Mario Cristobal: "If you can't identify and recruit, your value to a program is very little."
7 min read
The Miami Hurricanes are one win away from Charlotte. Below is everything Mario Cristobal said as the team gets ready for Syracuse:
On Syracuse’s offense: The running back [LeQuint Allen] is a really good player. He's a lot like who we faced last week. He's bigger, he's strong. Just one cut, make-you-miss-and-go guys. He does not go down easily. He's complemented by a very big offensive line. Really physical. We were just studying their interior right before coming in. They get some good knock-back, some good push at the line of scrimmage.
They lead the country in contested catches. In fact, three of their four wide receivers are the top three contested catch receivers in the country. It's not just a play design, it's really good players going up and high-pointing the ball and making tough catches with great body control.
But they'll get in loaded sets as well. They can get big in a hurry, get 12 personnel in there and get downhill in the running game behind some of their big offensive linemen. They play complementary football really well. They've shown the ability to to really flip the field with their punter, but also change the complexion of the game with their return game. They've got some really good returners. They use their better athletes on all the special teams units.
They get the ball out in space in the screen game really well. Obviously, they use Number 19 [Oronde Gadsen II]. Local guy that's a got a great history of playing high school football down here, family history as well (father was a starting WR for the Dolphins).
But they use cats in so many different ways, 11 personnel and 12 personnel. He's got great players beside him. Two [Trebor Pena] is a great player. 82's a great player, seven, five, I could go on and on and on. Their success isn't by accident. They're very efficient. They are a team that plays really hard. In the Dome, I believe they're 5-1, so they defend home turf really well. Really good football team.
On Miami’s experience playing indoors: We split time inside and outside. There's nothing like playing and practicing on the grass. It's always better on the body, but we'll use the IPF. [The Carrier Dome] will be loud and we’re expecting a great college football atmosphere. All the amenities we use to prepare for those away trips, we'll use in the IPF, but we also have ways to do that outside.
On the impact of the new recruiting calendar: There's always last second flips tied into every signing day. I just don't know if they're really last second. It’s like cramming for a test. If you haven't been doing what you're supposed to do all along, it's probably not going to look exactly right.
Recruiting is a marathon. It is relentless, every single day, every second that you're not game-planning and working with your players. Earlier today, I said on the radio that if you can't identify and recruit, your value to a college football program is very little. I'm talking about everybody in the building, from your people in development, your people in recruiting, your people in academics, it's always going to be about the people. The identification process is even more important than the recruiting process. Because if you recruit your butt off and bring in all the wrong ones, you're going to be in worse shape than ever. So in other words, it never stops.
On his memories of the 1992 game against Syracuse (Cristobal started at RT): Loud, loud, loud. I remember getting to the team hotel and there was a contingent of fans that made it uncomfortable for us upon arrival. And I remember they had really good players. They had a really good defensive end. I remember not being able to hear and trying to look at the ball and trying to get off at the same time and block that absolute monster of a defensive end they had. And I remember Chris Gedney getting tackled at the three-yard line and time expiring. That's what I remember. Great game, great football team, physical.
On D’yoni Hill: He's good. Rotation-wise, I don't think there's anything to it. He's a really good player. He's going to play for us. You'll see him this week.
On injuries: We have complete clarity on Ryan Rodriguez. He's playing. And then we're right there with both Damari [Brown] and Elijah [Alston], and I think we'll have more clarity [later this week].
On the decision to squib kick: We didn't have success on one of our earlier kickoffs. We weren't quite sure that we were ready to kick it deep again and that we were airtight in how we were going to do that.
But then when we looked at it on the iPad, we felt like we could get there, and we did on the next kickoff. It was the exact same scheme. It was just about ball placement, with more physicality and more discipline by the safeties. We really crowded, almost overlapped the front line. If you do that, your safeties have to be on point. They have to be perfect. If not, the distribution of your tacklers and the leverages are off. All of a sudden, there's a giant hole and we didn't leverage the ball. In fact, we let it split and the contain guy wasn't physical enough and didn't set the edge well enough. All of a sudden, they went [six]. But we've done it before, not a ton. We have a couple different ways to get to it. We feel better about it now.
On Tyler Baron: He’s not banged up. That's just the way the coaches chose to do the rotation.
On Dylan Day: He's going to be a great player. He's really close to being in that rotation. He's right there. And we have confidence to play him now in the rotation, should his number be called. His play on special teams has been nothing short of spectacular. He's been a game changer. And over the years at Miami, we've all seen how great special teams players end up becoming great everydown players. He's on track to do that.
On the ability to hold back talented young players due to depth: Progress. We'd like to develop more depth in the secondary, and at all spots. But I do see a really bright future for our young guys. You saw Jordan Lyle really have a day, and Lofton's had his moments. By the end of this year, if we take care of business, we should have more freshman All-Americans in the last two years than just about anybody. And that would be a testament to recruiting the right guys, developing them the right way, and then granting them the opportunities that they earned. Dylan Day is a great example of that, and I do think that our depth is getting better.
On the defense: I don't think many defenses allowed seven points this past weekend. The first drive was certainly something that was not positive. We blew it..they’ve got to pass that off and the safety takes the post and the corner fluffs of. After that, the Pick Six turned things around.
The offense was sputtering a little bit, and all of a sudden, for nine successive drives, five of them were three and outs, two of them were four and outs, another one was a turnover, and then the last drive ended the game. But nine straight possessions without a score, three of those were on the plus side. That's really, really hard to do, and Wake Forest was averaging well over 20 points a game. Tremendous turnaround and communication, alignment and assignment. We leveraged the ball well, we communicated well, and lined up and played fast and free. Certainly a step towards what we want to be as defense.
On Syracuse’s offense: The running back [LeQuint Allen] is a really good player. He's a lot like who we faced last week. He's bigger, he's strong. Just one cut, make-you-miss-and-go guys. He does not go down easily. He's complemented by a very big offensive line. Really physical. We were just studying their interior right before coming in. They get some good knock-back, some good push at the line of scrimmage.
They lead the country in contested catches. In fact, three of their four wide receivers are the top three contested catch receivers in the country. It's not just a play design, it's really good players going up and high-pointing the ball and making tough catches with great body control.
But they'll get in loaded sets as well. They can get big in a hurry, get 12 personnel in there and get downhill in the running game behind some of their big offensive linemen. They play complementary football really well. They've shown the ability to to really flip the field with their punter, but also change the complexion of the game with their return game. They've got some really good returners. They use their better athletes on all the special teams units.
They get the ball out in space in the screen game really well. Obviously, they use Number 19 [Oronde Gadsen II]. Local guy that's a got a great history of playing high school football down here, family history as well (father was a starting WR for the Dolphins).
But they use cats in so many different ways, 11 personnel and 12 personnel. He's got great players beside him. Two [Trebor Pena] is a great player. 82's a great player, seven, five, I could go on and on and on. Their success isn't by accident. They're very efficient. They are a team that plays really hard. In the Dome, I believe they're 5-1, so they defend home turf really well. Really good football team.
On Miami’s experience playing indoors: We split time inside and outside. There's nothing like playing and practicing on the grass. It's always better on the body, but we'll use the IPF. [The Carrier Dome] will be loud and we’re expecting a great college football atmosphere. All the amenities we use to prepare for those away trips, we'll use in the IPF, but we also have ways to do that outside.
On the impact of the new recruiting calendar: There's always last second flips tied into every signing day. I just don't know if they're really last second. It’s like cramming for a test. If you haven't been doing what you're supposed to do all along, it's probably not going to look exactly right.
Recruiting is a marathon. It is relentless, every single day, every second that you're not game-planning and working with your players. Earlier today, I said on the radio that if you can't identify and recruit, your value to a college football program is very little. I'm talking about everybody in the building, from your people in development, your people in recruiting, your people in academics, it's always going to be about the people. The identification process is even more important than the recruiting process. Because if you recruit your butt off and bring in all the wrong ones, you're going to be in worse shape than ever. So in other words, it never stops.
On his memories of the 1992 game against Syracuse (Cristobal started at RT): Loud, loud, loud. I remember getting to the team hotel and there was a contingent of fans that made it uncomfortable for us upon arrival. And I remember they had really good players. They had a really good defensive end. I remember not being able to hear and trying to look at the ball and trying to get off at the same time and block that absolute monster of a defensive end they had. And I remember Chris Gedney getting tackled at the three-yard line and time expiring. That's what I remember. Great game, great football team, physical.
On D’yoni Hill: He's good. Rotation-wise, I don't think there's anything to it. He's a really good player. He's going to play for us. You'll see him this week.
On injuries: We have complete clarity on Ryan Rodriguez. He's playing. And then we're right there with both Damari [Brown] and Elijah [Alston], and I think we'll have more clarity [later this week].
On the decision to squib kick: We didn't have success on one of our earlier kickoffs. We weren't quite sure that we were ready to kick it deep again and that we were airtight in how we were going to do that.
But then when we looked at it on the iPad, we felt like we could get there, and we did on the next kickoff. It was the exact same scheme. It was just about ball placement, with more physicality and more discipline by the safeties. We really crowded, almost overlapped the front line. If you do that, your safeties have to be on point. They have to be perfect. If not, the distribution of your tacklers and the leverages are off. All of a sudden, there's a giant hole and we didn't leverage the ball. In fact, we let it split and the contain guy wasn't physical enough and didn't set the edge well enough. All of a sudden, they went [six]. But we've done it before, not a ton. We have a couple different ways to get to it. We feel better about it now.
On Tyler Baron: He’s not banged up. That's just the way the coaches chose to do the rotation.
On Dylan Day: He's going to be a great player. He's really close to being in that rotation. He's right there. And we have confidence to play him now in the rotation, should his number be called. His play on special teams has been nothing short of spectacular. He's been a game changer. And over the years at Miami, we've all seen how great special teams players end up becoming great everydown players. He's on track to do that.
On the ability to hold back talented young players due to depth: Progress. We'd like to develop more depth in the secondary, and at all spots. But I do see a really bright future for our young guys. You saw Jordan Lyle really have a day, and Lofton's had his moments. By the end of this year, if we take care of business, we should have more freshman All-Americans in the last two years than just about anybody. And that would be a testament to recruiting the right guys, developing them the right way, and then granting them the opportunities that they earned. Dylan Day is a great example of that, and I do think that our depth is getting better.
On the defense: I don't think many defenses allowed seven points this past weekend. The first drive was certainly something that was not positive. We blew it..they’ve got to pass that off and the safety takes the post and the corner fluffs of. After that, the Pick Six turned things around.
The offense was sputtering a little bit, and all of a sudden, for nine successive drives, five of them were three and outs, two of them were four and outs, another one was a turnover, and then the last drive ended the game. But nine straight possessions without a score, three of those were on the plus side. That's really, really hard to do, and Wake Forest was averaging well over 20 points a game. Tremendous turnaround and communication, alignment and assignment. We leveraged the ball well, we communicated well, and lined up and played fast and free. Certainly a step towards what we want to be as defense.
