Mario Cristobal addresses the Miami - Florida State rivalry

New Miami coach Mario Cristobal is no stranger to the rivalry between the Hurricanes and Florida State. He played in it. And he’s coached in it. But for the first time this fall, he’ll be a head coach for one side of it.

At ACC Media Days this week, one reporter asked Cristobal about his anticipation for re-joining the rivalry, this time as the head the Miami program he once played and was an assistant coach for. In answering the question, he made a bold claim about how the FSU-Miami rivalry stacks up to others in sports.

“To me, personally, that was always the greatest rivalry in sports,” according to Cristobal. “The intensity, the caliber of player, the caliber of play, the physicality,
and of course the dramatic turns of those games were incredible.”

The Miami headman played in the heyday of the two programs. When Bobby Bowden’s Seminole teams were routinely in the mix to win a national championship, and when “The U” was entering its prime years as the coolest show in college football.

Nowadays, the programs aren’t quite what they used to be, with both struggling to remain relevant in the national picture on a yearly basis. Part of Cristobal’s goal is to put Miami back in the spotlight and bring the spark back to that rivalry. However, in order to do that, he says Miami has to focus on their side of the rivalry. You know, focus on improving their program before worrying about Florida State.

“Right now, we’re addressing us. There will be a time to address that. There’s no other point in being anywhere else but where our feet are right now,” Cristobal said of his team.

He then asked for the time, which was 10:53 a.m. when this particular interview took place.

“So we should be winding up our skill instruction and our team condition right now. And so our focus will be what we’re gonna eat right after this. Then getting to class on time. Taking those steps and being focused on that. And just focusing on the Miami Hurricanes. The one team that can beat Miami is Miami. So let’s make sure we don’t beat ourselves by not doing the things that we’re supposed to do.”

Sure, rivalries are part of why college sports, and college football specifically, are so much fun. But worrying about the other team is a fool’s errand when there’s a lot of fix on your own end. Mario Cristobal knows he’s taking over a program that isn’t at the top right now. It can be, though. And to get back to the top of the food chain, the ‘Canes must take care of their own business first.