On Monday afternoon, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal spoke with the media, recapping the long bye week the Hurricanes had and the upcoming game against Florida State. Check out everything he had to say down below:
Opening statement: Coming off the bye week. Bye week was very productive for us. The focus was on development, on having some physical practices, making sure that we got certain guys healthy, focus on conditioning, focus on preparation for FSU. Getting healthy. Certainly our players focused on academics, community service as well. Coaches on the road recruiting for a little bit, but the focus is again on preparing for our 1-0 opportunity. That being said, FSU, I think we all know for Miami and for me personally, it's always been the greatest rivalry in sports. They've got a really talented football team, several NFL prospects, a lot of future draftees on their current roster, a lot of experience, very talented, very experienced. They play hard, they play physical, they're explosive on both sides of the ball, they're disruptive on defense and explosive on offense. Really good football team, some really good coaches and some really good and challenging schemes. Their defense, I'd like to point out, they're top 10 in the country in terms of sacks and top 12 in the country as it relates to TFLs. So obviously very disruptive. They do it with a very active front and several pressures, multiple looks in the front seven and on the back end, and they're top 25 in the country as it relates to the red zone. And then on the offensive side, they top four in the country in forcing missed tackles, top five, in terms of yards per reception, in terms of explosive plays. I could go on and on and on as it relates to them. Rushing TDs, top 15 in the country as well. They generate a lot of explosive plays with great quarterback play, both by throwing it and running it. Very strong running game behind a really experienced and tough and physical offensive line. A great challenge and a great opportunity for our football team, and looking forward to getting back to Hard Rock. Questions, please.
Mario Cristobal on making sure Miami doesn’t overlook Florida State: I think you have to look at scores as it relates to last Friday. A fourth-and-two conversion makes it 21-0, and the game's practically over. A 21-6 lead at Alabama and a seven-point game with four and a half minutes left is real. Looking at football around the country, watching the one game, I believe it was Oklahoma, Texas, right? Unranked team versus the number one team in the country. And at the end of the game, right? So football nowadays, everybody has really, really good talent. If anyone is assuming that they should win or they're entitled to winning, they're out of their minds. They're going to get beat. And we hammer that and drive that home not only in terms of preaching it and showing it and really ripping through examples around the country, but you make it the way you practice. You really challenge your guys. You make sure your coaches are on edge, your entire organization is on edge, and that point's got to get hammered through. It's got to hit home. And so we just keep it very real. We don't try to deny that.
On Matthew McCoy's status: He was fine. He finished the game and he's good to go.
On OJ Frederique Status: It's going to be late. He's progressing really well. Probably ahead of schedule, but it's going to be late in the season, and I can't say exactly when.
On the impact of getting defensive back Xavier Lucas back: Yeah, the versatility that we were able to work with in practice and then actually use in a game has helped out a lot. And then when you bring, Xavier's very versatile as well. He's played the nickel spot. He's played outside. He's done it all. Those guys are really, they're highly intelligent, real high normal IQs and football IQs. And we have mixed and matched those guys every which way you can imagine. So that comes into play now and allows for competition to get ramped up while we spent the bye week also developing more of the young guys as well. I tell guys, this young guy stuff, throw that out the window. Right now you're compensated, right? You've been here since January, throw that out the window. Have maturity approach everything like a professional. And I think that approach has helped us develop a little bit faster, has accelerated some of that. So we'll see what it looks like on game day, but we're certainly enthused, pleased, and fired up about the return of Xavier Lucas and a couple other guys, like Ezekiel Marcelin coming back is also a really big deal because he was now in there as a rotational, with the ones type of guy.
On the rivalry against Florida State: Well, the first thing I would say, aside from the series, I would say in college football throw the records out. I really would. That statement fits now for the state and the landscape of college football. As it relates to this game, I mentioned before, to me it's the greatest rivalry in sports. Obviously I'm always going to be biased, but I remember watching it growing up, being a part of it, the intensity, the passion of the fan bases, right, the state of Florida, and really outside the state of Florida as well. They've got really good players. We've got really good players. And, it's always been a level of intensity that I believe is unmatched.
On the recruiting aspect: I mean, anytime you play at home, you have that opportunity. But the best thing you could always do is play well. So our focus is on playing well and knowing that we have a really good football team that we're playing against, and that all of our focus has to be poured into preparation and practicing the right way.
On Max Buchanan status: We wouldn't discuss severity and specifics as it relates to injuries. So I would appreciate if we just kept that to be a private matter.
On if he has a favorite moment in the rivalry: They all are. This is a really special day for everybody and anybody involved. So, I think I told the team this morning, I could go on and on about my stories, about my feelings or whatnot, and none of that's going to have a single anything to do with the way this game is played and the processes that are necessary to have success on Saturday. So we're going to make sure that our focus is on that stuff, and making sure that at the same time it's a home game, which is awesome for us. But you know what? There's a lot of activity, right, and all that stuff. Anything and anyone that has nothing to do with 1-0 has got to be out of the picture. Has got to be eliminated from the process. We really got to focus on getting better. We have a lot of things we have to get better at. We're not anywhere near where we want to be as a program and as a team. We got to keep focusing on doing the things that we need to do to get better.
On keeping momentum after a bye week: Yeah, I love routines. And so the bye week, it's not a balance. It's not a thin line. It's a clear line, but you have to. You really have to gain your reps. You have to stay sharp, so good on good's important. And then if guys are truly banged up, you have to watch their contact load. But you can't compromise the conditioning part of it. You build a certain level of aerobic, anaerobic capacity, right? Your lungs can withstand tempo or going against tempo, and you can't take your entire summer and kind of mess with that in the course of a week. And you also have to make sure that you're continuing to press and push the envelope on development. So that is, like, that's one of the points in the offseason that you dive into full throttle and you make every call, make every visit you possibly can to get better at it, right? Because you have mixed results over the years, and we feel like we're getting better and better with those processes. So yeah, it's an imperfect science, but we certainly invest, like everything else. We self-assess, you know, ad nauseam, try to make sure we get it right.
On how Javian Mallory has handled more carries: Well, I think he's handling it well, but I also think it's important to point out that, you know, Jordan Lyle, Girard Pringle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, all those guys are in the exact same mix right there, and they're all competing, right? And Mark, the best part about Mark, he considers himself part of the competition as well. So that's the best way to describe it. I think that type of intensity and it keeps you on edge, and we get the best out of our players. We feel the guys that we have, you know, taken over the course of the last several years, they do better when they're on edge, so we'd like to keep that feel on there and figure it out as the week goes on. Everything's graded: ball security in practice, assignments as it relates to pass pro, finishing runs, right, running through contact. So just process-oriented, that's all.
On Jackson Cantwell development: Yeah, he's done a great job, and he's on his way to being a great player, an elite player. And he's focusing. We're focusing more on playing him at tackle, which is a position that we're pretty solid at right now, but he's also getting reps at other positions as well, like the other linemen, increasing his versatility. But he's on course and on pace to be a great football player.
On Damon Wilson: Physicality, point of attack, holding the point, more leadership, finishing plays, chasing and finishing, swarming to the football, finishing on the quarterback and on ball carriers, use of his hands, pad level, playing with a flat back, feet in the ground, hands inside, low to high, on some of those formation recognition, backfield set recognition. There's a slew of things where he's really gotten better at, and then I think the best part if you ask him, he'll tell you he still has a lot more to get better at.
On what makes FSU’s defensive front so difficult to prepare for: Yeah, well, they mix it up a lot, but they also can do it with four down. They'll jump in an odd front to four down and play some bear defense as well. You'll get NT stunts, TN stunts, T's and E's, E's and T's, the vice versa. You'll get internal pressure. You'll get edge pressure, edge pressure from the field and the boundary. You'll see it in the form of corner fire, free safety fire, or nickel, Sam fire. But their defense is very multiple, and it's also very versatile because they'll take their nickel package and some of their 3-3 package and they'll jump in its opposite front. You'll see a nickel personnel group and go in there and jump in an odd front, not a ton, but they have the capability of doing so. So they make it tough to zero in on what they're doing, and the guys they have up front are really, really explosive football players. They have experience returning, but they've also picked up a couple guys in the portal that have played really well for them and have certainly made a difference.
On adding former Florida State kicker Jake Weinberg: The portal for us is like anything else regarding recruiting and the roster itself. We use and look at the portal as an opportunity to upgrade the level of talent, character, work ethic in your program. So it really doesn't matter what position it's at. We could be set at any position, and if there's someone that is legally in the portal that we feel okay, 'This guy's a chance to upgrade us. We're going to pursue.' We're going to vet first, then we're going to pursue, and if it all checks out, we're going to go because that's our job, right? Part of our job is to keep making the roster better. And he had traits, all the traits, of a young guy that's very, very talented. They did a great job with him, and when he visited when we vetted him, he just fit he fit from a mentality standpoint, a DNA standpoint, high, high end, high end talent that's just scratching the surface. Special, special guy. We got to keep pressing and pushing him to get better."
On whether he remembers watching the Miami-FSU rivalry as a fan: Asking me to remember some past Sunday would be a challenge. I remember them all. And I talk about none of them. One day way down the road, when it's time to retire, maybe I'll get them all on a VHS recorder and zip through them and see what it looks like if there was any existing by then. But we're where our feet are, man. The the biggest disservice I could ever do this program and its people is to start looking anywhere except with what's right in front of us. So I'll focus on the tremendous opportunity we have in front of us. Again, the most important thing we can do is keep our mouths shut and go to work.
On SJ Alofaituli: Performed well. S. J. continues to get better, versatile as well. As you know, he could play center. It's kind of neat. Some of these guys, S.J., in another world, is a redshirt freshman. Max Buchanan's a redshirt freshman. Ben Congdon is a true freshman, right? There was a time when those men sit and wait. There is no more waiting. Credit to those guys and Coach Mirabal for getting prepared to go out there and contribute and play, and just keep forging forward and getting better.
On how Ryan Rodriguez has performed: Ryan's a great human being. Those injuries weren't little ones either; they were real, real tough ones. When you're a center, the whole room has to feel it. And what I mean by that, like if the guy walks in the room, and hopefully he does when he meets with you guys, the whole room has to know that he's the most confident person in the entire room. He has to have a presence that, no matter all the things that are going on and all the craziness and the noise. He's a calming presence. He's like, " This is what it looks like." This is the point as it relates to whatever, or not the point, or whatever signal he wants to throw out. And at times, be a traffic cop. At times, be the calming influence. But to really take over things in the huddle and have that presence at the line of scrimmage. And to be able to do it on a daily basis, knowing that in college football it changes week to week to week. You rarely see the same stuff from one day to the next. You have to be very cerebral. You have to be very confident. You have to be really, really tough. And remember that world he lives in. Those A gaps. It's not for everybody. Those are 330-pound Jurassic Park-looking dudes coming at you every second of the day, just knocking heads and pushing piles and all that other stuff. And he has done a tremendous job. Probably doesn't get enough credit. We're super proud of him, fired up for him, and we're really blessed to have him here."
Opening statement: Coming off the bye week. Bye week was very productive for us. The focus was on development, on having some physical practices, making sure that we got certain guys healthy, focus on conditioning, focus on preparation for FSU. Getting healthy. Certainly our players focused on academics, community service as well. Coaches on the road recruiting for a little bit, but the focus is again on preparing for our 1-0 opportunity. That being said, FSU, I think we all know for Miami and for me personally, it's always been the greatest rivalry in sports. They've got a really talented football team, several NFL prospects, a lot of future draftees on their current roster, a lot of experience, very talented, very experienced. They play hard, they play physical, they're explosive on both sides of the ball, they're disruptive on defense and explosive on offense. Really good football team, some really good coaches and some really good and challenging schemes. Their defense, I'd like to point out, they're top 10 in the country in terms of sacks and top 12 in the country as it relates to TFLs. So obviously very disruptive. They do it with a very active front and several pressures, multiple looks in the front seven and on the back end, and they're top 25 in the country as it relates to the red zone. And then on the offensive side, they top four in the country in forcing missed tackles, top five, in terms of yards per reception, in terms of explosive plays. I could go on and on and on as it relates to them. Rushing TDs, top 15 in the country as well. They generate a lot of explosive plays with great quarterback play, both by throwing it and running it. Very strong running game behind a really experienced and tough and physical offensive line. A great challenge and a great opportunity for our football team, and looking forward to getting back to Hard Rock. Questions, please.
Mario Cristobal on making sure Miami doesn’t overlook Florida State: I think you have to look at scores as it relates to last Friday. A fourth-and-two conversion makes it 21-0, and the game's practically over. A 21-6 lead at Alabama and a seven-point game with four and a half minutes left is real. Looking at football around the country, watching the one game, I believe it was Oklahoma, Texas, right? Unranked team versus the number one team in the country. And at the end of the game, right? So football nowadays, everybody has really, really good talent. If anyone is assuming that they should win or they're entitled to winning, they're out of their minds. They're going to get beat. And we hammer that and drive that home not only in terms of preaching it and showing it and really ripping through examples around the country, but you make it the way you practice. You really challenge your guys. You make sure your coaches are on edge, your entire organization is on edge, and that point's got to get hammered through. It's got to hit home. And so we just keep it very real. We don't try to deny that.
On Matthew McCoy's status: He was fine. He finished the game and he's good to go.
On OJ Frederique Status: It's going to be late. He's progressing really well. Probably ahead of schedule, but it's going to be late in the season, and I can't say exactly when.
On the impact of getting defensive back Xavier Lucas back: Yeah, the versatility that we were able to work with in practice and then actually use in a game has helped out a lot. And then when you bring, Xavier's very versatile as well. He's played the nickel spot. He's played outside. He's done it all. Those guys are really, they're highly intelligent, real high normal IQs and football IQs. And we have mixed and matched those guys every which way you can imagine. So that comes into play now and allows for competition to get ramped up while we spent the bye week also developing more of the young guys as well. I tell guys, this young guy stuff, throw that out the window. Right now you're compensated, right? You've been here since January, throw that out the window. Have maturity approach everything like a professional. And I think that approach has helped us develop a little bit faster, has accelerated some of that. So we'll see what it looks like on game day, but we're certainly enthused, pleased, and fired up about the return of Xavier Lucas and a couple other guys, like Ezekiel Marcelin coming back is also a really big deal because he was now in there as a rotational, with the ones type of guy.
On the rivalry against Florida State: Well, the first thing I would say, aside from the series, I would say in college football throw the records out. I really would. That statement fits now for the state and the landscape of college football. As it relates to this game, I mentioned before, to me it's the greatest rivalry in sports. Obviously I'm always going to be biased, but I remember watching it growing up, being a part of it, the intensity, the passion of the fan bases, right, the state of Florida, and really outside the state of Florida as well. They've got really good players. We've got really good players. And, it's always been a level of intensity that I believe is unmatched.
On the recruiting aspect: I mean, anytime you play at home, you have that opportunity. But the best thing you could always do is play well. So our focus is on playing well and knowing that we have a really good football team that we're playing against, and that all of our focus has to be poured into preparation and practicing the right way.
On Max Buchanan status: We wouldn't discuss severity and specifics as it relates to injuries. So I would appreciate if we just kept that to be a private matter.
On if he has a favorite moment in the rivalry: They all are. This is a really special day for everybody and anybody involved. So, I think I told the team this morning, I could go on and on about my stories, about my feelings or whatnot, and none of that's going to have a single anything to do with the way this game is played and the processes that are necessary to have success on Saturday. So we're going to make sure that our focus is on that stuff, and making sure that at the same time it's a home game, which is awesome for us. But you know what? There's a lot of activity, right, and all that stuff. Anything and anyone that has nothing to do with 1-0 has got to be out of the picture. Has got to be eliminated from the process. We really got to focus on getting better. We have a lot of things we have to get better at. We're not anywhere near where we want to be as a program and as a team. We got to keep focusing on doing the things that we need to do to get better.
On keeping momentum after a bye week: Yeah, I love routines. And so the bye week, it's not a balance. It's not a thin line. It's a clear line, but you have to. You really have to gain your reps. You have to stay sharp, so good on good's important. And then if guys are truly banged up, you have to watch their contact load. But you can't compromise the conditioning part of it. You build a certain level of aerobic, anaerobic capacity, right? Your lungs can withstand tempo or going against tempo, and you can't take your entire summer and kind of mess with that in the course of a week. And you also have to make sure that you're continuing to press and push the envelope on development. So that is, like, that's one of the points in the offseason that you dive into full throttle and you make every call, make every visit you possibly can to get better at it, right? Because you have mixed results over the years, and we feel like we're getting better and better with those processes. So yeah, it's an imperfect science, but we certainly invest, like everything else. We self-assess, you know, ad nauseam, try to make sure we get it right.
On how Javian Mallory has handled more carries: Well, I think he's handling it well, but I also think it's important to point out that, you know, Jordan Lyle, Girard Pringle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, all those guys are in the exact same mix right there, and they're all competing, right? And Mark, the best part about Mark, he considers himself part of the competition as well. So that's the best way to describe it. I think that type of intensity and it keeps you on edge, and we get the best out of our players. We feel the guys that we have, you know, taken over the course of the last several years, they do better when they're on edge, so we'd like to keep that feel on there and figure it out as the week goes on. Everything's graded: ball security in practice, assignments as it relates to pass pro, finishing runs, right, running through contact. So just process-oriented, that's all.
On Jackson Cantwell development: Yeah, he's done a great job, and he's on his way to being a great player, an elite player. And he's focusing. We're focusing more on playing him at tackle, which is a position that we're pretty solid at right now, but he's also getting reps at other positions as well, like the other linemen, increasing his versatility. But he's on course and on pace to be a great football player.
On Damon Wilson: Physicality, point of attack, holding the point, more leadership, finishing plays, chasing and finishing, swarming to the football, finishing on the quarterback and on ball carriers, use of his hands, pad level, playing with a flat back, feet in the ground, hands inside, low to high, on some of those formation recognition, backfield set recognition. There's a slew of things where he's really gotten better at, and then I think the best part if you ask him, he'll tell you he still has a lot more to get better at.
On what makes FSU’s defensive front so difficult to prepare for: Yeah, well, they mix it up a lot, but they also can do it with four down. They'll jump in an odd front to four down and play some bear defense as well. You'll get NT stunts, TN stunts, T's and E's, E's and T's, the vice versa. You'll get internal pressure. You'll get edge pressure, edge pressure from the field and the boundary. You'll see it in the form of corner fire, free safety fire, or nickel, Sam fire. But their defense is very multiple, and it's also very versatile because they'll take their nickel package and some of their 3-3 package and they'll jump in its opposite front. You'll see a nickel personnel group and go in there and jump in an odd front, not a ton, but they have the capability of doing so. So they make it tough to zero in on what they're doing, and the guys they have up front are really, really explosive football players. They have experience returning, but they've also picked up a couple guys in the portal that have played really well for them and have certainly made a difference.
On adding former Florida State kicker Jake Weinberg: The portal for us is like anything else regarding recruiting and the roster itself. We use and look at the portal as an opportunity to upgrade the level of talent, character, work ethic in your program. So it really doesn't matter what position it's at. We could be set at any position, and if there's someone that is legally in the portal that we feel okay, 'This guy's a chance to upgrade us. We're going to pursue.' We're going to vet first, then we're going to pursue, and if it all checks out, we're going to go because that's our job, right? Part of our job is to keep making the roster better. And he had traits, all the traits, of a young guy that's very, very talented. They did a great job with him, and when he visited when we vetted him, he just fit he fit from a mentality standpoint, a DNA standpoint, high, high end, high end talent that's just scratching the surface. Special, special guy. We got to keep pressing and pushing him to get better."
On whether he remembers watching the Miami-FSU rivalry as a fan: Asking me to remember some past Sunday would be a challenge. I remember them all. And I talk about none of them. One day way down the road, when it's time to retire, maybe I'll get them all on a VHS recorder and zip through them and see what it looks like if there was any existing by then. But we're where our feet are, man. The the biggest disservice I could ever do this program and its people is to start looking anywhere except with what's right in front of us. So I'll focus on the tremendous opportunity we have in front of us. Again, the most important thing we can do is keep our mouths shut and go to work.
On SJ Alofaituli: Performed well. S. J. continues to get better, versatile as well. As you know, he could play center. It's kind of neat. Some of these guys, S.J., in another world, is a redshirt freshman. Max Buchanan's a redshirt freshman. Ben Congdon is a true freshman, right? There was a time when those men sit and wait. There is no more waiting. Credit to those guys and Coach Mirabal for getting prepared to go out there and contribute and play, and just keep forging forward and getting better.
On how Ryan Rodriguez has performed: Ryan's a great human being. Those injuries weren't little ones either; they were real, real tough ones. When you're a center, the whole room has to feel it. And what I mean by that, like if the guy walks in the room, and hopefully he does when he meets with you guys, the whole room has to know that he's the most confident person in the entire room. He has to have a presence that, no matter all the things that are going on and all the craziness and the noise. He's a calming presence. He's like, " This is what it looks like." This is the point as it relates to whatever, or not the point, or whatever signal he wants to throw out. And at times, be a traffic cop. At times, be the calming influence. But to really take over things in the huddle and have that presence at the line of scrimmage. And to be able to do it on a daily basis, knowing that in college football it changes week to week to week. You rarely see the same stuff from one day to the next. You have to be very cerebral. You have to be very confident. You have to be really, really tough. And remember that world he lives in. Those A gaps. It's not for everybody. Those are 330-pound Jurassic Park-looking dudes coming at you every second of the day, just knocking heads and pushing piles and all that other stuff. And he has done a tremendous job. Probably doesn't get enough credit. We're super proud of him, fired up for him, and we're really blessed to have him here."
