forums

Culture

Advertisement
Back in the 80s/90s you could get away with leaning on teams through physicality and size and wear them out early enough to blow teams out organically. Think something like 21-3 halftime, 48-13 final score. You could do that because teams didnt have depth and the size differences were more pronounced as well as innovative offenses weren’t exactly all over.

But in today’s game, that approach that leans on another team and try to wear them out doesn’t work the same. If it does, that point of wearing down a team doesnt usually happen until late, late in the game, if it happens at all. Players are more advanced today physically. SMU never folded and it was actually Miami that folded late.

If you want to wear out a team, you do it psychologically. Aggressive pace, space and decision making will wear a team out especially when they get down 21 or more early. Teams give up at that point.

If your team has size/speed advantages, you exploit it by getting them in space, not by neutering it and hoping to outlast the other team.

Play loose and free and you probably minimize quite a bit of self imposed penalties. Play tight and your room for error shrinks considerably.

Again, none of this is rocket science.
 
JHallCanes said:
Said I’d try and give the guy 4 years before forming a full opinion

I can’t stand this ************
Click to expand...

There has never been a coach quite like him. The vast, vast majority of coaches are fired because they can’t “get over the hump.” They consistently beat the easy teams on their schedule but lose the games to the top opponents.

Cristobal teams regularly upset their highly ranked opponents but consistently lose to bad teams, especially when his teams are double digit favorites.

I can’t think of another coach at any program who has had this reputation or track record.
 
I think its fair to assess now what Mario is even further as a motivator

I hate the word culture, drives me nuts, but culture is an individual thing

How badly now do these players want to iprove and win? They're all getting paid so the incntive can be small now and they'll just fold it up, or simplay reasses their NIL in the off season or portal
 
YankeesCane said:
I think its fair to assess now what Mario is even further as a motivator

I hate the word culture, drives me nuts, but culture is an individual thing

How badly now do these players want to iprove and win? They're all getting paid so the incntive can be small now and they'll just fold it up, or simplay reasses their NIL in the off season or portal
Click to expand...

He’s a hilariously bad motivator. It’s part of the reason why his teams largely seem to fair well against good comp (eg Notre Dame, FSU, games that don’t require any special motivation) and play “down” to just about everyone else.
 
Advertisement
This is the moment Mario has to look in the mirror

Can he change? I have no confidence he can, we've seen it as a coach here and at Oregon

Maybe someone can get in his ear becasue if not, this is what we are
 
bdcane4eva said:
Said 8-4 and got railroaded outta here ...now y'all comin around 🤣 🤣
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20251101_162100_Chrome.jpg
 
Handsome Squidbum said:
There has never been a coach quite like him. The vast, vast majority of coaches are fired because they can’t “get over the hump.” They consistently beat the easy teams on their schedule but lose the games to the top opponents.

Cristobal teams regularly upset their highly ranked opponents but consistently lose to bad teams, especially when his teams are double digit favorites.

I can’t think of another coach at any program who has had this reputation or track record.
Click to expand...
I googled it yesterday and it can’t be true but it said the last time we won a game as a double digit underdog was against UCLA (and technically that was 9.5 I guess)

Why I tried to find out is there’s this almost inconceivable ratio of double digit favorite losses, and almost none in reverse. Not just Mario but like…everyone here

ND we were a slight underdog but week 1 and all that. But really we constantly see teams rise up and knock us off but when we are clearly outclassed on paper, we lose. Golden had a couple almost big upsets of FSU I know we were big dogs but still

6 double digit losses in 4 years? With a few games to play?

That can’t be a thing

Mario has some good qualities but how is that possible
 
CaneMutiny06 said:
He’s a hilariously bad motivator. It’s part of the reason why his teams largely seem to fair well against good comp (eg Notre Dame, FSU, games that don’t require any special motivation) and play “down” to just about everyone else.
Click to expand...

This is why I have a modicum of respect for the HCs of two teams I hate the most
- Notre dame and Ohio St.

Both HCs make sure their teams take care of business against lesser opponents. It is why the Saban teams were machine-like. Bad opponents almost always get flattened. If a schedule was front loaded with good teams and easy on the back part, once they got through the tough part you could write them into the playoffs with a permanent magic marker.

EVERY UM fan looked at our schedule and marked 2 random games later in the season as guaranteed losses. We knew Mario would Mario. The question was just which two opponents it would be.

And to be perfectly honest- I have more respect for Norvell as a HC than Mario. 2 years ago Norvell managed to get his team through the regular season without a loss. It is incredibly difficult to keep a team focused for an entire season. But he managed to do it, including beating UF on the road with his backup QB and winning the ACC championship with his THIRD string QB against #14 Louisville!

That is an astounding example of superb coaching. Was Travis their entire offense? Sure. Yet they still managed to beat teams and win the conference championship without their best player.

And if a coach can get through a regular season undefeated just once, it means he is CAPABLE of doing it again if he gets the right players. He accomplished that feat with a mercenary team built mostly through NIL. And I believe he can do it again in the future because he has demonstrated he can keep a team focused on the big prize through an entire regular season. Very few coaches can do that.

Cristobal in his 10+ year career has not only failed at having an undefeated season, he’s never even had a season where his teams won all the games in which they were favored. Oh - For anyone keeping count at home, Kiffin has managed that feat twice.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
RVACane said:
We’re losing to Pitt in my opinion. If we lost to 1 or both of Cuse and VT, i wouldn’t be shocked.
Click to expand...

Miami will struggle but beat Cuse. Close for awhile, and pull away 2nd half like the Stanford game, without the 35-point spread. More like 17-21.

Miami will close with a home loss to NC State, struggle and maybe lose at VT, and lose at Pittsburgh to finish 8-4 or even 7-5.

The bowl game will be meaningless, with draft-eligible players opting out and a number of players transferring out.

What a bummer.
 
CaneMutiny06 said:
He’s a hilariously bad motivator. It’s part of the reason why his teams largely seem to fair well against good comp (eg Notre Dame, FSU, games that don’t require any special motivation) and play “down” to just about everyone else.
Click to expand...

Mario's message to his teams wears thin by mid-season.

Nick Saban could get away with his personality because the results were championships and he had players to replace you. Follow his process and you could end up with a NC ring or two.

Players do not believe Mario. His 40-year old NC rings from Miami are irrelevant and his NC ring at Alabama doesn’t mean much when his coaching costs you games you're asked to shed blood, sweat, and tears for.

images.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top