Mario Cristobal talks team: “Francis Mauigoa has become one of the best players in the country at any position.”
10 min read
The Canes face their toughest test of the season on Saturday as they travel to Tampa to play the USF Bulls. Mario Cristobal met with reporters to discuss the team’s progress:
Final thoughts from the Ball State game: First of all, I want to thank the fans for hanging in there during those delays. That's not the most comfortable thing, but they hung in there and provided a really good atmosphere for our guys. I know our guys really appreciate that.
Took care of business and got to play a lot of guys, which was important for our team to develop the other part of our roster that haven’t had much time. It’s critically important not only for guys to play, but to develop and to get quality reps against a good opponent and improve and give ourselves more confidence in playing more guys in critical situations. They preserved the shutout and continued to move the ball and score points.
We put that one to bed and quickly got on our opponent for the week. Tremendous opportunity against an excellent football team with a great coaching staff and lots of good players. Our players are fired up and looking forward to it.
On Francis Mauigoa being named Offensive Lineman of the Week: Our offensive line coach, Coach Mirabal, mentioned it today. Last year, Cici was a freshman All-American, but he was nowhere near the player that he is now. He has improved tremendously through an insane amount of time invested in strength and conditioning, in film watching, the way he practices.
He's taken more than a step. He's taken a couple of steps and it really has elevated his play to become one of the best players in the country at any position. On top of that, he's a great leader and a member of the Leadership Council. I can't say enough awesome things about him, and he's just scratching the surface.
On Jalen Rivers and Anez Cooper: They will be ready for this weekend’s game.
On the offensive line’s play: They've done good and solid in some spurts. Saturday, we weren’t generating a lot of yards on the ground early in the game. It's a little bit of everything as it relates to that.
I’m pleased with the way that they work, the way they get after it. We’ve got to continue to ride them because they're such an important part of our team. They are culture driven, hard working, just real deal guys, along with the defensive line and the trenches in general. They get after it and they drive our football team. I think they've done well and I know there's a lot more in the tank and they'll have the opportunities to prove that.
On players getting reps: It's modern-day college football with the expansion of seasons. You really need to develop every part of your roster. In a perfect world, you'd have 125 guys that are capable of helping out in some way, shape, or form. I could give two dozen examples of guys making plays that no one's really had a chance to hear from. A guy like Nick Kelly, who came on here as a walk-on, has been working his tail off for two years, has one of the best plays on special teams on kickoff coverage. No one heard about it, but for us, ultra-valuable. Guys like Elija Lofton getting out there. He's already played a bunch, but now he got in the end zone and got a taste of that. He's been doing that his whole life and now he did it at the college level. His role continues to expand.
It goes on and on and on. Armondo Blount, Justin Scott, Cole McConathy, all those young defensive linemen getting in there and getting a whole bunch of reps. It's invaluable. It was a big area of emphasis for our staff to develop our roster and get those young guys ready to play. They did, and they responded. They responded much better this week than the week before.
On staying humble with the #8 ranking: I don't think much has to be said there. They're well aware that the same people giving them praise and showering them with all the good stuff were the same ones throwing dirt on them when things were being built piece by piece.
We really pay very little attention to that. We acknowledge it. We're proud that we are being acknowledged, but it's so in the back of any thought as it relates to our progress, to our drive, to our determination. We just want to get to work. We just want to get better. We just want to go play football. We want to play the Miami Hurricane Standard, and we've got a lot of work to do to get there.
On USF: Their speed, their physicality, the intensity they play with, the way they get to the football, their ability to tackle, get guys on the ground in space, the tempo they play with on the other side of the ball, there's a lot to them that has made them successful. Tremendous amount of respect for their head coach and their coaching staff. I know them and have seen them work at other places and what they’ve been building at USF as well.
They’ve got a great football team and it doesn't take but three or four clips watching them play the University of Alabama for everybody to realize how good of a team that really is. The tape doesn't lie and our guys have a chance to see it. We're excited for a great challenge.
On Cam Ward not caring about individual milestones: We ironically talked about that today with the Leadership Council. The great ones are restless. They’re almost grouchy. They're never comfortable. They're uncomfortable in the right kind of way and they make people uncomfortable in the right kind of way to keep everybody on edge.
The guy's restless. If it doesn't have do with us winning and getting better, I don't think he has any interest in it, quite frankly. It's the right mentality. He's got this window to play college football. He came to Miami for a lot of reasons. One of them is winning and proving that he can help a program be a winner. The guy is laser focused.
On the tight ends: Coach Woodiel has done a great job with those guys. The tight end group has done a great job buying into a couple things. Number one, the weight room, because they're much bigger than they've been. And two, conditioning and speed work, because they're more explosive.
They were patient last year. That was tough. At Miami, we're so used to tight end production being at a high level. They bought in and they've reaped the rewards and the benefits of it early this season. I think it's a dynamic group. They're funny as all get out. They are as different personalities as you can find. They come in all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicities. They're almost a reflection of our city. And they love to play football. I mean, they love to play football. They're all about it.
That's another group that, in our opinion, is just scratching the surface, and we're going to demand a lot of them because they're capable of it.
On playing so many games in state: We like it. We really do. Now, we treat everybody independently. When we focus in on somebody, regardless of where they're at, we eliminate any narrative subplots. It's that opponent. It's the most important game that we have.
But obviously, the amount of energy that it brings out, and the alumni, the fan bases, there's a lot of passion behind it. It's good stuff, and we're just focused on getting better.
On the ability to get pressure with the front four: Obviously, it's helpful when you can do that because you have one extra in coverage. But as an offensive line, you want to settle in, call things out and give a direction to the protection. When Coach Guidry does what he does, it keeps people on edge, it keeps people guessing. You disguise coverages, you disguise which way you're rotating that secondary, it makes it difficult.
Besides the speed and the power of some of our guys up front, when you keep people guessing and maybe a little bit not as confident in some of the things they're doing, it comes together nicely. So far, we've had success. And then watching film, there's so many things we can improve on. We could be an unbelievable front, and I know Coach Taylor, Coach Salave’a, all these guys are working their tails off to make sure that we take that next step.
On self-scouting: This staff has a lot of experience. In the offseason, we clinic each other, we go on the road and spend time networking with some NFL teams and start drawing up, “Hey, this is what really hurts us. Let me show you what hurts you.” And then we just exchange information and assessments.
From a self-scouting standpoint, we self-scout each other like opponents so that we can point out the tells. Everything, every play, every format has a tell.
Coach Guidry really gets you ready. Our offensive line has seen so much that come game time, most of the time, we've seen some form or fashion of it. It's been really helpful and it's really difficult to block.
On kickoff strategy: The perfect kick is outside the hashes at the one, something like that. You’ve cut the field more than in half. You're playing on a third of the field. That's really hard to do. So, instead of taking a chance, [Borregales] is always doing everything possible to kick it out of the end zone.
Adarius Hayes has been playing lights out on kickoff. Bobby Washington has been playing lights out on kickoff. Cam Pruitt, all these these highly touted freshmen [are playing well]. When Miami was always good, you had Michael Barrow, Darren Smith, Jessie Armstead, Darryl Williams, all these guys just running down and splattering people.
Well, over time, these guys finally started understanding that playing well on special teams – angles, leveraging the football, getting guys on the ground, tackling, blocking – that's going to lead to better play on offense and defense. Those guys have really bought in, and they're doing a great job.
Dylan Day, what a spectacular game he had. A lot of freshmen are contributing on special teams. And it's not to preserve anybody. We really are playing our best guys on special teams everywhere. We want the DNA of our team to show in the way we play special teams.
On Wesley Bissainthe's roughing penalty: I think he was smart. I don’t think he hit him high. It was one of those bang-bang quick plays.
I thought he took a great angle with great pad level. They felt the crown of his helmet was a little bit high. I don't want to get myself in trouble. We don't want to, in any way shape or form, minimize the aggressiveness of our team. But we stress discipline. We don't play dirty. But we want to be physical. I wouldn't change anything about Wesley’s style. That guy plays football the way it's supposed to be played.
Final thoughts from the Ball State game: First of all, I want to thank the fans for hanging in there during those delays. That's not the most comfortable thing, but they hung in there and provided a really good atmosphere for our guys. I know our guys really appreciate that.
Took care of business and got to play a lot of guys, which was important for our team to develop the other part of our roster that haven’t had much time. It’s critically important not only for guys to play, but to develop and to get quality reps against a good opponent and improve and give ourselves more confidence in playing more guys in critical situations. They preserved the shutout and continued to move the ball and score points.
We put that one to bed and quickly got on our opponent for the week. Tremendous opportunity against an excellent football team with a great coaching staff and lots of good players. Our players are fired up and looking forward to it.
On Francis Mauigoa being named Offensive Lineman of the Week: Our offensive line coach, Coach Mirabal, mentioned it today. Last year, Cici was a freshman All-American, but he was nowhere near the player that he is now. He has improved tremendously through an insane amount of time invested in strength and conditioning, in film watching, the way he practices.
He's taken more than a step. He's taken a couple of steps and it really has elevated his play to become one of the best players in the country at any position. On top of that, he's a great leader and a member of the Leadership Council. I can't say enough awesome things about him, and he's just scratching the surface.
On Jalen Rivers and Anez Cooper: They will be ready for this weekend’s game.
On the offensive line’s play: They've done good and solid in some spurts. Saturday, we weren’t generating a lot of yards on the ground early in the game. It's a little bit of everything as it relates to that.
I’m pleased with the way that they work, the way they get after it. We’ve got to continue to ride them because they're such an important part of our team. They are culture driven, hard working, just real deal guys, along with the defensive line and the trenches in general. They get after it and they drive our football team. I think they've done well and I know there's a lot more in the tank and they'll have the opportunities to prove that.
On players getting reps: It's modern-day college football with the expansion of seasons. You really need to develop every part of your roster. In a perfect world, you'd have 125 guys that are capable of helping out in some way, shape, or form. I could give two dozen examples of guys making plays that no one's really had a chance to hear from. A guy like Nick Kelly, who came on here as a walk-on, has been working his tail off for two years, has one of the best plays on special teams on kickoff coverage. No one heard about it, but for us, ultra-valuable. Guys like Elija Lofton getting out there. He's already played a bunch, but now he got in the end zone and got a taste of that. He's been doing that his whole life and now he did it at the college level. His role continues to expand.
It goes on and on and on. Armondo Blount, Justin Scott, Cole McConathy, all those young defensive linemen getting in there and getting a whole bunch of reps. It's invaluable. It was a big area of emphasis for our staff to develop our roster and get those young guys ready to play. They did, and they responded. They responded much better this week than the week before.
On staying humble with the #8 ranking: I don't think much has to be said there. They're well aware that the same people giving them praise and showering them with all the good stuff were the same ones throwing dirt on them when things were being built piece by piece.
We really pay very little attention to that. We acknowledge it. We're proud that we are being acknowledged, but it's so in the back of any thought as it relates to our progress, to our drive, to our determination. We just want to get to work. We just want to get better. We just want to go play football. We want to play the Miami Hurricane Standard, and we've got a lot of work to do to get there.
On USF: Their speed, their physicality, the intensity they play with, the way they get to the football, their ability to tackle, get guys on the ground in space, the tempo they play with on the other side of the ball, there's a lot to them that has made them successful. Tremendous amount of respect for their head coach and their coaching staff. I know them and have seen them work at other places and what they’ve been building at USF as well.
They’ve got a great football team and it doesn't take but three or four clips watching them play the University of Alabama for everybody to realize how good of a team that really is. The tape doesn't lie and our guys have a chance to see it. We're excited for a great challenge.
On Cam Ward not caring about individual milestones: We ironically talked about that today with the Leadership Council. The great ones are restless. They’re almost grouchy. They're never comfortable. They're uncomfortable in the right kind of way and they make people uncomfortable in the right kind of way to keep everybody on edge.
The guy's restless. If it doesn't have do with us winning and getting better, I don't think he has any interest in it, quite frankly. It's the right mentality. He's got this window to play college football. He came to Miami for a lot of reasons. One of them is winning and proving that he can help a program be a winner. The guy is laser focused.
On the tight ends: Coach Woodiel has done a great job with those guys. The tight end group has done a great job buying into a couple things. Number one, the weight room, because they're much bigger than they've been. And two, conditioning and speed work, because they're more explosive.
They were patient last year. That was tough. At Miami, we're so used to tight end production being at a high level. They bought in and they've reaped the rewards and the benefits of it early this season. I think it's a dynamic group. They're funny as all get out. They are as different personalities as you can find. They come in all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicities. They're almost a reflection of our city. And they love to play football. I mean, they love to play football. They're all about it.
That's another group that, in our opinion, is just scratching the surface, and we're going to demand a lot of them because they're capable of it.
On playing so many games in state: We like it. We really do. Now, we treat everybody independently. When we focus in on somebody, regardless of where they're at, we eliminate any narrative subplots. It's that opponent. It's the most important game that we have.
But obviously, the amount of energy that it brings out, and the alumni, the fan bases, there's a lot of passion behind it. It's good stuff, and we're just focused on getting better.
On the ability to get pressure with the front four: Obviously, it's helpful when you can do that because you have one extra in coverage. But as an offensive line, you want to settle in, call things out and give a direction to the protection. When Coach Guidry does what he does, it keeps people on edge, it keeps people guessing. You disguise coverages, you disguise which way you're rotating that secondary, it makes it difficult.
Besides the speed and the power of some of our guys up front, when you keep people guessing and maybe a little bit not as confident in some of the things they're doing, it comes together nicely. So far, we've had success. And then watching film, there's so many things we can improve on. We could be an unbelievable front, and I know Coach Taylor, Coach Salave’a, all these guys are working their tails off to make sure that we take that next step.
On self-scouting: This staff has a lot of experience. In the offseason, we clinic each other, we go on the road and spend time networking with some NFL teams and start drawing up, “Hey, this is what really hurts us. Let me show you what hurts you.” And then we just exchange information and assessments.
From a self-scouting standpoint, we self-scout each other like opponents so that we can point out the tells. Everything, every play, every format has a tell.
Coach Guidry really gets you ready. Our offensive line has seen so much that come game time, most of the time, we've seen some form or fashion of it. It's been really helpful and it's really difficult to block.
On kickoff strategy: The perfect kick is outside the hashes at the one, something like that. You’ve cut the field more than in half. You're playing on a third of the field. That's really hard to do. So, instead of taking a chance, [Borregales] is always doing everything possible to kick it out of the end zone.
Adarius Hayes has been playing lights out on kickoff. Bobby Washington has been playing lights out on kickoff. Cam Pruitt, all these these highly touted freshmen [are playing well]. When Miami was always good, you had Michael Barrow, Darren Smith, Jessie Armstead, Darryl Williams, all these guys just running down and splattering people.
Well, over time, these guys finally started understanding that playing well on special teams – angles, leveraging the football, getting guys on the ground, tackling, blocking – that's going to lead to better play on offense and defense. Those guys have really bought in, and they're doing a great job.
Dylan Day, what a spectacular game he had. A lot of freshmen are contributing on special teams. And it's not to preserve anybody. We really are playing our best guys on special teams everywhere. We want the DNA of our team to show in the way we play special teams.
On Wesley Bissainthe's roughing penalty: I think he was smart. I don’t think he hit him high. It was one of those bang-bang quick plays.
I thought he took a great angle with great pad level. They felt the crown of his helmet was a little bit high. I don't want to get myself in trouble. We don't want to, in any way shape or form, minimize the aggressiveness of our team. But we stress discipline. We don't play dirty. But we want to be physical. I wouldn't change anything about Wesley’s style. That guy plays football the way it's supposed to be played.
