Word on the Street: Tampa Coaching Clinic

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bradtejeda

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Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal is hitting on all cylinders this off-season. The staff is almost complete but that doesn't mean CMC is taking any time off. Coach Cristobal attended a Florida Coaches Clinic in Tampa over the weekend to discuss his objectives as Miami's new man in charge. I had the pleasure of talking with Coach Derrick “Smitty” Smith, Ocala Vanguard High School Asst. Head Coach, who was present at the clinic and also coached former UM Quarterback N'Kosi Perry. Coach Smitty and I talked about some things that stood out when meeting Cristobal, as well as where the direction of the Miami program could be heading.

Coach Smitty’s first impression when meeting Cristobal was that he was a very "down to earth" guy who is very hands on and LOVES what he does, saying Cristobal is a great communicator who takes instant control of a room. One message that Coach Smitty felt Cristobal delivered was his objective of "Bringing together the program as one voice to drive the changes we feel need to take place", whether that's keeping South Florida guys home or bringing Miami back to the national stage. Coach Cristobal emphasized that a key to getting Miami back is by "getting back to the basics - everyone has to be accountable and work hard.”

On the technical side of things, Coach Smitty also left impressed with Coach Cristobal’s teaching techniques of the gallop step and hand placement pointers when it came to the trench drills.

Overall, Coach Smitty told me that Cristobal feels the direction of the program is heading back to the days of Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson.

“He's putting together one of the best staffs ever assembled in my opinion,” Smitty said of Cristobal. “He's recruiting and landing some of the best talent in the country. I'm excited to see Coach Cristobal get the best out of his coaches and players. He just seems like someone that you would have a hard time not working hard for. I see no excuses or issues with players like the prior staff.”

Word on the Street: The word is Mario is taking back South Florida and just by his session this weekend in Tampa, everyone thought he was the best speaker of the day. Coaches and players will follow this guy because of who he is and the people he is surrounding himself with.
 
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Do the **** thang coach !!
 
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Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal is hitting on all cylinders this off-season. The staff is almost complete but that doesn't mean CMC is taking any time off. Coach Cristobal attended a Florida Coaches Clinic in Tampa over the weekend to discuss his objectives as Miami's new man in charge. I had the pleasure of talking with Coach Derrick “Smitty” Smith, Ocala Vanguard High School Asst. Head Coach, who was present at the clinic and also coached former UM Quarterback N'Kosi Perry. Coach Smitty and I talked about some things that stood out when meeting Cristobal, as well as where the direction of the Miami program could be heading.

Coach Smitty’s first impression when meeting Cristobal was that he was a very "down to earth" guy who is very hands on and LOVES what he does, saying Cristobal is a great communicator who takes instant control of a room. One message that Coach Smitty felt Cristobal delivered was his objective of "Bringing together the program as one voice to drive the changes we feel need to take place", whether that's keeping South Florida guys home or bringing Miami back to the national stage. Coach Cristobal emphasized that a key to getting Miami back is by "getting back to the basics - everyone has to be accountable and work hard.”

On the technical side of things, Coach Smitty also left impressed with Coach Cristobal’s teaching techniques of the gallop step and hand placement pointers when it came to the trench drills.

Overall, Coach Smitty told me that Cristobal feels the direction of the program is heading back to the days of Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson.

“He's putting together one of the best staffs ever assembled in my opinion,” Smitty said of Cristobal. “He's recruiting and landing some of the best talent in the country. I'm excited to see Coach Cristobal get the best out of his coaches and players. He just seems like someone that you would have a hard time not working hard for. I see no excuses or issues with players like the prior staff.”

Word on the Street: The word is Mario is taking back South Florida and just by his session this weekend in Tampa, everyone thought he was the best speaker of the day. Coaches and players will follow this guy because of who he is and the people he is surrounding himself with.
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We should’ve hired him 3 years ago when Richt left

Glad we got it right this time and the right resources behind him
While he would have been a better hire at the time, the way it played out was for the best. There wasn't enough money being put into the program back then, and his success at Oregon gave him the necessary clout to make the things this program needed a condition of him signing. Him coming now, when the changes have been made, gives this program all the momentum it needs to flip the script...which we can already see happening.
 
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We should’ve hired him 3 years ago when Richt left

Glad we got it right this time and the right resources behind him
I don't think the school had the resources available then to do what they are doing now, possibly setting him up to fail. We have the support and backing now, and the future finally looks and feels bright, time to put the rubber to the road!
 
We should’ve hired him 3 years ago when Richt left

Glad we got it right this time and the right resources behind him
I thought so too.

But in a way it worked out better we didn’t.

At that time Mario had no leverage to demand a large financial commitment from the admin.

With his work ethic and eye for coaching and player talent and the ability to land talent I believe he would have found success but ultimately he would have been playing with one hand behind his back.

After winning a conference title and having massive financial assurances to stay put and the university being at a serious cross roads, he was able to exploit our (rightful) desperation for the betterment of the program.
 
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The pessimist in me says this the exact same thing we heard when Golden started. He was aggressively making inroads into Tampa and was very impressive.

The optimist in me says I believe in Mario, so I'm buying in here. I don't know if he'll "take back South Florida" - but I'm confident we'll land more South FL talent than we have been the last 10-15 years.
 
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