the circumstances behind it, one less day of game preparation for an opponent can hurt a team. Cristobal is doing everything he can to ensure his team is flexible.
“You almost put into perspective in the NFL they play on Sunday and then back on Thursday,” Cristobal said. “We get scooched up a day. We’ve had enough experience over the years and some really good regiments and blueprints for weeks like this on how to get adequate rest and, at the same time, not miss out on the critical reps.”
In Cristobal’s first season as the Canes head coach, he faced a normal schedule situation as every game was played on a Saturday in 2022. But in his second season at the helm, the schedule situation was different, with two games being less than seven days apart. The first situation took place at the beginning of the 2023 season. After Miami downed then-No. 23 ranked Texas A&M by a score of 48-33 at home on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, it had only five days to prepare for another home game against Bethune-Cookman.
But this did not affect Miami negatively, as it went on to earn a 48-7 win on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. The second situation took place at the end of the 2023 regular season. After Miami dropped a 38-31 decision at home on Saturday, Nov. 18, to fellow ACC opponent Louisville and dropped to 6-5 overall (2-5 in ACC play), it had only six days to prepare for a road game at Boston College in the regular season finale. This situation bolstered Miami as it earned a 45-20 road win on Friday, Nov. 24, to end the regular season at 7-5 (3-5 final record in ACC play). Cristobal is 2-0 in this situation as the Canes head coach.
“You got to suck it up,” Cristobal said. “You got to put in the hours that you miss on that Sunday. You gotta take those 24 hours and somehow plug them all into the days leading up to your real action plan days of practice. We’ve done that, and we feel comfortable in our processes. We’re looking forward to playing a great football team.”
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