Miami Hurricanes head football coach joined Joe Rose on 560 WQAM to talk ahead of the Pittsburgh Panthers at Hard Rock Stadium. Cristobal spoke on injury updates, the Florida State win, and the college football landscape and more. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On the FSU win: Yeah, crazy night. A lot of big explosive plays everywhere, just about all phases, but a lot of resilience by our team. Overcame a lot of self-inflicted stuff, and at the same time, credit to the opponent for playing really good football. All in all, great win for the program and on to the next one.
On the status of banged up players: Great. Both Bryce and Mark, they came back in, and they're fine. They're good to go. So a lot of credit to a lot of those guys. A lot of those guys got banged up, but they know this is a legacy game, right? I mean, this is bragging rights for the year and really for the rest of your life, and found a way to get back in there and play Hurricane football.
On what was going through his mind when the Hurricanes were down in the third quarter: It really, it goes exactly what we talked about all week. In games like this, you're never all the way secure in winning, and you're never all the way out of it when you're not winning. You just got to keep playing until you finally get the momentum back. And this thing goes a lot of different ways. There's so many different things happen. The ball bounces funny. The intensity is through the roof. So you just keep playing. You just keep playing. You just keep doing your job. All 11 guys communicating on the same page, playing with max effort, and we found a way to get the momentum back and finish the game.
On the ground game: Yeah, the run game, you really want your yards per carry, you want them increasing as the game goes on. And early it was some tough sledding, right? We tried some different things, right? We incorporated some of the toss plays, counter's been a good play for us, split zone, wide. And then as the game went on, I thought our guys up front really started leaning on those guys and coming off their hips and finishing blocks. And in the third and fourth quarter, our time of possession, I believe, was 20 minutes to 10, and our yards per carry went from like 3.8 to about 6.5. So really indicative of just an excellent job by the guys up front and a lot of hard work investment in strength and conditioning over the course of time.
On the top teams going down: Yeah, it's a matter as a program, as players, as coaches, you got to determine. I mean, can you learn about consequences by watching college football, by learning from past experiences, or do you got to feel them every year? Do you have to go through, you know, a poor outcome, something you don't want, that, you know, can have some, the consequence that come with that might be, again, terminal as it relates to a conference race. So we're getting better. We certainly have a long way to go, but again, the resiliency of the players, the coaches, the consistent just willingness to keep fighting through stuff is really, really good stuff. So back to work, and let's go find a way to be 1-0.
On Javian Mallory, Jordan Lyle, and Mark Fletcher: I thought Fletcher ran really hard. Jordan ran really hard. Javion Mallory, he almost came out of it too with a big one. He's finally healthy again. He's going to be a big factor also. So I just thought overall both in protection and with the ball in their hands, these guys made it a point to be really hard to tackle, and they finished plays, and they were chasing and finishing guys all night as blockers and as protectors.
On the creative ways to get Malachi Toney the ball: I mean, are you working for the other guys now? What are we doing? Like let him be isolated. I guess the plays, whether it's motion, all the different ways, and, he makes guys miss, the first guy miss. It's just when you think you've seen everything, he comes up with a couple great runs. He throws one, and then he catches 11 on top of everything else. Yeah, but the only other thing, Joe, they bracket him a lot, man. They play bracket. They play trail coverage. You know, they pull guys off from their particular zone just to try to get underneath some of the short intermediate stuff. I mean, throughout the course of the game, I mean, they are constantly, he's constantly drawing attention, and at the same time, we got a lot of really good playmakers, too, that are coming into their own. Look at Dre Jacobs' play on the deep cross, right? So we're developing more and more guys, and we have to, right? Because as you go down, now we're entering the middle of October, and some of those injuries pile up a little bit. Guys got to be able to step in and not just give a guy a breather. They got to go in there and make plays. Vance Stafford stepped in there on a critical third down when Malachi was banged up. And big-time play by him. So all that stuff is starting to show up. All those repetitions are starting to pay off. So we just got to keep working and getting better.
On Darian Mensah playing smart: They spread the net pretty good, right? They wouldn't let a lot of stuff get behind them. We did a couple times, but all in all, they do a really good job. They're zone coverage. They play with really disciplined eyes, and they break on the ball really fast. But there are some holes as well, and I thought Darrion did a great job finding those holes. I thought our receivers did a good job finding those soft spots, green grass, and made some really good plays and found some hidden yards.
On the recruits visiting this past weekend: I don't know what the number was, but it was the most massive amount of just elite talent that we've ever had at any event. So it was a long night and, again, an early morning, and we had some meetings, please. We had a chance to show, we just finished up the new weight room, the expansion of the indoor, and working on some other stuff. So they got to experience Hard Rock just going bananas, a true asylum night, right? And I thought they were raving about their experience. They were raving about the fan base, because the fan base, they came out, and they came out strong, brother. They say, the guys that were at the game, the players that were here as guests, they say it was the loudest place they've ever been at, especially back there towards the end in overtime. So great experience for everybody, and we're looking forward to that paying off some dividends.
On the 24 team playoff: Not my thing. Not a fan, but, at the end of the day, whatever is best for the conference and college football. But me personally, I'm just not for it. I would say that I love the value of the regular season. I do, and I don't want to increase the number of narratives that continue, yeah, to show up when things don't go a certain team's way or a certain conference's way. I want to eliminate the beauty pageant part of it. I want to make it more about competing, getting it done on the field and determining it there.
On Miami’s approach to NIL and the transfer portal “adapt or die”: Well, you know what? We can talk about and complain about the portal and NIL and all that stuff, or we could simply adapt or just die. I mean, that's it, right? Just adapt or die. So we adapted. We feel like we're on the cutting edge of a lot of things, and we really believe in investing in the student athlete and being professional about our approach and teaching these guys how to establish high-level, high-end routines and how to be just a complete pro. Let's just focus on getting better and shutting our mouths and take the next step as a football team, heal up and go find a way to go get a win.
On the FSU win: Yeah, crazy night. A lot of big explosive plays everywhere, just about all phases, but a lot of resilience by our team. Overcame a lot of self-inflicted stuff, and at the same time, credit to the opponent for playing really good football. All in all, great win for the program and on to the next one.
On the status of banged up players: Great. Both Bryce and Mark, they came back in, and they're fine. They're good to go. So a lot of credit to a lot of those guys. A lot of those guys got banged up, but they know this is a legacy game, right? I mean, this is bragging rights for the year and really for the rest of your life, and found a way to get back in there and play Hurricane football.
On what was going through his mind when the Hurricanes were down in the third quarter: It really, it goes exactly what we talked about all week. In games like this, you're never all the way secure in winning, and you're never all the way out of it when you're not winning. You just got to keep playing until you finally get the momentum back. And this thing goes a lot of different ways. There's so many different things happen. The ball bounces funny. The intensity is through the roof. So you just keep playing. You just keep playing. You just keep doing your job. All 11 guys communicating on the same page, playing with max effort, and we found a way to get the momentum back and finish the game.
On the ground game: Yeah, the run game, you really want your yards per carry, you want them increasing as the game goes on. And early it was some tough sledding, right? We tried some different things, right? We incorporated some of the toss plays, counter's been a good play for us, split zone, wide. And then as the game went on, I thought our guys up front really started leaning on those guys and coming off their hips and finishing blocks. And in the third and fourth quarter, our time of possession, I believe, was 20 minutes to 10, and our yards per carry went from like 3.8 to about 6.5. So really indicative of just an excellent job by the guys up front and a lot of hard work investment in strength and conditioning over the course of time.
On the top teams going down: Yeah, it's a matter as a program, as players, as coaches, you got to determine. I mean, can you learn about consequences by watching college football, by learning from past experiences, or do you got to feel them every year? Do you have to go through, you know, a poor outcome, something you don't want, that, you know, can have some, the consequence that come with that might be, again, terminal as it relates to a conference race. So we're getting better. We certainly have a long way to go, but again, the resiliency of the players, the coaches, the consistent just willingness to keep fighting through stuff is really, really good stuff. So back to work, and let's go find a way to be 1-0.
On Javian Mallory, Jordan Lyle, and Mark Fletcher: I thought Fletcher ran really hard. Jordan ran really hard. Javion Mallory, he almost came out of it too with a big one. He's finally healthy again. He's going to be a big factor also. So I just thought overall both in protection and with the ball in their hands, these guys made it a point to be really hard to tackle, and they finished plays, and they were chasing and finishing guys all night as blockers and as protectors.
On the creative ways to get Malachi Toney the ball: I mean, are you working for the other guys now? What are we doing? Like let him be isolated. I guess the plays, whether it's motion, all the different ways, and, he makes guys miss, the first guy miss. It's just when you think you've seen everything, he comes up with a couple great runs. He throws one, and then he catches 11 on top of everything else. Yeah, but the only other thing, Joe, they bracket him a lot, man. They play bracket. They play trail coverage. You know, they pull guys off from their particular zone just to try to get underneath some of the short intermediate stuff. I mean, throughout the course of the game, I mean, they are constantly, he's constantly drawing attention, and at the same time, we got a lot of really good playmakers, too, that are coming into their own. Look at Dre Jacobs' play on the deep cross, right? So we're developing more and more guys, and we have to, right? Because as you go down, now we're entering the middle of October, and some of those injuries pile up a little bit. Guys got to be able to step in and not just give a guy a breather. They got to go in there and make plays. Vance Stafford stepped in there on a critical third down when Malachi was banged up. And big-time play by him. So all that stuff is starting to show up. All those repetitions are starting to pay off. So we just got to keep working and getting better.
On Darian Mensah playing smart: They spread the net pretty good, right? They wouldn't let a lot of stuff get behind them. We did a couple times, but all in all, they do a really good job. They're zone coverage. They play with really disciplined eyes, and they break on the ball really fast. But there are some holes as well, and I thought Darrion did a great job finding those holes. I thought our receivers did a good job finding those soft spots, green grass, and made some really good plays and found some hidden yards.
On the recruits visiting this past weekend: I don't know what the number was, but it was the most massive amount of just elite talent that we've ever had at any event. So it was a long night and, again, an early morning, and we had some meetings, please. We had a chance to show, we just finished up the new weight room, the expansion of the indoor, and working on some other stuff. So they got to experience Hard Rock just going bananas, a true asylum night, right? And I thought they were raving about their experience. They were raving about the fan base, because the fan base, they came out, and they came out strong, brother. They say, the guys that were at the game, the players that were here as guests, they say it was the loudest place they've ever been at, especially back there towards the end in overtime. So great experience for everybody, and we're looking forward to that paying off some dividends.
On the 24 team playoff: Not my thing. Not a fan, but, at the end of the day, whatever is best for the conference and college football. But me personally, I'm just not for it. I would say that I love the value of the regular season. I do, and I don't want to increase the number of narratives that continue, yeah, to show up when things don't go a certain team's way or a certain conference's way. I want to eliminate the beauty pageant part of it. I want to make it more about competing, getting it done on the field and determining it there.
On Miami’s approach to NIL and the transfer portal “adapt or die”: Well, you know what? We can talk about and complain about the portal and NIL and all that stuff, or we could simply adapt or just die. I mean, that's it, right? Just adapt or die. So we adapted. We feel like we're on the cutting edge of a lot of things, and we really believe in investing in the student athlete and being professional about our approach and teaching these guys how to establish high-level, high-end routines and how to be just a complete pro. Let's just focus on getting better and shutting our mouths and take the next step as a football team, heal up and go find a way to go get a win.
