Head Coach Mario Cristobal spoke with the media after Monday's first official spring practice.

He started with an opening statement:

"First and foremost, proud of our guys at the [NFL] combine for going out there and competing hard and displaying their abilities. We hope to see them land on a team that can really maximize them and their potential so they can have great careers. We're really proud of them representing themselves, their hard work, and the University of Miami. Practice for us as you can probably tell, a lot of energy, a lot of juice, like you would expect but spring has to be challenging, it has to be demanding, it has to creat opportunities and I think we did that day one. The areas of improvement for us are all over right. Technique and fundamentals always come with spring football. We certainly devote a lot more time to individual drills, group drills, two-on-two, five-on-fours, and seven-on-sevens. Of course we also want to do the stuff we want to do from a schematic standpoint as well and intangibly. From red zone efficiency to third down, situational football as much as we can do it. End of half, end of game situations, the middle eight. I really work on discipline, having officials here every single day, correcting and working on our penalties that we can control as they relate to technique and fundamentals. Creating explosive plays, preventing explosive plays. As much situational football as possible. Special teams, which need to improve. We had some bright spots last year, but some spots that really hurt us in some key moments. Systematically just making sure that we are exploring every mechanism, every process to make ourselves better as coaches, as players, as an organization and just really excited to welcome 26 newcomers. Some new hires. Of course, you guys saw coach Chevis Jackson. You saw coach Matt Merritt out there. Great teachers, elite human beings, hard workers. They really want to be here. They really work hard. Spring ball is all about getting better. We got some injuries. Will have about a dozen guys miss spring spring completely. We'll have four or five guys join us after spring break. The guys that are missing spring football are guys that either had something lingering, just throughout their career or had something pop up during the season and had to be addressed."

On how to fast-track new transfer quarterback Cam Ward to a new system:

"Actually, we brought in two quarterbacks from the portal. They've fast-tracked with the way that they've played. Certainly they were both leaders in FBS and FCS respectively. They know football; they've played in big games; they've played tough games, tight games, tough situations. Nowadays in the offseason, they are allowed to have their player led workouts and they've had an excess of eight of those on top of what we do from a skill instruction standpoint. And now, with 15 practices and probably 16 player-led practices in the summer and then fall camp, we feel good about where we can get him...and both of those guys. Reese [Poffenbarger] and Cam are just high-level achievers, learners, workers, and what can you say, they create a lot of excitement for the right reasons, you know. They're demanding of themselves. They bring the right attitude every day, and they just work."

On what he's seen from the freshman class:

"All of the same. They knew that when we recruited them, we needed the guys to play. We were very straightforward and honest that we were going to build our program through development and recruiting. They saw in last year's class the guys that ended up being high-profile guys from earning playing time. It was given to them. They earned it. And I think these guys saw opportunity. So far, so good. They have a high care factor for football. Football is really important to them. They spend a lot of time in the building which is necessary to be a good football player and they are fun to be around. They get after it. They compete. They got that dog mentality and they are being mentored and tutored by some guys that have bought into a process that is very demanding and challenging as well. I feel really good about those guys receiving a high level of interaction, I would say culture and understanding."

On quarterbacks Emory Williams and Judd Anderson:

"Really impressive about Emory is he's been out for a long time. Hasn't taken many reps and he jumped out there today and it seemed liked he never missed. He's that kind of guy, though, but we talked about it before. He is that over-the-top dedicated guy that just reminds you of maybe some of those old school quarterbacks that played here that just devotes a ton of time to his craft. Time with the coordinator, at times coming in and meeting with different players. Went out there he had a great day. Cam had a great day. Reese had a great day, Jacurri [Brown] did as well. We got a really good quarterback room right now. Judd got few reps today. He's hard to miss. All of 6'7" and just an awesome human being. He understands that there's going to be some time where he may not get all the reps, but he's going to develop into a great player. But again, pleased with the first day with that quarterback room."

On what impressed him the most about Cam Ward:

"Leadership. A guy that can take command of the line of scrimmage. I think that's critical. I remember blocking for quarterbacks. I love those guys that can look at, receiver that might complain about not getting a ball or a lineman that might be overly tired or a tight end that might be...and say 'we ain't having that.' We're going to go. It's something that we always wanted and always want to have at the University of Miami. I think he brings that and more, but he certainly just...he can make plays because he understands what everybody's doing. And I think it's important for a quarterback to really understand what the guys up front are doing. Where the free-hitters might be, how to put ourselves in a good play, how to make adjustments, how to take over an offensive system, and he runs it at a really, really high level in a short amount of time."

On which players will not participate in spring practice and others that may return during spring:

"Guys that will join us at some point in time that have had successful recoveries were Akheem Mesidor at some point in time will join us. Cole McConathy will join us; he had some soft tissue stuff. Damari Brown will join us. He got some work today, but not a ton. Brian Balom and Cam McCormick, those are some of the more minor things. Then guys that are working their way back, it's going to be a little bit longer. Jonathan Denis maybe at some point in time during spring. Josh Horton at some point in time during the spring. The guys that will be out for spring will be Isaiah Thomas, Nyjalik Kelly, Armondo Blount, Mark Fletcher, Ajay Allen, Zion Nelson, and Frankie Tinilau. Hope I got them all, I was trying to get that for you guys. Hopefully that helps.

On Francis Mauigoa and Francisco Mauigoa:

"Both those guys will not participate in spring ball."

On former Hurricanes Jacory Harris and Duke Johnson present at practice:

"You know how it is. These guys recognize these players for what they've done here at Miami, for what they've done in the NFL. We want to have them around a bunch. Duke will actually be...he's in school. So he'll be a student assistant. He'll be around all the time and Jacory, anytime you get to see one of your guys around, it's awesome. It really is. The guys know him; they respect him. Great to see alumni."

On the impact of both coordinators returning for the 2024 season:

"You can evolve. Your offseason studies are relegated. You can have offseason studies to what you've done and how you can morph that as well some of the other teams that have done really well on third down, in the red zone, short-yardage team, explosive play teams right? And then you can now evolve as an offense and as a defense by incorporating things that maybe are completely new, and maybe some things that fit. But familiarity with language, with verbiage, with systems with processes is always...it's at a premium in college football with the ever-changing landscape, the turnover that you always have. It's been a while since we've been able to have that anywhere I've been. It's really refreshing, and it feels good."

On wide receiver Isaiah Horton's offseason:

"He hasn't waited. He's worked during his whole time. He's been patient and at some point in the season he flashed and he's that big receiver that we need to step up and make plays and he did that today in a bunch of different situations. A lot of work to do across the board, but he's one that has put in work, and we expect him to get better and better as spring goes on."

On the offensive line depth and the health of Samson Okunlola:

"We expect competition. We do. We expect our guys in the right kind of way, take on that iron sharpens iron mentality. That's the only we are going to get better. Challenging each other and make it demanding. Samson to your point, or to your question actually. He looks great. He's 100 percent healthy. He got healthy toward the end of the year last year. He had an injury right during the bye week. But he is...he's ready to help us. He's competing for a spot just like everybody else, but we expect him to have a really big spring, and he showed it today."

On having returning contributors like Xavier Restrepo and Rueben Bain:

"College football is different, but it is what it is. I'm not going to complain about the way is a portal in, portal out. Again it might be some on the way out and some on the way in and you can shape your roster. You can move pieces in, and you can move pieces to places that really fit them. So, guys that have experience, guys that have done well in our systems, yea, they've got to be the hardest workers. So, it's good for us, it's harder for them, because out of them, we are a lot more demanding. They've got to be the flagship guys, they got to be ones that truly exemplify what we want done. Should they not, they only hurt us. They've got to be able to show it so, a great start for him, X has done a really good job. Guys like Jalen Rivers, can't speak enough of him. Rueben Bain, you lose sight of the fact that he's only a true sophomore, but the way he played, the way he competed, you got to count on him and make sure he knows he's now a sophomore, you're really like a junior. We need that type of experience and leadership from you, so, all in all it's always great to have those kind of guys."

On freshmen Zaquan Patterson and JoJo Trader:

"Well, they did great in high school. On day one, they looked really good. They've always played at a high level. I mean Chaminade, Coach Dameon Jones does a great job with that team. Those guys compete at a high level. They win at a high level. So they were know stanger to the work. The pace is different. The bodies and the people they're going against are different, but pleased with the way they've started so far and we are going to push them because we need both of those guys to play for us this year."

On Ward and Francisco "Kiko" Mauigoa getting the number one jerseys this year:

"Like I said, Stephen Feld is handling jersey numbers now. So I'll monitor it, and if a guy doesn't deserve it, I'll just take it off. Jersey numbers are really important to the players. I respect that. We got to find a way to make it work for them. If they've done what they are suppose to do, in the right way, then we try to make it work for all of those guys. They want to wear those numbers, we went with it. There's no particular rhyme or reason as it relates why those guys...Kiko has, cause he earned it. Cam has had a great offseason here, and right now, you know what, it fits. We are going to go with it."

On getting the tight ends involved in the offense with a healthy Elijah Arroyo:

"We got to do a better job schematically and also got to get the ball to him now when he's open. We had opportunities last year and didn't connect. It could have been a breakdown upfront, in the backfield, the wrong route, but we have always, like you mentioned had a great tight end room. Elijah looks incredible right now. If you had to pick one guy that has had the most impressive offseason, you'd be in a really tough battle, but you'd have to point at him because of what he's been through. He showed that out there again today. But him, Riley [Williams] has taken another step, Cam is coming back from an injury but he looks good, and then, man, you look at our guy from Bishop Gorman. He's a really physically, impressive, tough, physical, just really good football player, so really fired up about that room."

On who the new leaders are on the team:

"We're going to hold on that until we them actually get challenged. I think day one everyone's really excited to show what they've gained in the offseason and I think it's easy to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I want to see what it looks like practice 11 and 12. When the body's hurt a little bit and they got to show out and they got to prove that they are ready to lead this football team."

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