COACH… “I think this team's grown a lot.”

September 21, 2026 -

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal met with the press on Monday afternoon. He share his thoughts on the game and how his team played last week.

On the Wake Forest game…

“…a solid conference win on the road against a really good team. Played really well for the most part, in two and a half quarters, and then found ourselves a little bit of an offensive lull. Up 31-7, a chance to get the ball back, force a turnover, have a penalty that nullifies that, and Wake Forest scores once and twice, and then our defenses took over the game when our offense had four successive three and outs. So good example complimentary football. Our defense forcing first a safety, then a turnover on downs, another turnover on downs, and then eventually an interception to seal the game. So some good stuff to build upon, some other stuff to improve upon, and moving forward and getting ready for Central Michigan.”

On running back and receiver depth…

“Well, it's certainly things that you don't want to happen. If you look around college football today, a lot of people are receiving not the best news in the world, and we got hit by it. We've been hit by it a little bit more this year than we have in really all the previous years, and so you really always emphasize with your coaches make sure that you're developing your entire room, right? Because you never know when they're going to get tapped on the shoulder, and be called upon. So certainly going to miss those guys. They are awesome. We have confidence that we can prepare and continue to develop the ones that are in that room to go earn the same status that these guys did themselves."

On Jordan Lyle’s status…

"Well, he didn't play the first three weeks. He served his suspension, obviously doing some other things to go with that. But we have had him in training to make sure that at the end of the day, player safety is at the forefront of everything. You have to keep guys in condition and engaged, so that if there is an opportunity to come and play again, they're ready, and that is the case with Jordan, and he's in good shape and doing the right thing, so he'll be able to contribute to the team.”

On Lyle earning the coaches’ trust…

“You only play players that you can trust. There is so that we're clear at the University of Miami. There's one criteria for playing players, and that's playing people that give Miami the best chance to win. Period. Jordan has made a poor decision. This will be the last time I address it, not in any way, shape, or form disrespectful to you, but just to make sure we understand clearly. He has done and is doing the things necessary to put himself in a good place with his teammates in our program, and he is a trusted football player and person who is working hard to make sure that he has the full trust of everybody.” 

On the offensive line play…

“The tackles and center had solid games. Guards had some positive moments and some growing pain moments. They're a very experienced front. They move a lot, a lot of bare fronts, NTs, TNs, twists inside right. Some of the different blitz patterns and third down packages are pretty extensive. And on some plays, we did some really good things at guard, and other plays, like I mentioned, had some growing pains." 

On the offensive issues in the second half…

“Saw a lack of detail. I take it all as coaching and playing because I never want to point a finger at one or the other. I don't think that's fair. If you watch film, you're looking at really pretty much the same calls against the same calls, and the level of precision, the level of detail, the level of strain isn't quite the same. And credit to Wake Forest as well for playing well, for playing hard, mixing up some things, but there are opportunities there to be had. The pockets at times a little bit tighter. Maybe we didn't see the comeback or the curl route come open, right? Maybe we didn't finish on a block or finish on a tackle. Things of that nature is what showed up, and that's the difference in successful plays or not. Because the first thing you want to do is analyze. 'All right, what did we call?' And look, especially the first three series that were three and outs, and two of every three plays is, you're you're pushing, you're trying to push the ball down the field before it gets checked down or ended up in a you know play that wasn't a positive place, so that's what I see. That's what we, and then when you see that, you assess that, you point a finger right at all of us ourselves, making sure that we. It's got to be coached better. It's got to be emphasized better. It's got to be practiced better. And at the end of the day, when lights are on, got to understand that teams have really, really good players, and all these conference games are playoff games. They are. And you're going to get everyone's best. You're never completely out of a game. It's never completely over. So the level of strain and effort has to be at an all-time high and get better and better as the game goes on.”

On who will step in for Josh Moore…

"I say we go find out. You know, let's go find out. We're banged up group, but obviously Dre Jacobs has done a good job. So has [Daylyn] Upshaw. He's got really good experience. Cooper [Barkate] is very versatile. He's had a really good season so far. Somourian Wingo, Milan Parris, Vance Spafford. There's a lot of guys that can do a lot of things. We have some tight ends that could also split out there and do some things, also in misplace personnel. So I don't think it'd be of much value to crown a guy like right now and say, 'Hey, this side is the guy we expect to step up.' I think the guys that we expect to step up, you have seen them already in games, and I've gotten a chance to play, and it's really important that you know, starting with today, which we had a good glimpse of, but throughout the course of the week, that we provide opportunities to see how our guys respond, because there's a big difference of being a contributor as opposed to being a full-time starter from the get-go and going all the way through, right? So that's what we are fixing to find out, and we will start and play the game with the guys that give us the best chance to win.”

On Special Teams play…

"We weren't very good. I thought we weren't physical. I thought the opening kickoff, to allow ourselves to get knocked back and yank a guy down, holding penalty, is unacceptable. It was probably the biggest, most emphatic, pissed-off moment of the meeting as it relates to the assessment of the game. We had a chance to get great field position a couple times with them kicking from their own 20-yard line, and we got a personal foul and a holding on it. I mean, really, those penalties. There's no other way to put it. They're senseless and they're selfish. If you're going to get your ass run over, do it with dignity, right? Make somebody go through you, and then they're delayed to get to the tackle. But to yank a guy down and to have a penalty on that. The levels of being upset that comes with that are something that at the end of the day we have to look in the mirror as coaches, coach it better, and put guys out there that can do it, and also guys that have done it well, get them doing it well again. Not just allowing a guy to--special teams is one of three phases you have to win. It is not that break in between where you catch your breath. You know what I'm saying? So the points of emphasis that come with special teams have been hammered the entire morning, and we expect to get a better result this coming Saturday."

On the team’s response to adversity…

“I think this team's grown a lot. I think those moments are really important. I don't know if you look back a few years that this team would have found its way to continue to keep the separation, keep it a two-score game, which is important. I saw certain guys get tested and rise to the occasion, do a really good job. I saw a team that there was never ever a lack of fight, but a lack of detail, and that extra strain does put a play over the top, or it doesn't. So I'm not sure if I answered your question. I guess I'm kind of going through in my mind different scenarios that come with that, but I do see a team that wants to win, a team that cares about each other, a team that understands that the one team that can beat us is us if we don't play and achieve a certain level, if we don't hold things at a standard that we know we're capable of. Okay, and again, that's something that we all take together, and it's the best way to do it. It's the only way to do it. I think we've heard four years up in a row. I'm always going to say, 'You got to play it better. You got to coach better to get a better result.” 

On playing on a Saturday…

“Yeah. We're the only team in the country that hasn't played on a Saturday. Who's responsible for that? Anybody in this room? Nobody. But look, I'll say this because this is really important. This is, I mean, as it relates to my own kids at home or our players here, is whatever's thrown at you, just roll with it, man. You know, is it ideal that I ever want to say, hey, we're gonna play on a Friday, Thursday, Friday. Absolutely not. And the worst thing I can do is publicly go out and just start bashing away and 'What the heck.' No, whatever comes with it, whatever place, whatever opponent, whatever time. Let's go roll, right? Let's go do it. But to your point and a great question, yes. Very, very happy to be back at home, and to be able to play on Saturday.”

Miami (3-0, 2-0 ACC) will return home on Saturday to host Central Michigan (2-1). Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and will be aired live on the CW and WQAM.

GO CANES!