Miami is eight practices in, and some trends are starting to take shape. Coach Cristobal met with the media after Thursday’s practice to provide the latest on the team’s progress:

On the structure of practice: Even though [we wore] shells today, it was a normal practice for us. Technique and fundamentals are at a premium. Situational football, just playing extended drives, putting us in difficult situations and working all our special teams phases were part of practice today, as well as all the technical and physical work that goes with block destruction, the line of scrimmage, the front seven, the O-line, and the tight ends.

On Jacolby George’s personal foul penalties in the bowl game: It's not part of the DNA of the program. It's not what we want to be as a program. You also have to stop for a second and think, “Well, it's your job to find a way to get it right until you can't get it wrong.” We've invested a lot in him. There's been a lot of growth and development. It’s time for that to show as a teammate, as a guy who's completely committed to being the best he can be to help the team win.

I believe we're heading in the right direction. I think he knows that. I think this is going to end really well with him. That's the path we have chosen to take.

On the progress from Year 1 in spring: It’s very different. There's been a pretty massive roster overhaul, and an implementation of a culture, a regiment, and structure. It’s one that we really believe in and that we've had tremendous success at every spot that we've been at. It’s one that has been making steady progress for about 23, 24 months now, actually a little bit more.

This spring, we've gotten off to a really, really good start. You see it in the intangibles as much as anything else. Taking care of your business in the classroom, making sure that you're holding your teammates accountable to be early to everything, understand the playbook, and not only what to do, but how to do it, and doing it at a certain level of intensity, of effort. All those things are coming together. A lot of it is sparked by competition. Competition a lot of times fixes a lot of things.

On players standing out with pads on: One thing we talked about today is playing time doesn't discriminate. Cam Pruitt has shown early that he's a very physically gifted guy that can flat out get after it, understands football really well, concepts. Zaquan Patterson really stands out as a young guy that he just gets it. He's played for a long time at a high level. He's doing really well. Elija Lofton, he's a big guy, 250+ pounds. Fits right in.

There's a lot of guys that are doing really, really well, which has made practice good because of the competition. JoJo [Trader] really stands out. Jacolby George has had a really good, really good spring. I would say Isaiah Horton really stands out as a guy that has come along. Zach Carpenter. [Anez Cooper] keeps getting better and better. [Matt] McCoy. We've had some guys step up and roll.

Wesley Bissainthe’s had a really big spring. Really excited about his progress because now he's weighing 228, 230 pounds. He's running like he did when he was 170. He understands and he's playing like he understands. So there's a good amount of guys. I probably missed a few. They'll get sensitive. I'll handle them later.

On Cam Ward: He's tough. He's physical. He's a relentless competitor. He's everything you want in an offensive lineman and a linebacker. Except he's really super talented. He doesn't take it for granted. He's very humble, yet competitive. He is not afraid to take a stand as a leader in terms of accountability, holding himself accountable, holding his teammates accountable, which is critically important as a quarterback.

You want that guy to be a total alpha dog, and he is. He's in a room with alphas, and that's contagious. So far, the part that really stands out for him is all those things combined, plus he's really hungry. If you get to the building, whatever time you get in, he'll be the first one here.

On TreVonte’ Citizen: Something clicked today. We've been seeing a guy that's been a little bit tentative, and then kind of a flash. But today, there was a legitimate guy running behind his pads, running at 230. Accelerating, running through contact, running his feet through contact, catching the ball really well out of the backfield. Today was his best day. Today is something that really gives us hope that he can return to form.

On Zion Nelson: It's been a wait and see. I know he's really frustrated. We all feel for him, always in our prayers and thoughts, and just hoping he gets better. I know he's trying, but that'll be up to him and his medical situation, whether it can happen or not.

On Elija Lofton’s versatility: You wish you had a bunch of them. I personally think if he was a linebacker, he'd go over there right now and give everybody a run for their money. That's how much faith we have in him as a freshman. He comes from Bishop Gorman, where there’s very high standards, like a lot of the program guys that are here.

He’s just exceeded expectations. And we've thrown a lot at him. A lot. I’m pretty fired up about the guy. We talked a lot about Rueben Bain last year and Francis [Mauigoa], and when you start talking about Elija, you feel a little bit the same way.

On the young LBs: Popo's had a great spring. Popo's been really physical, played downhill, knows the system really well, has natural leadership qualities. Adarius Hayes has had a great spring so far. Pulliam has flashed. Kaleb Spencer, we've kind of bounced him around back and forth at the boundary safety position and at linebacker. Chase Smith, he's been exceptional on special teams. We've been moving him inside and outside. So there's been some good competition there.

On the Portal: You're always on the hunt and you have to be at every single position. We need to be, and we're going to be, very, very aggressive. When the guys have a chance to meet some of our players and watch some of them, I think they’ll want to play with some of these guys. So hopefully it'll be a good Portal season for us.

On new headset communication: It's been good. Just be careful what you say last. Because that's what's going to happen. So we've been working it since day one, even while we were waiting for the technology to get here.

Our coordinators, they've gotten really used to it. The iPad technology is something we've dabbled in but more extensively. Using it to our advantage, and certainly preparing for opponents to use it to their advantage, too, are critically important to our preparation now.

We'll find holes. You'll see things that tell. You always look for tells on tape. The slightest adjustment, alignment, physical disposition, leverage can lead to a different call, can lead to player awareness as it relates to a call. There's a lot of teaching that goes with it.

At the same time, you’ve got to be careful to not over-inundate your guys with information. We talk a lot to the NFL guys and how they use it. It's also about the pros and cons. Having Kenny Dorsey here yesterday was huge. He spoke at our clinic and he really, he went in depth about what he likes about it, what he doesn't, what he would do and what he wouldn't do with it. For us, it was very educational.