Mario Cristobal continued his media tour this week with on3's J.D. PicKell. A transcript of that interview is below:
J.D. PicKell: Coach, is there anything you do away from football—especially with Miami weather— or is it really just calls, roster, and more football?
Mario Cristobal: I’ll tell you what—let’s book you guys coming down. I’ll get us a charter. We’ll be out on kingfish, sailfish, mahi, tuna—whatever you want. We’ll filet them right on the deck and have some sushi. Then we’ll come in and watch some film together. Is that fair?
J.D. PicKell: That’s a deal on our end. Since the season ended, what have you learned about your program from when you arrived to where you are now?
Mario Cristobal: Probably the importance of people. It’s all about the right people. And as much as it is getting the right people in, you also have to get the wrong fits out of the building. That’s not “wrong people”—I don’t judge people—but fits are important, because everybody has an impact on everybody.
I think that’s what allows you to get better and better as the season goes on and as the years go on. And that’s key to everything because now, in football, you can’t stumble too much. You have to peak at a certain time of year to give yourself the best chance to win the conference, win in the playoffs, and eventually win a national title.
So there’s so much to unpack, so much learned. But I feel like here we learn all the time. I like to say I learn as much from players as I feel I teach players, and that we teach players. It’s a very driven, lifelong-learner approach to football.
J.D. PicKell: With key guys gone, how much does the playoff run motivate the guys who are still in the building?
Mario Cristobal: They’re chomping at the bit. And they know—look— a lot of the crew that just left, they were 5–7 a few years ago. So they went through that. They were convicted and determined to never let that ever happen again.
They wanted to elevate Miami’s profile and the standards. A lot of these guys were under their tutelage, their mentorship, and they know it’s their time. They’re good and they’re getting better and better. Those bodies are changing. The mentality certainly has changed.
You mentioned Malachi Toney coming back, Mark Fletcher coming back, Ahmad Moten coming back—Mo. Chase Smith, Zech Poyser, Bryce Fitzgerald, all the corners coming back—OJ, Ethan X comes back, Damari comes back. And all that means is our offseason is going to be the biggest ***-kicking session you’ve ever seen in your life—to make sure complacency is nowhere to be found, that we stay humble, that we stay hungry, that we stay driven, and that we go get better.
That’s all we’re focused on right now: shutting our mouths, keeping our heads down, and just working and getting better.
J.D. PicKell: Who specifically stepped up as a leader during that run?
Mario Cristobal: No doubt—Mark Fletcher on the offensive side, Mo [Toure] on the defensive side. Those guys have seen a lot of football.
And you know what they are? They’re big, physical freaks. They’ll hit you. They’ll throw their bodies around with reckless abandon. They’ll do whatever it takes for the team to win.
And they’re also going to confront and demand from their teammates: “Hey, brother—we do it this way, a certain way, and we’re not going to compromise that for anybody or anything.” Those voices, that presence, is really, really impactful.
J.D. PicKell: Did it feel like the city and the brand really “activated” during that run?
Mario Cristobal: “The U is back,” I cringe at that. It drives me bananas.
I like to think in terms of Miami—or I like to say “UM,” because back when I played it was “UM”—is here. And we have activated the most rabid, insane fan base you can imagine. And also one that really galvanizes.
That’s what attracted me to Miami as a player—watching them bring this entire community together. And I think it really hit hard when we came out of the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State and that place was going bananas—filled up with orange and green all over the place. That was like, okay, this is now different. It’s on. It’s been activated.
When you activate this place with the resources that we have—and you got to spend more time in Coral Gables, so you saw how awesome, how different this setting is from everything else out there—it’s a lethal combination. One we’re excited to generate more enthusiasm and momentum behind.
J.D. PicKell: People compare Darian Mensah to Cam Ward. Do you see it?
Mario Cristobal: Everybody’s so different, but you try to pick similarities to make things as analogous as you can in conversation. And I think you do see some of that game in him—he’s also his own unique player.
Man—so accurate. So mobile. On the run, on script, off script, down the field, intermediate, short, quick game—making things happen with his feet. Incredible personality—that part hit fast.
And then watching him around our players, watching him help develop the young quarterback room, because we have some awesome young QBs. Watching him surrounded by some of the pieces that he has now—there’s some special things brewing there.
And they all know we’ve got to work at it because the passing game is timing, spacing, precision. But man, it’s exciting because he brings a lot to the table. We really think the sky’s the limit for Darian Mensah.
J.D. PicKell: What is it about Miami that elevates these portal quarterbacks?
Mario Cristobal: We really have high-level teachers. Coaching is a vocation, man. I believe in coaching. Most of us coach here—we’re all kind of nobodies, except Jason Taylor. He’s a superstar, gold jacket guy. But aside from that—here’s a guy who has nothing to prove, but comes in every day with everything to prove in his habits and actions.
And our entire building—Coach Mirabal, Coach Dawson, Coach Hetherman—all these guys are really, really high-level teachers. They immerse themselves and get lost in teaching technique, fundamentals, scheme, increasing football IQ, being involved in the lives of these players.
And we surround them with like-minded individuals that are uber talented. It’s been a roster overhaul. We look a lot different than what Miami looked like when we got here.
All those things come into play when we crank in that practice regimen. It’s well documented—we practice different from a pace, intensity, physicality standpoint—and we want to get better at it. But we orchestrate really thought-out, well-planned, high-level practices. Those things add up when you’re going good-on-good all the time.
But it all starts with the player. The player has to make a decision that he’s willing to buy into this type of regimen because it’s not comfortable. It’s super demanding. But the payoff is fantastic.
And everyone here understands: the more you win as a program, the better off everybody is. Everybody gets fed.
J.D. PicKell: How do you practice “good-on-good” hard enough, but keep guys fresh for a long season?
Mario Cristobal: That’s where I’m always trying to grow—and I have grown some—because sports science back when I played here was, if a guy was raising his hand because he had a tough time conditioning, Jimmy Johnson would say, “Hey, the asthma field’s over there in the parking lot—get your *** out of here,” right? That doesn’t exist anymore.
Now it’s different, but in a good way. I think our sports science department, strength and conditioning as well—it’s trusting our eyes. I think it was 23 or 24 weeks straight that we were playing football and practicing football. You have to make modifications as the year goes on.
But we don’t feel that you ever compromise good-on-good. We feel you have to always, always do that because scheme is changing. The caliber of look you’re getting from the scouts really deteriorates as the year goes on. Your guys have to see that speed and see different things—not necessarily exactly what they’re watching on film from the opponent we’re about to play—because things are going to be different and they’ve got to see it in real time, fast motion, as our guys say.
The benefit of good-on-good—I’ll say it to the grave—I think it’s the most important thing we do in practice.
J.D. PicKell: What was the philosophy behind this portal class?
Mario Cristobal: Real simple—we don’t complicate it at all. We go get better. We feel like we’ve stacked really good high school classes, so every year it’s a little bit less from the portal, and we’re getting to a point where, again, it’s really a dozen guys this year.
But man—whether they’re in the portal or on the moon—if they’re a really good player that could make this place better, we’re going to launch and we’re going to go get them.
There’s too many ways to enhance your team and your program now to not take full advantage of them. To think you have to limit yourself to a certain exact process—where you’re getting them from—I think that’s shortsighted. There’s too much opportunity out there to upgrade your roster every year.
J.D. PicKell: How do you win on evaluations—finding the right fits, not just the splash names?
Mario Cristobal: We just watch a lot of tape. No highlight tapes to be watched. That’s why my eyes look like they look right now. We burn our eyes on tape. Then we trust our evaluations and have conviction.
And we collaborate. We have a lot of differences and opinions, and that’s good. We’d rather have a think tank than group think. We want the opinions out there, but we want to put it on paper. Write it up the right way. Do it with criteria—not “Hey, I think this guy’s a dude, he can play, BS.”
Let’s talk about his hips. Let’s talk about his mobility, his redirect ability, his willingness to tackle, his physicality. The process is very thorough.
But again—high school recruiting has been better for us every year. We’ve had, I believe, three or four successive years with a freshman All-American. Might be the most in the country, might not, but it’s up there. A lot of it is the evaluation—not only the ability, but the character of the player we were getting.
J.D. PicKell: What makes Malachi Toney different?
Mario Cristobal: Everything. Everything about him is different.
What other wide receiver—if you come in at 5:30 in the morning—you see him stop by the offensive line coaches room. He’s sitting there talking protections and blocking. I haven’t seen a guy like him.
He’s unique in so many ways. He bounces around with great energy like he’s never had a bad day. He’s relentless in his approach to absolutely everything he does. His care factor for his teammates, for winning, and for the University of Miami is off the charts.
And he’s going to be leaned upon more this year to take on a leadership role as a young guy—as a sophomore.
J.D. PicKell: Do you feel the shift in-state recruiting—Miami’s position relative to other Florida programs?
Mario Cristobal: Without question. In recruiting, you always want to win your state.
We provide very tangible proof of the direction of our program—what we’re doing. We don’t get into negative recruiting, but people always negative recruit us. And that’s fine. No one should ever take that personally. Just let it play out.
People have a lot of data. They have a sample size to compare how our program is doing versus the rest of our competitors in the state, and the direction of our program as well.
And I think we feel that. I think players and parents realize we’re not satisfied. Yeah, we were a participant in the national championship—we didn’t win it. Okay. And we look at that dead on and say, “Okay, let’s go get better,” so we can put ourselves in a situation to win that game and win a conference and get better as a program.
I think that hunger is felt. Over here it’s not a sales pitch. Here it’s a way of life and a vocation.
At the end of the day, unless I’m crazy, I think I’m the only head coach in Florida, in terms of the programs, who actually played at the school he coaches at. So at Miami, it means something different. It’s a different level of meaning, purpose, and intent.
Live and die a hurricane, man. That means I’ll do anything and everything possible to make sure our players and our program continue to have success on and off the field.
J.D. PicKell: Coach, is there anything you do away from football—especially with Miami weather— or is it really just calls, roster, and more football?
Mario Cristobal: I’ll tell you what—let’s book you guys coming down. I’ll get us a charter. We’ll be out on kingfish, sailfish, mahi, tuna—whatever you want. We’ll filet them right on the deck and have some sushi. Then we’ll come in and watch some film together. Is that fair?
J.D. PicKell: That’s a deal on our end. Since the season ended, what have you learned about your program from when you arrived to where you are now?
Mario Cristobal: Probably the importance of people. It’s all about the right people. And as much as it is getting the right people in, you also have to get the wrong fits out of the building. That’s not “wrong people”—I don’t judge people—but fits are important, because everybody has an impact on everybody.
I think that’s what allows you to get better and better as the season goes on and as the years go on. And that’s key to everything because now, in football, you can’t stumble too much. You have to peak at a certain time of year to give yourself the best chance to win the conference, win in the playoffs, and eventually win a national title.
So there’s so much to unpack, so much learned. But I feel like here we learn all the time. I like to say I learn as much from players as I feel I teach players, and that we teach players. It’s a very driven, lifelong-learner approach to football.
J.D. PicKell: With key guys gone, how much does the playoff run motivate the guys who are still in the building?
Mario Cristobal: They’re chomping at the bit. And they know—look— a lot of the crew that just left, they were 5–7 a few years ago. So they went through that. They were convicted and determined to never let that ever happen again.
They wanted to elevate Miami’s profile and the standards. A lot of these guys were under their tutelage, their mentorship, and they know it’s their time. They’re good and they’re getting better and better. Those bodies are changing. The mentality certainly has changed.
You mentioned Malachi Toney coming back, Mark Fletcher coming back, Ahmad Moten coming back—Mo. Chase Smith, Zech Poyser, Bryce Fitzgerald, all the corners coming back—OJ, Ethan X comes back, Damari comes back. And all that means is our offseason is going to be the biggest ***-kicking session you’ve ever seen in your life—to make sure complacency is nowhere to be found, that we stay humble, that we stay hungry, that we stay driven, and that we go get better.
That’s all we’re focused on right now: shutting our mouths, keeping our heads down, and just working and getting better.
J.D. PicKell: Who specifically stepped up as a leader during that run?
Mario Cristobal: No doubt—Mark Fletcher on the offensive side, Mo [Toure] on the defensive side. Those guys have seen a lot of football.
And you know what they are? They’re big, physical freaks. They’ll hit you. They’ll throw their bodies around with reckless abandon. They’ll do whatever it takes for the team to win.
And they’re also going to confront and demand from their teammates: “Hey, brother—we do it this way, a certain way, and we’re not going to compromise that for anybody or anything.” Those voices, that presence, is really, really impactful.
J.D. PicKell: Did it feel like the city and the brand really “activated” during that run?
Mario Cristobal: “The U is back,” I cringe at that. It drives me bananas.
I like to think in terms of Miami—or I like to say “UM,” because back when I played it was “UM”—is here. And we have activated the most rabid, insane fan base you can imagine. And also one that really galvanizes.
That’s what attracted me to Miami as a player—watching them bring this entire community together. And I think it really hit hard when we came out of the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State and that place was going bananas—filled up with orange and green all over the place. That was like, okay, this is now different. It’s on. It’s been activated.
When you activate this place with the resources that we have—and you got to spend more time in Coral Gables, so you saw how awesome, how different this setting is from everything else out there—it’s a lethal combination. One we’re excited to generate more enthusiasm and momentum behind.
J.D. PicKell: People compare Darian Mensah to Cam Ward. Do you see it?
Mario Cristobal: Everybody’s so different, but you try to pick similarities to make things as analogous as you can in conversation. And I think you do see some of that game in him—he’s also his own unique player.
Man—so accurate. So mobile. On the run, on script, off script, down the field, intermediate, short, quick game—making things happen with his feet. Incredible personality—that part hit fast.
And then watching him around our players, watching him help develop the young quarterback room, because we have some awesome young QBs. Watching him surrounded by some of the pieces that he has now—there’s some special things brewing there.
And they all know we’ve got to work at it because the passing game is timing, spacing, precision. But man, it’s exciting because he brings a lot to the table. We really think the sky’s the limit for Darian Mensah.
J.D. PicKell: What is it about Miami that elevates these portal quarterbacks?
Mario Cristobal: We really have high-level teachers. Coaching is a vocation, man. I believe in coaching. Most of us coach here—we’re all kind of nobodies, except Jason Taylor. He’s a superstar, gold jacket guy. But aside from that—here’s a guy who has nothing to prove, but comes in every day with everything to prove in his habits and actions.
And our entire building—Coach Mirabal, Coach Dawson, Coach Hetherman—all these guys are really, really high-level teachers. They immerse themselves and get lost in teaching technique, fundamentals, scheme, increasing football IQ, being involved in the lives of these players.
And we surround them with like-minded individuals that are uber talented. It’s been a roster overhaul. We look a lot different than what Miami looked like when we got here.
All those things come into play when we crank in that practice regimen. It’s well documented—we practice different from a pace, intensity, physicality standpoint—and we want to get better at it. But we orchestrate really thought-out, well-planned, high-level practices. Those things add up when you’re going good-on-good all the time.
But it all starts with the player. The player has to make a decision that he’s willing to buy into this type of regimen because it’s not comfortable. It’s super demanding. But the payoff is fantastic.
And everyone here understands: the more you win as a program, the better off everybody is. Everybody gets fed.
J.D. PicKell: How do you practice “good-on-good” hard enough, but keep guys fresh for a long season?
Mario Cristobal: That’s where I’m always trying to grow—and I have grown some—because sports science back when I played here was, if a guy was raising his hand because he had a tough time conditioning, Jimmy Johnson would say, “Hey, the asthma field’s over there in the parking lot—get your *** out of here,” right? That doesn’t exist anymore.
Now it’s different, but in a good way. I think our sports science department, strength and conditioning as well—it’s trusting our eyes. I think it was 23 or 24 weeks straight that we were playing football and practicing football. You have to make modifications as the year goes on.
But we don’t feel that you ever compromise good-on-good. We feel you have to always, always do that because scheme is changing. The caliber of look you’re getting from the scouts really deteriorates as the year goes on. Your guys have to see that speed and see different things—not necessarily exactly what they’re watching on film from the opponent we’re about to play—because things are going to be different and they’ve got to see it in real time, fast motion, as our guys say.
The benefit of good-on-good—I’ll say it to the grave—I think it’s the most important thing we do in practice.
J.D. PicKell: What was the philosophy behind this portal class?
Mario Cristobal: Real simple—we don’t complicate it at all. We go get better. We feel like we’ve stacked really good high school classes, so every year it’s a little bit less from the portal, and we’re getting to a point where, again, it’s really a dozen guys this year.
But man—whether they’re in the portal or on the moon—if they’re a really good player that could make this place better, we’re going to launch and we’re going to go get them.
There’s too many ways to enhance your team and your program now to not take full advantage of them. To think you have to limit yourself to a certain exact process—where you’re getting them from—I think that’s shortsighted. There’s too much opportunity out there to upgrade your roster every year.
J.D. PicKell: How do you win on evaluations—finding the right fits, not just the splash names?
Mario Cristobal: We just watch a lot of tape. No highlight tapes to be watched. That’s why my eyes look like they look right now. We burn our eyes on tape. Then we trust our evaluations and have conviction.
And we collaborate. We have a lot of differences and opinions, and that’s good. We’d rather have a think tank than group think. We want the opinions out there, but we want to put it on paper. Write it up the right way. Do it with criteria—not “Hey, I think this guy’s a dude, he can play, BS.”
Let’s talk about his hips. Let’s talk about his mobility, his redirect ability, his willingness to tackle, his physicality. The process is very thorough.
But again—high school recruiting has been better for us every year. We’ve had, I believe, three or four successive years with a freshman All-American. Might be the most in the country, might not, but it’s up there. A lot of it is the evaluation—not only the ability, but the character of the player we were getting.
J.D. PicKell: What makes Malachi Toney different?
Mario Cristobal: Everything. Everything about him is different.
What other wide receiver—if you come in at 5:30 in the morning—you see him stop by the offensive line coaches room. He’s sitting there talking protections and blocking. I haven’t seen a guy like him.
He’s unique in so many ways. He bounces around with great energy like he’s never had a bad day. He’s relentless in his approach to absolutely everything he does. His care factor for his teammates, for winning, and for the University of Miami is off the charts.
And he’s going to be leaned upon more this year to take on a leadership role as a young guy—as a sophomore.
J.D. PicKell: Do you feel the shift in-state recruiting—Miami’s position relative to other Florida programs?
Mario Cristobal: Without question. In recruiting, you always want to win your state.
We provide very tangible proof of the direction of our program—what we’re doing. We don’t get into negative recruiting, but people always negative recruit us. And that’s fine. No one should ever take that personally. Just let it play out.
People have a lot of data. They have a sample size to compare how our program is doing versus the rest of our competitors in the state, and the direction of our program as well.
And I think we feel that. I think players and parents realize we’re not satisfied. Yeah, we were a participant in the national championship—we didn’t win it. Okay. And we look at that dead on and say, “Okay, let’s go get better,” so we can put ourselves in a situation to win that game and win a conference and get better as a program.
I think that hunger is felt. Over here it’s not a sales pitch. Here it’s a way of life and a vocation.
At the end of the day, unless I’m crazy, I think I’m the only head coach in Florida, in terms of the programs, who actually played at the school he coaches at. So at Miami, it means something different. It’s a different level of meaning, purpose, and intent.
Live and die a hurricane, man. That means I’ll do anything and everything possible to make sure our players and our program continue to have success on and off the field.
