Dear Mario Cristobal,
Sigh… alright, here we go….
“I’m stupid; you’re smart. I was wrong; you were right. You’re the best; I’m the worst. You’re very good looking; I’m not attractive.”
There, I did it. Full-Happy-Gilmore-to-Chubbs-Peterson apology done, as I’ve had in my head for a while to do.
And, well, I just so happen to mean it, too. (Well, maybe not about the attractive stuff. I have no real opinion on Cristobal’s looks, and I’m not totally ugly, I don’t think.)
And that’s because Mario Cristobal has taken the Miami Hurricanes football program it belongs and a place I foolishly thought in more recent years it would not get to on his watch: back to competing seriously for national championships.
I’ve written on here before that I was out on Mario. If I remember correctly, it was after the inexcusable 2023 loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. BUT DAMMIT, I’m still frustrated about that game and always will be to some small extent. I also said some serious questions need to be asked after the SMU loss about the future, but I didn’t call for his job.
However, since late 2023 — which also happens to be the last time that Miami has lost by more than one score in a game — that vision that Mario has talked about when he got here has slowly started to take shape.
We saw a lot of incredible in 2024 with Cam Ward and a generational offense. #1 slung the ball all over the yard, and the Canes piled up points in what was still an unforgettable season despite falling short of the playoff.
But you started to see a little bit of what Mario wanted. Just a little bit. Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher, Jr. formed a hell of a pair to mix in a strong and physical rushing attack with a dynamic passing game. You could see it coming a bit. But you couldn’t – at least I couldn’t – see quite where this thing was going to end up in 2025.
And then, finally, it all came together on the defensive side of the ball after Lance Guidry was given the boot and Corey Hetherman came in, who actually knows what the hell he is doing. The hire of the 21st century for Miami after Cristobal, perhaps. New voices also arrived in the secondary in Zac Etheridge and Will Harris to help turn one of the team’s worst units into a strength. Mario and his staff identified absolute studs in the portal in Keionte Scott, Xavier Lucas, Zechariah Poyser, and Jakobe Thomas and got them. Jason Taylor and Damione Lewis have coached up the best defensive line in college football.
Now, Miami has a defense that can keep up with its championship-level offense, something that cost the Hurricanes a season before.
And it all starts and ends with toughness and physicality.
And those exact words are what Mario preached back when he was hired. The first thing he talked about was restoring the standard. He talked about hard work, about guys breaking themselves in practice, having to get IVs during two-a-days and visit guys in the hospital. About being a team of relentless competitors that no one wants to play.
“We’ve got to get together with these coaches, these young, men, and make that a reality,” Cristobal said in his presser. “We’ve got to speak it into existence. We’ve got to work that into reality. A team that’s known for its resiliency, its toughness, its physicality. Physicality has to be real. How do you get there? You practice it. You rep it. You do the things that people aren’t willing to do again and again and again. You just keep getting after it.”
The 2025 Miami Hurricanes are an embodiment of those words and that vision. There’s no tougher team in the country. This team thrives on spotting the ball and knocking you on your ass, then getting off the ground and doing it again, and again, and again. Excitement, swarm, violence on the defensive side of the ball. This is Miami football. And it’s what Mario said he was going to work to create.
You did it. I don’t know if Miami wins this, but you did it, Mario. This program is back to a championship level one, and it’s one that’s squarely in your vision. Win or lose on Monday, I won’t question that moving forward. You’re the man for this program.
(But please…no more Georgia Techs. Despite my apology, I still plead justified temporary insanity on that evening for my feelings.)
Go Canes!
