Mario Cristobal on tight ends: Last year’s production “is not us and it’s not our offense”
There are only three practices left before the spring game, and players are starting to separate themselves. Mario Cristobal met with reporters to discuss the latest:
On the state of the team: Wrapping up practice number 11 and headed into 12 on Saturday. We will continue to do a lot of situational football and also work live tackling in a scrimmage setting. A lot of guys are starting to understand a little bit better what the standard is. Holding each other more accountable. Very competitive in most areas.
A couple guys dinged up, but nothing serious. We feel good about our health through spring and entering these last couple of days. Just looking forward to watch these guys compete more and more.
That's what it's all about. There is no holding back. No one's being coddled. We've got to go. We've got to practice. We've got to get better.
We've got to stay off the ground [in tackling]. Sometimes we get a little overaggressive, and that's on us as coaches. We've got to coach that better.
On the competition in the tight end room: Non-stop. The best part about that room is they push each other. They know they have talent. They're not resting on that. They're not expecting for them to magically get better. What you see is a group that is being pushed hard. I know Coach Woodiel really grinds on them. I spend a little bit of time with them in some of the running game stuff. They take a lot of pride and detail in technique and fundamentals.
Offensively, for a long time here at Miami, we've always been very productive at the tight end position. Last year was the first year in a while we took a step back. Well, that's not us and that's not our offense. Those guys are excited knowing that their involvement, their roles, their production and their impact is gonna continue to get bigger and bigger.
On Rueben Bain: He practiced today. He was full go. We try to get after him a little bit and challenge him, which is important. Obviously, he's a high-level player and he looked like himself.
On the QB room: Both Emory [Williams] and Reese [Poffenbarger] have really done a good job of staying on the heels of Cam [Ward]. Cam is obviously taking the ones reps and he deserves it. He's earned that and then both Emory and Reese are right after that.
You see a lot of really good things from Jacurri [Brown] and Judd Anderson and the limited reps he gets. You see a guy that's gonna be a really good player down the line. So it's a crowded room but a good room and a talented one. We haven't had that yet.
The most important thing is that they approach every day with a good attitude, and they're ready to compete. We'll see how it all shakes out at the end of spring ball.
On the difficulty of keeping all the QBs happy with a full room: I'd say it's less difficult than having it empty. I'd rather have it this way. Honestly, I think it's the best way for college football going forward anyways. You pack up each room with the highest level talent you can. Therefore, feelings, moodiness, playing time, wants and needs are all settled on the field.
It's very much a business-like approach when it comes to playing time. You certainly stay the course of tremendous mentorship and guidance, coaching, teaching, instructing. But you've got to put yourself in a position to help the team win. And to do so, you've got to make sure that every single room has enough talent and competition to come out with championship-caliber play at each position.
On Cam Ward: He's tough and smart, and he's really hungry. Those things for a quarterback are critical, not to mention that he just really knows football. He understands football and sees the field extremely well.
You talk about guys that see things in sequence, sequential quarterbacks versus spatial. The ones that can see it as they drop back, as they're on the run, as they're improvising. Guys like that, they have a special knack for improvising and extending plays.
He’s done so well in the drop back game, understanding pressures and how it's being blocked, where to go to with the football. Then the ball placement, the accuracy. And then the drive just to go in there after practice and spend more time every single day at getting better. A very driven human being that's very talented. That's always really hard to stop.
On TreVonte’ Citizen: He's in a battle. That running back room continues to get better, and we're going to push them really, really hard because they need to [be pushed], especially with a couple of guys down and out. TreVonte’ has improved steadily, and we're going to look for more improvement out of him.
On RayRay Joseph: He really stands out as a second-year guy. Ray Ray has added 15, 18 pounds of muscle. When we say second-year guy, it’s really the end of his first full year. You see the natural progression of a guy that's worked really hard and has talent and that wants to win and wants to be a great player. Awesome human being, awesome competitor, works hard in practice, competes, always a great attitude. Love him. He has a super future.
On Robby Washington: He's been nicked up, so he's been on and off. When he's been in there, he's shown that he can help this team win and can be a really good football player.
On Ny Carr: He's taken so many reps. His GPS numbers are through the roof, and he's a naturally explosive guy. He’s made a lot of plays, contested catches, sometimes just runs by guys, and sometimes just finds soft spots in zone coverage.
He has evolved. In high school, you saw a guy that was just faster than everybody else. He has taken that next step as a player to learn and understands how to beat certain coverages.
On JoJo Trader: JoJo has been thrown in there. So has Ny, so has Ray Ray. Robby, as well. They've all gotten reps with the ones at some point in time. We're trying to do that with most of the guys that we feel have a chance to help us. They have a chance to help themselves become a starter or push for starting reps, as well as help us win football games.
We've talked before how he's played at a high level and it shows. We throw him in there and he's gonna make his freshman mistakes. But the natural talent is very easy to see. He's gained some weight. He's gotten bigger. He's gotten stronger. You can expect a really, really good freshman player that's gonna contribute a lot and is giving everybody a run for their money. All those guys are.
We gotta keep ramping it up in that room. We have a really good quarterback room. So your wide receivers should be really excited. They also have to come with the mentality that we run the ball, too. You gotta get in there and block. Those guys, despite the fact that they're not huge guys, they've shown a willingness to throw their bodies around and get in there and be team players and block as well. So we're really fired up about those guys.
On Michael Redding being inducted into the Iron Arrow, the highest honor attained at the University of Miami: He's a high-academic guy, very accountable, responsible, team guy. Just doesn't do anything wrong.
It's been unfortunate for him the amount of injuries he has sustained throughout his career, but it's also a testament to him, his upbringing, and his DNA that no matter what he's been confronted with, he keeps going forward. He comes back from injury. He's had multiple issues with his shoulders. Doesn't matter. He keeps coming back. And he does all that while still getting straight A's and earning the right to be tapped [for the Iron Arrow] like he is. Tremendous young man.
