COACH… Media Days are here!

The ACC Media Days begin today. This annual event marks the unofficial start of the college football season. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal kicked off Miami’s participation in Charlotte with an important interview on The Joe Rose Show early on Wednesday. Coach Cristobal was on top of his game, candid, honest and excited to talk about his team.

Here are some of the questions he fielded. Let’s start in the trenches, the foundation of every Cristobal team.

On the offensive line…

Yeah, we've got some absolute creatures at that position that have come in, and they've got the right temperament and mentality. And, you know, Alex Mirabal is the best of the best. He's got a culture and a structure that gets those guys rolling quickly, makes them very versatile. They get reps at every single position. So their knowledge of the offense as it relates to assignments and their knowledge of the positions as it relates to technique and fundamentals is at a really high level. And it's about ramping them up as quickly as possible and getting the best out of everybody. So, yeah, we don't like to put the excuse label on a guy if he's young. You know what? If we recruited him, we expect the guy to come on in and contribute and be a guy for us.

On the OL competition…

No predictions, no projections. All those guys are getting reps with the ones and the twos. All of them are getting opportunities, and we are moving them all around. And, again, that's important down the stretch because you have to, to win at a high level, we feel you have to have anywhere between eight to ten guys that can play championship football for you and may have to move positions. And as many guys that could successfully and effectively snap the football and execute blocking assignments while making their IDs correctly, that's also as critical as anything else.

On his defensive line…

It's, let's go find out, right? I mean, the moment we signed Rueben Bain and Akeem Mesidor, we knew like right away you had to be on a mission to get the next great one because in college football, if they're really good, they're gone in three years, right? So we've had them in the program. Now, they haven't been able to play as much because those guys don't want to come off the field. But you've been at practice and you've seen the way we practice. And they have been in big moments in games. Marquise Lightfoot is in there against Ohio State. Herbert Scroggins is in there against A&M on that final drive. You watch, I mean, Armando Blount, man. Like, let's talk about that guy, right? A guy that early enrolled, came in with, he's a little bit banged up, and has developed into an unbelievable player, and a guy that's now 276 pounds and running like an absolute, you know, stud. So we're really excited about these guys. I don't ever predict or compare. I think that's unfair to both sides. But in terms of our enthusiasm for the guys coming up, yeah, brother, we're ready to turn these guys loose.

Let’s shift to Miami’s skill positions where the staff was active in the player retention and the transfer portal..

On quarterback Darian Mensah…

A lot of traits that those guys continue to show and display on a year-by-year basis. The guy's elite as a human being, and he's one of those relentless competitors. He's always in there. He's always getting after it. He's a guy that people gravitate to. He works his butt off, Joe. I mean, he's a dude that he's just not going to be outworked, and he understands ball, and he's got a strong appetite to get better. He's always grabbing, like the other guys, they'd always grab the O-line coach and have meetings with him. They'd grab the running backs and have separate meetings with them. They keep the guys after practice and get extra reps. There's no governor to his, wanting to get better. So, yeah, he's exactly what we hope for, and we're beyond excited to watch this guy get after it.

On Malachi Toney…

I think his role expands. I mean, Malachi is, you've seen him and the way he approaches training. I mean, he's... Five in the morning, I've seen him, yeah. Yeah, man, and his body has changed as well. He's another 10 pounds thicker, heavier, stronger, faster, more explosive. So I think there's, you can't put enough on his plate. I mean, he's always, always seeking more. So, and you know what? He's brought a lot of guys along with him, and there's some other guys that, I mean, his success is gonna certainly, the other guys are gonna benefit from it because he attracts a lot of attention as it relates to coverage and whatnot. So, yeah, you can expect his role to expand even more.

On his wide receivers & running backs…

Well, to me, it's not that it's deep, it's more like it's competitive. It's wired so that going into fall camp, like everyone's had a chance to use this offseason to get better and have a chance to compete for playing time or to be the starter. So I think that's probably the most important part, there's some talented guys in there, but everybody's got talent. So now it's wired, it's set up, so when they're coming in here, no one should be at ease. Everybody should be on edge, and everyone should be fighting their butts off on a daily basis to be that guy. So we're excited about that, and they all know at the end of the day they better block their butts off too. Yeah. That's a big part of it.

On Joshua Moore and the wide receivers…

Well, you know what, first of all, we're extremely excited about Josh Moore, and to me, the best thing we can do for him is challenge him on a daily basis to get the best out of him, right? Young guy, a lot of talent, has flashed. Now it's time to do it on a consistent basis, all the time. As it relates to rotations, you know what, we never, ever rotate guys in just because they're talented. We play guys that have earned the opportunity to help the rotations be what they. That's it. There's no magic formula. There's no, like, trick BS to it. If a guy is busting his butt and he's playing at a high level and can help us win, we're gonna get him in the game, and we're gonna get him in there at any position. And you saw that with, probably the best example was a couple years ago when Markel Bell would go in there and we'd slide Jalen Rivers inside because Markel was showing that he could help us win. So that's how we feel about, you know, our approach to the entire roster, and so far it's been pretty good for us.

On 2027 Recruiting…

It's a different day and age as well where we feel like this is a class that's very locked in. We feel awesome about it. They're high-level competitors, tough asses, dudes that love ball. And you know what? They come from all over, and they love Miami. There's no BS to them, man. They want to come be Miami Hurricanes and play high-level football and find a way to win.

On CFP expansion from 12 to 16 teams…

I like 12, you know, I do. And, you know, I always felt that, I mean, you just gotta be careful to not dilute the product, right? And not that you do. There's so many great teams out there, but at some point in time, somebody gets left out, right? We were left out in 24 and felt we should have, you know, been in there, and it sucks. But I don't, I don't know, man. I like 12. Whatever's best for the game, I'm for. I just would like to see a complete layout of it, what it truly looks like, and how people truly get in. Let's talk about playing the best football, not affiliation because I'm part of a conference where there once was an all-time great coach or stuff of that nature. You know what I mean? I don't wanna hear that bull****, man. Let's talk about who's playing great football, let's watch it on tape, let's roll it, and let's base things on who's winning, and let's make this a true competitive sport, not a beauty pageant.

BOTTOM LINE:

Mario Cristobal and his staff have built a roster that can compete for championships. It’s time.

GO CANES!