Miami made a big splash this week when it hired Mario Cristobal away from Oregon, and the South Florida native figures to be a perfect fit with the Hurricanes. In addition to Cristobal’s success with the Ducks, he was previously a highly regarded assistant coach at Alabama under coach Nick Saban. This week, Saban praised his former offensive line coach and praised Cristobal’s work ethic among other traits.
“Mario did a great job for us at Alabama and was a fantastic head coach at Oregon,” Saban said, via David Lake of InsideTheU. “I know he is excited to return him to Miami and lead his alma mater. Mario has a lot of enthusiasm for the game and is a very good teacher. He is an outstanding recruiter who works tirelessly at his craft. His players love to play for him and he does a great job of putting them in situations to be successful. Mario has a wonderful family and we are so very happy for him to have this opportunity at Miami.”
One of Cristobal’s top priorities right away will be rebuilding Miami’s presence on the South Florida recruiting scene. Although former coach Manny Diaz had some success in-state, Cristobal proved himself as an elite recruiter at Oregon and should be even better at Miami thanks to his deep ties throughout the Sunshine State and specifically in the Miami area. Cristobal also previously served as head coach at FIU in Miami.
