In a press conference with media members on Monday (Aug. 26), Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal explained the several months of planning that went into how the team wants its season to begin.

“We’ve been working for a long, long time in preparation not only for this game, but the season,” Cristobal said. “It starts with the University of Florida this coming Saturday. The motivation of football should always take care of itself. When you play a rivalry game like this, it tends to crank up a couple of levels. Games like this and games in general are won throughout the offseason. They’re won in your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practices.”

Cristobal did not stop there.

“You play the game before you play the game,” Cristobal said. “Every block, every tackle. Certainly, the bodies change, and there’s always some surprises. But every ounce of focus has to be on the preparation of the game.”

Cristobal spoke about what the starting rosters will look like against Florida.

“We certainly know who’s going to be playing for us,” Cristobal said. “Certainly, there’s a couple we will let play out throughout the week. But in terms of the roster and the guys that are actually going to be playing, the guys that have legitimate roles defined, and those that have reserve roles, that is for the most part settled.”

Cristobal went into his team’s preparation for what the atmosphere could be like at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville (Fla.).

“The noise level itself, you have to simulate that in practice,” Cristobal said. “This year we have the player-coach communication devices. If you watch the games this week and you see a lot of guys squeezing their helmets and trying to get clear communication, it’s because it can’t be counted on. So what happens next? Everything else has to kick in. Your wristbands, your signals, your other methods of communication. That’s been a part of our process, which we’ve worked really, really hard to make airtight in every regard.”

Cristobal had more to say about that.

“You have to simulate the noise itself,” Cristobal said. “It’s a loud place. They do a great job with the game-day atmosphere. In terms of the opponent itself, it’s the most important part. It has to be an iron sharpens iron mentality. Your good players have to challenge each other. You gotta see speed on speed at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of practice. When you put all those things together, it feels like a good recipe for preparation.”

Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry spoke with media members about how communication between players and coaches will look.

“We’re a safety-driven defense, but you have to give the calls to the defensive linemen,” Guidry said. “You can’t give the calls to the just secondary guys. It will go through backers. That’s kind of the way we do it. We’ll still have communications in other ways.”

Guidry touched on how often the players and coaches have worked on calling plays to each other.

“Every day,” Guidry said. “Getting used to getting the call, I think it does help the tempo of offenses being able to line up to the front. They don’t have to cut their eyes to the sideline. I like it.”

Guidry addressed the Canes' front seven as a whole.

“The first thing you notice is that we have some depth at defensive line,” Guidry said. “We have some combo guys that can play inside, can play outside. We feel like we have our best four at the field at all times. Last year we ran into some depth problems, of course. We had to run into some 3-3 stacks. We will not have to do that this year. I think we got enough guys up front. I feel good about our linebackers at well. I think we have enough depth at those two positions.”

Guidry spoke on the Canes secondary unit.

“A little bit thinner than the rest of the defense,” Guidry said. “I think the strength is upfront for us.”

Guidry went into game-planning for specific matchups.

“You look at offenses, and you look at what they do,” Guidry said. “And then you look at what you have with your package, and then you try to create one-on-ones with your defensive line if that’s your strength. I’ve always been a four-down guy. I have more combo guys here than I’ve had at other places. It’s all about what you see when you turn on the film and about the matchups with what you need to do. How much secondary help do you need to stop the run? Or can your front four apply pressure and stop run gaps?”

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson spoke on how the Canes offense has prepared for the season opener against Florida.

“I don’t think anything prepares you for the actual environment,” Dawson said. “The games gonna have to settle in. We know that. It’s no different from every first game. But this one is different because of where we’re playing and who we’re playing. We all understand that. We’ve prepared as good as we can for that environment. Ultimately we have to go in there, especially as an offense, because offense has to deal with the crowd noise a little bit different than defense, especially away.”

Dawson did not stop there.

“Blocking out the things you can’t control are huge,” Dawson said. “If you let those things dictate your play and dictate your communication, then you can struggle. So blocking out those things are vitally important on the road. We’ve preached that for a while.”

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