Mario Cristobal getting credit for Miami's $200 million Nike deal

The Miami Hurricanes have one of the biggest brands in college football. Some would say they also boast one of the biggest brands in college sports.

"The U" became nationally known as a dominant football program in the 1980s, with national championships won in 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991, followed by another title to make it an uneven five in 2001.

Since that title in 2001, elite success has evaded the Hurricanes on the gridiron. After Larry Coker was fired in 2006, Miami went through a period of mediocrity spearheaded by coaches like Randy Shannon, Al Golden, Mark Richt and Manny Diaz.

The Canes seemingly could just never get back up that mountain top. That is, until Mario Cristobal came home.

A Miami native who won two championships with the Hurricanes as a player, Cristobal has revived the Hurricanes. He's 37-19 overall at Miami and just took the Hurricanes to the College Football Playoff national championship game. 

They lost to the Indiana Hoosiers, which is insane when you really think about it. Miami losing to Indiana in the natty. 

It was a great run by Miami, though, and Cristobal's Hurricanes are currently ranked No. 5 in the country in this 2026 season.

It's been a great stretch for Cristobal, and Miami just signed a massive apparel deal with Nike that makes his accomplishments in Coral Gables even more impressive.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald on Wednesday, "The Shoosh" and "The U" have signed a 10-year deal worth $200 million.

That's about $20 million a year heading Miami's way, and per Jackson, about two-thirds of that money will be straight cash. The rest will be apparel for the Hurricanes. 

This is a massive bump in what the Hurricanes were getting from Adidas in the 12-year deal that expires in June. Per Jackson, Adidas was paying Miami just $6.5 million per year (not including apparel and footwear).

There are certainly a lot of folks at Miami who deserve credit for this deal, but it's Cristobal who is becoming the public face of it all.