COACH…"just shut our mouths and go get better.”

October 19, 2026 - Miami head coach Mario Cristobal made his weekly appearance on The Joe Rose Show early Monday morning. He shared his thoughts on the victory over arch-rival Florida State, his players’ resilience, the injuries situation, the proposed 24-team CFP model and being ranked No. 1 in the nation.

It was the first time since 2002 a Miami head coach could talk about being ranked at the top.

On resilience…

"In games like this, you are never secure in winning and you are never out of not being able to win. You have to just keep playing until you have the momentum back. It has to be guys playing with maximum effort and we found a way to get the momentum and finish the game”…”A lot of resilience by our team.”

On shutting out the noise…

"You saw the amount of top ten teams that lost… In college football, if you don't believe the other team has great players and if you aren't at your best, you can get your butt kicked, it is going to happen.

On Darian Mensah and his receivers…

"I thought Darian did a good job of finding those holes in the zones and the receivers did a good job of finding those soft spots.”

Miami’s rushing attack piled up 257 yards and three touchdowns.

On Miami’s running game against FSU.

"Early on it was tough sledding and then as the game went on, our guys up front started leaning on them and finishing blocks and in the third and fourth quarter our time possession was 20 minutes and our yards per carry went from 3.5 to 6.5 yards… "You want your yards per carry increasing as the game goes on.”

On the fan support and the massive turnout of elite level recruits for the game.

"It was the most massive amount of elite talent that we have ever had," Cristobal said. "We just finished up the new weight room and the expansion of the indoor and they got to experience Hard Rock Stadium going bananas. They (the team) were raving about the fanbase. They said it was the loudest place they have ever been at.”

On the proposed 24-team playoff model…

"It is not my thing. I'm not a fan. I'm personally just not for it…I love the value of the regular season. I don't want to increase the number of narratives that show up when things don't go a certain team's way. I want to eliminate the beauty pageant part of it and determine things on the field.”

On being ranked #1…

"We are at the top of what? Last I checked there has never been a trophy or parade for anybody halfway through the season…We like being the hunter. We like being the Alpha. We don't believe in all that BS that comes with predictions and rankings. Let's just shut our mouths and go get better.”

GO CANES!