FSU football fans have been looking into news following the rival Miami Hurricanes for the past couple of weeks after the Noles upset Miami and put Manny Diaz on the hottest of seats.
Miami has been in turmoil since the loss although the Hurricanes, led by Manny Diaz, won their final two games to finish 7-5 and earn a birth to a bowl game.
However, the writing was on the wall with Miami firing their athletic director and rumors began to spread about Miami looking to lure back Miami and Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal.
The biggest issue was did Miami have the money to compete with Oregon, and did Cristobal want to return home bad enough to be with his sick mother?
Ultimately, the answer was yes as Miami announced Cristobal as their new head coach Monday afternoon, just hours after firing Manny Diaz.
However, I wanted to provide a quick snapshot regarding Cristobal and what he brings to the table.
Back where he belongs.
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) December 6, 2021
Welcome home, Coach Cristobal.
More: https://t.co/USw61qS59O pic.twitter.com/nAWNLE6dy9
Cristobal brings substantially more head coaching experience than Diaz, who’s first head coaching job was Miami(technically Temple, but I digress). Here’s a brief snapshot.
Coaching
Cristobal is a former Miami Hurricane offensive lineman (1989-1992) and has primarily coached that position before becoming a head coach at FIU before getting fired and then becoming the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under Willie Taggart at Oregon.
Cristobal became the head coach at Oregon once Willie Taggart departed for FSU football in December 2017 and finished with a 35-13 record. However, he’s 62-60 overall between FIU and Oregon.
His offenses have been decent when he has a first round QB according to FEI advanced metrics:
- 2018: No. 50 overall and No. 51 offensively
- 2019: No. 8 overall and No. 16 offensively
- 2020: No. 47 overall and No. 30 offensively
- 2021: No. 31 overall and No. 12 offensively
However, we have to remember the 2018-19 offenses had NFL first-round draft pick Justin Herbert leading the offense.
Cristobal has not shown the ability to attract or develop quarterbacks during his time at Oregon. However, he could inherit Tyler Van Dyke should he decide to stay in Miami instead of hitting the transfer portal. That will likely help mask a lot of issues with that program. Miami has a 2022 quarterback commit named Ja’Curri Brown that has not impressed me.
Recruiting
The loudest thing from Miami fans and their media is Cristobal’s recruiting prowess.
Mario Cristobal is headed to Miami. And that’s bad news for Alabama, Georgia and others. A look at what this hire means for recruiting in one of the nation’s top football hotbeds: https://t.co/GKTc4nh3dI pic.twitter.com/wQtGI03t4k
— Andrew Ivins (@Andrew_Ivins) December 6, 2021
I read that tweet and about died laughing. Cristobal had success recruiting coaching at Alabama, but who hasn’t? He had decent recruiting success while at Oregon but didn’t have to worry about a fully committed USC or anyone else on the west coast.
Cristobal signed 70 high school players between 2019-21, and 40 of them were considered blue-chip players. That’s a solid 57 percent blue-chip ratio, but that’s not that impressive considering Oregon’s resources and no heavy competition from other west coast schools.
The question is, how will Cristobal fair in a South Florida landscape that’s changed drastically since he was an offensive line coach at Miami in the mid-2000s? Programs like Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, FSU, Clemson, Texas A&M, and others compete for those local players.
I’ve said before, Miami will sign a few, and they always will, but they won’t sign enough to be what they once were.
Final Thoughts
I look at it this way. FSU football has proven to be the best of the Big 3 programs in the state when operating at optimal levels.
As long as FSU starts to do that, and it seems that may be the case, it’s not going to matter who Miami or Florida hires.
We’ve already seen it in the last decade. Mario Cristobal already knows he has his work cut out for him it seems:
Mario Cristobal told Miami officials that the job of getting the Hurricanes to playoff-level will take time. They assured him he would have the time he needs. We shall see.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) December 6, 2021
The good news is FSU is in a great spot compared to Miami and Florida who will both have 2022 transition classes that will not amount to much.
FSU already has a head start with relationships in the 2023 recruiting cycle. We’ll have to see if Cristobal brings any of his Oregon staff with him to Miami. If so, I’m not impressed as they got ran through by a lesser Utah team twice this year. If he doesn’t bring any of those guys, whoever he hires will tell you how committed Miami is to getting back to respectable levels.