On the first Monday of the college football season, Mario Crisotbal spent 13 minutes recapping fall training camp and previewing Miami‘s opening weekend game against Notre Dame.
You can hear Cristobal talk at 38:40
Opening statement…
Good afternoon. Certainly, as you know, a ton of momentum and excitement and energy around here as we get ready for game week, finally, right after a great offseason, great camp.
On the depth chart
I dont think you're ever all the way there, but certainly a ton of products would feel a lot better about it. And, you know, some competitions will go all the way up until, you know, the Thursday, Friday of game week. But we do feel very confident in the guys that will be playing. You know, who goes first or who gets how many reps will certainly be determined in the next couple of days. But we do feel very confident and comfortable with who's going to be going in and playing for us.
On Carson Beck's leadership role
I think when you look at our team, the makeup of our team, particularly the guy snapping the football, to the guy getting snapped, to the guy behind him, to the middle of our defense, the defensive tackles, the linebackers, the safety, the core of our team has experience. And we feel that when you have the type of game experience those guys have, the big moments don't faze you. They came here to Miami to have that opportunity, and Carson, of course, has been in a bunch of those. He has had a great camp. He doesn't stop preparing like the rest of the team. The culture fit has been perfect. All his focus is on preparation. At the highest level, he can do it.
On the intensity of Carson Beck as it's game week
We've turned up pretty good around here. So, we try to make every day like game day as much as possible so I think some things naturally get turned up as you get closer and closer to the game but it's not it's not like a light switch where it's on and off depending on who you're playing when you're playing or what now we like to keep that thing on all the time but his level of professionalism is truly impressive and it certainly affects other people in a positive way.
Mario reflects on the game
Now, those were awesome, awesome experiences, right? You know, growing up wanting to come to Miami. Games like this had a lot to do with that.
On what he has seen with Rueben Bain
Ruben's approach to the off-season was awesome. He made it a point to get down to 275 pounds and lean up, become more explosive, and stay healthy. Last year, we lost him, I think play number two, and didn't get him back till game five. And as you saw as a freshman, he was one of the more impactful freshmen in the country. This system allows him to play fast and free. He's extremely intelligent. He's able to coach the guys around him as well, and his effort levels, his levels of leadership, and just culture have really taken another step. We've seen it in practice daily, and we expect an awesome year out of Rueben Bain.
Mario's thoughts on the energy level he has seen from the players
I think here it's so competitive, or it's becoming more and more competitive, to the point where, when we're playing out there, it feels like a game. They want to make it that way for our players. The goal is to make it so that the best team we play all year is a team that we face in our practice. And do you ever really get there? You never know. You just pour every ounce of effort and every ounce of preparation into that. So you see that daily. And yesterday we had a chance to practice at Hard Rock and it was, and it was great to be there. And the intensity levels were high, but they've been high all along and and honestly, as the season goes on, that's what we expect out of our players. That's another step for Miami, right? We talk about taking steps every year. One step is to make sure that we don't treat one opponent up here and lower those expectations and standards for the next one.
On how the atmosphere will be this weekend
That's gonna be as maniacal as a Miami game should be. I think there are a lot of us here who have experienced those games from the Orange Bowl, Hard Rock, and whatnot, and we expect it to be as loud and as wild as it could be, and we encourage that.
Who are the leaders of the team
I think Akheem Mesidor has taken the biggest step. I think he and Anez Cooper play off each other. They're always trying to knock each other around. One's a guard, one's at end, but, you end up colliding right and to that point, I think it's worth pointing out the benefit of having great alumni, a guy like Jon Vilma, who lives locally, who had an opportunity to address the team, and the importance of making it a player led team, of the accountability that comes with that and what it really means on a daily basis. Not by name, not by title, not by post or tweet, but what it really demands and commands of a team that's led by its own players. So those two guys really stick out. I think Carson [Beck], in a short amount of time, has really shown that. Mark Fletcher has really shown that. Francis Mauigoa has shown that Ruben [Bain] has shown that. I think both Wesley [Bissainthe] and Mo [Toure]. [Zechariah Poyser], he's come along in a big time way, and now you see, guys like OJ Frederique stepping up as well. So all in all, it's been building throughout January all the way up until now, and we're seeing some really good returns
On the special teams
We feel good. We feel we feel really good about the kicker. We invested a lot of time and effort into scouting that part, and why we went that direction with a couple of guys, and really, a third got to battling it out, and we're really close there on making that decision. We feel great about the operation itself--the protection, the snap, the hold. Same thing on the punt team, about the protection, about the coverage that goes with that. Our biggest issue last year was with kickoff coverage, right? We allowed two, and that really hurt us. We won the games, but certainly could have avoided or prevented us from winning those games. So I think our coverage units, two things--better talent, more big, big runners, big strikers, being able to get down the field, and ball placement. The accuracy of ball placement is critical for that part as well. Our return game, we'll see. We've got some guys that have been taking reps at the different return spots, and they seem capable of certainly helping us get there.
Mario Cristobal’s Monday Press Conference | Notre Dame Week
Mario Cristobal Transcript
You can hear Cristobal talk at 38:40
Opening statement…
Good afternoon. Certainly, as you know, a ton of momentum and excitement and energy around here as we get ready for game week, finally, right after a great offseason, great camp.
On the depth chart
I dont think you're ever all the way there, but certainly a ton of products would feel a lot better about it. And, you know, some competitions will go all the way up until, you know, the Thursday, Friday of game week. But we do feel very confident in the guys that will be playing. You know, who goes first or who gets how many reps will certainly be determined in the next couple of days. But we do feel very confident and comfortable with who's going to be going in and playing for us.
On Carson Beck's leadership role
I think when you look at our team, the makeup of our team, particularly the guy snapping the football, to the guy getting snapped, to the guy behind him, to the middle of our defense, the defensive tackles, the linebackers, the safety, the core of our team has experience. And we feel that when you have the type of game experience those guys have, the big moments don't faze you. They came here to Miami to have that opportunity, and Carson, of course, has been in a bunch of those. He has had a great camp. He doesn't stop preparing like the rest of the team. The culture fit has been perfect. All his focus is on preparation. At the highest level, he can do it.
On the intensity of Carson Beck as it's game week
We've turned up pretty good around here. So, we try to make every day like game day as much as possible so I think some things naturally get turned up as you get closer and closer to the game but it's not it's not like a light switch where it's on and off depending on who you're playing when you're playing or what now we like to keep that thing on all the time but his level of professionalism is truly impressive and it certainly affects other people in a positive way.
Mario reflects on the game
Now, those were awesome, awesome experiences, right? You know, growing up wanting to come to Miami. Games like this had a lot to do with that.
On what he has seen with Rueben Bain
Ruben's approach to the off-season was awesome. He made it a point to get down to 275 pounds and lean up, become more explosive, and stay healthy. Last year, we lost him, I think play number two, and didn't get him back till game five. And as you saw as a freshman, he was one of the more impactful freshmen in the country. This system allows him to play fast and free. He's extremely intelligent. He's able to coach the guys around him as well, and his effort levels, his levels of leadership, and just culture have really taken another step. We've seen it in practice daily, and we expect an awesome year out of Rueben Bain.
Mario's thoughts on the energy level he has seen from the players
I think here it's so competitive, or it's becoming more and more competitive, to the point where, when we're playing out there, it feels like a game. They want to make it that way for our players. The goal is to make it so that the best team we play all year is a team that we face in our practice. And do you ever really get there? You never know. You just pour every ounce of effort and every ounce of preparation into that. So you see that daily. And yesterday we had a chance to practice at Hard Rock and it was, and it was great to be there. And the intensity levels were high, but they've been high all along and and honestly, as the season goes on, that's what we expect out of our players. That's another step for Miami, right? We talk about taking steps every year. One step is to make sure that we don't treat one opponent up here and lower those expectations and standards for the next one.
On how the atmosphere will be this weekend
That's gonna be as maniacal as a Miami game should be. I think there are a lot of us here who have experienced those games from the Orange Bowl, Hard Rock, and whatnot, and we expect it to be as loud and as wild as it could be, and we encourage that.
Who are the leaders of the team
I think Akheem Mesidor has taken the biggest step. I think he and Anez Cooper play off each other. They're always trying to knock each other around. One's a guard, one's at end, but, you end up colliding right and to that point, I think it's worth pointing out the benefit of having great alumni, a guy like Jon Vilma, who lives locally, who had an opportunity to address the team, and the importance of making it a player led team, of the accountability that comes with that and what it really means on a daily basis. Not by name, not by title, not by post or tweet, but what it really demands and commands of a team that's led by its own players. So those two guys really stick out. I think Carson [Beck], in a short amount of time, has really shown that. Mark Fletcher has really shown that. Francis Mauigoa has shown that Ruben [Bain] has shown that. I think both Wesley [Bissainthe] and Mo [Toure]. [Zechariah Poyser], he's come along in a big time way, and now you see, guys like OJ Frederique stepping up as well. So all in all, it's been building throughout January all the way up until now, and we're seeing some really good returns
On the special teams
We feel good. We feel we feel really good about the kicker. We invested a lot of time and effort into scouting that part, and why we went that direction with a couple of guys, and really, a third got to battling it out, and we're really close there on making that decision. We feel great about the operation itself--the protection, the snap, the hold. Same thing on the punt team, about the protection, about the coverage that goes with that. Our biggest issue last year was with kickoff coverage, right? We allowed two, and that really hurt us. We won the games, but certainly could have avoided or prevented us from winning those games. So I think our coverage units, two things--better talent, more big, big runners, big strikers, being able to get down the field, and ball placement. The accuracy of ball placement is critical for that part as well. Our return game, we'll see. We've got some guys that have been taking reps at the different return spots, and they seem capable of certainly helping us get there.
