Mario Cristobal addresses progress in rebuilding Miami brand

Heading into this offseason, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal has impressed with his ability to recruit all over the nation, and take advantage of the college football transfer portal. However, the Hurricanes headman is not satisfied with just the results on paper. No, Cristobal is interested in not only rebuilding Hurricane football with his coaching and recruiting talents but rebuilding the Miami brand as well.

“I feel that we’re working to address the things that need to be addressed. This is month seven so there’s work to be done and that’s what excited us about coming to Miami amongst other things. We feel like that’s being done, the gap is closing,” said Cristobal.

Cristobal helped lead the Hurricanes to the No. 12 ranked national recruiting class in 2022, according to On3’s consensus database. Not only that but the Florida native himself also helped bring in several transfer portal commitments from in-state talent that was playing elsewhere in college football, like former Clemson Tigers receiver Frank Ladson.

One of the things that Cristobal is relying on to help him rebuild the brand and image of Miami football is all of the former talents that once graced the field at Coral Gables. And Cristobal had some high praise for those former Hurricanes players.

“I mean, let’s call it what it is, on that field right there and a lot of them in the indoor, right now, these are the best players in college football, the best players in Pro Football. Guys that they still see on TV. To have Michael Irving address the entire audience is great to see a guy like Reggie Wayne being able to mentor and encourage guys as they go through workouts. It’s just very real; it’s organic.

“Let’s look back at the days when Miami was doing what Miami does; look at the sideline. You had an extra 40 assistant coaches in the form of pro bowlers and Hall of Famer. Those are some of the things that we are encouraging and working on. To make sure that alumni bond, that brotherhood is there for the world to see in that it’s real, no BS.”

In order to build Miami back to the prestigious name it once was in college football, Cristobal’s approach is twofold. The first is to execute and dominate on the football field. And second is to utilize all of the Hurricane greats and show incoming players that the bond and brotherhood of Miami football is real.