Everything Mario Cristobal Said At ACC Media Day

The Miami Hurricanes have one of the easiest days entering the 2025 season as they were the first team to handle media responsibilities at ACC Football Kickoff.

After an electric performance from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Mario Cristobal was up next to highlight the offseason and answer a few questions ahead of the opening game of the season.

Opening Statement...

Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here, and thank you for hosting us. I want to first thank, an honor to be here with our players, with Carson, with Akheem, with Sisi, affectionally known as Francis Mauigoa, and Wesley Bissainthe, as well. These guys exemplify what a University of Miami student-athlete and competitor is all about. We're really excited, and I would say the most exciting part about our team is they have the dominant trait of being a group of guys that love to work, and you can't throw enough at them. They still manage to get all that work done while being great students, achieving the highest GPA they've achieved successively for seven straight semesters, as well as leading the country in community service hours. So we're growing both as people and as players, but we signed and developed an incredible group of players in different forms and fashion, from the high school level to the portal method, and have brought in some really high-level coaches and human beings that we are really excited about that have certainly helped us continue the upward trajectory of our program. And that being said, there's just a ton of energy and momentum surrounding our program right now, and our excitement is geared towards the fact that we get to start football fall camp, training camp, and get in there and really just be focused on our team to establish our identity, to improve our technique and fundamentals, get in the best shape that we possibly can to master our systems inside and out, name it, to get better at everything we do. That being said, appreciate being here, and open to questions.

Q: Canes Connection, the NIL collective, I know you spoke about that pretty openly, the collectives in the beginning of NIL. Just what you can say about where Canes Connection is in the grand scheme of the House settlement and how you work that all together, and Miami's NIL situation moving forward? 

MARIO CRISTOBAL: Well, we've always been very well established. We've always been compliant and we've been aggressive in the right kind of way and used it in a form and a fashion that benefits our program and our players. In terms of where they are and all the details surrounding all of that, that's maybe a question for some other time, but you couldn't find a more professionally run organization than our collective.

Q. You hired four new defensive assistant coaches in this off-season and you only have one returning. What went into that hiring process, and what are you expecting from them this season? 

MARIO CRISTOBAL: Sure. Well, into the hiring process, we certainly, after week 4 last year, we took a downturn. We slipped defensively. I don't want to blame anybody. I always look at myself and say, what could I have done better? We had some injuries that led to some schematic changes that weren't the best for our football program, so a change had to be made, and we found a guy in Corey Hetherman. It's not the fact that he was a highly coveted guy, it's the fact that he is an elite teacher and human being and a guy that really does really well what we need our defense to do and to be. His use of personnel, his ability to adapt, his track record and his productivity, particularly last year at Minnesota, was enough evidence for us to feel comfortable in bringing him in, and he hasn't disappointed. He brings an elite level of commitment, of work ethic, of teaching capabilities, and he's complemented by a former Cane, Damione Lewis, working with the defensive line, who is aggressive and has a commanding presence, an excellent football coach, as well Zac Etheridge and Will Harris on the back end. And I also want to mention Terry Jefferson, who's a local guy who's worked really hard at Jacksonville State and he's also joined the secondary group, also. All in all, we felt like we needed to make some changes in that department, and we made them, and we feel that not only are they the right coaches, they're the right people, and they're going to grant us better success.

Q. Did you get your Cuban coffee this morning? 

MARIO CRISTOBAL: You know, that's been a battle here. I think it would be good if I could get some help from the locals. Si alguien habla español, por favor ayudame. It would be greatly appreciated, and I promise to return the favor at a fine dining establishment down in Miami when you guys are down there. 

Q. You've had some teams in Miami over the last couple years that started the season really strong with some signature victories. Towards the end of the season we've seen things start to fizzle out toward the end of the year. Is that something you've focused on and talked about, and what are the keys to starting strong and finishing well, as well? 

MARIO CRISTOBAL: No doubt, it's how you finish. We've made a lot of progress over the last three years. Year one, our roster was not really built to take on Power 4 football, and those were some lopsided games and those were tough. Year two, everything was competitive and we won a couple more. Then last year we had a chance to win every single game, but we didn't. The bottom line is we didn't get it done. And it's more than -- I know we pointed out the defense a little bit earlier, but you know what also what fell apart at the end, ball security. If you turn the ball over, you subject yourself to some not so positive outcomes. Without a doubt, finishing is a mentality. Finishing is a work ethic that comes with the off-season. We've always invested a ton of effort in those areas, and we've invested even more this off-season, and it will be a big part of training camp, as well.

Q. You guys have had a good bit of turnover at the skill positions on offense coming into the season, but you have some talent there and you also brought in some guys from the portal. What have you seen from that group coming into this season?

MARIO CRISTOBAL: Well, I've seen a lot of talent and I've seen guys that also have a work ethic that is a little bit different in a positive way. We've always had hard workers on our football team. These guys seem to take the extra work to a different level. I think Coach Beard has done a very good job, so has Coach Varner, but I think that some of the seniors, some of the older guys like CJ Daniels have taken a leadership role in bringing the guys in before and after the mandatory sessions and getting some extra work in in the form of the film room, in the form of route running and catching the football. And I see a group with a chip on its shoulder and a lot to prove. We see a lot of stuff in practice that you can't really gloat about out here because you haven't seen it, and there's no value in claiming certain things in the off-season. But we do feel very confident that that group is up to the task, and not only to maintain the standard but to elevate it at some point in time. We're excited about those guys. We push them hard, and we push them to be just as involved in the running game as they are in the passing game.

Q. You're having to replace Heisman Trophy Finalist No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward. You brought in Carson Beck from University of Georgia. This is a two-parter for you. One, how is the offense going to shift to more accommodate for Carson based on moving from Cam? And then could you give us an update on Carson's injury and how he's progressing and what is his outlook for you guys in the fall?

MARIO CRISTOBAL: Well, we're thrilled to have had Cam and we're thrilled to have Carson here now. We never look for the next -- like, when we had Justin Herbert out west, we didn't look for the next Justin Herbert. We were looking for the first Cam Ward, and now we're looking for the first and best version of Carson Beck. Carson has as good of experience as a quarterback as you can have. He's played in monster games, and he's played at a high level. He is ultra competitive, and his football IQ is off the charts. It didn't take long to realize that he's a team player, and that his work ethic is also through the roof. Even though he missed spring practice, his participation was in a limited manner, but soon after he's been cleared and he's been participating and doing everything with our team for several weeks, and that's a lot of opportunities. Nowadays in college football, guys run their own practices and whatnot, and they get almost like an entire spring session on their own off to the side. But what we see is, like I mentioned, a high-level elite competitor that has played at a high level, and this is what I think is the best part, that is hungry and driven, not just to establish himself as one of the premier players in the country; he, like Akheem, like Sisi, like Wes, their interest is to make Miami better, to go win. I think when you combine those things and you combine an offensive line that really prides itself on working hard and protecting and running the ball well and a lot of pieces around it and an improved defense, this is the right place. This is the right time, and these are the right people. I think his relationship with Shannon Dawson and the rest of the offensive staff, particularly the offensive line coach, Coach Mirabal, it's a tremendous partnership. So we're looking forward to getting on the field and making it work.

Q. In terms of you and your history as a player, you know what it's like to win a championship, multiple championships at Miami, and as a coach it's been a while and it's been something that's kind of been since before your time. Miami has had the talent, it's had the opportunities, but it just seems like a little bit of can't-get-right-itis, or something like that that is preventative. How does this team take that next step to returning to that glory? 

MARIO CRISTOBAL: First of all, I'd say I disagree with you. Miami has had the talent. We got here in 2022, and I remember watching film and saying we've got a lot of work to do. And I think this is the best way to put it, to summarize it: We were on a tarmac and we asked the pilot to delay, this is a flight during recruiting and fundraising, where Miami was on the verge of not having a player drafted for the first time in I don't know how many decades, and the then finally late in the seventh round, a player was selected. So to that statement, to me, Miami did not have the talent and Miami did not recruit to the level that Miami is supposed to recruit. Now you fast forward three years later, Miami is coming off a 10-win season. Now Miami is sixth in the country in players drafted with double digit combine invites, with double digit wins, and with the No. 1 pick overall. The steady progress and trajectory is a product of a lot of people, players, coaches, staff members working really hard to get Miami to where it needs to be, and one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, why I chose to leave my place on the West Coast to come back and do Miami the way Miami should be done. That's what we've been doing. I think it's evident in the players we have here today. It's evident in the progression of our football team. It's evident in the talent acquisition and the development of those players and the way that things are progressing for our program in general, on and off the field. I hope that makes sense, but I think it's important to paint the picture, because if you want to tell a story, let's make sure we tell the story from the starting point of what it looked like so we have an accurate depiction for what that story really is.

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.