Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has lived up to his hype as a recruiter since moving from Oregon to his alma mater, but the Hurricanes still haven’t been great in terms of wins and losses. After bringing in a strong portal class, the expectations are again high for the Hurricanes.
What do we want to hear from Cristobal at ACC Media Days?
What Are 3 Things We Want to Hear From Mario Cristobal?
1) What is the Offense’s Identity?
Miami’s transfer portal class is impressive, but from a schematic standpoint, I have some questions. It starts with quarterback Cameron Ward, a transfer from Washinton State. Ward excels as a gunslinger but has seen his average depth of target tick down in each of his first four years in college.
Meanwhile, several of Miami’s top receivers excel underneath, which might not mesh well with Ward’s proclivity for pushing the ball down the field.
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The Hurricanes also brought in Damien Martinez as a bruising running back, but one who’s best suited for a more pro-style, downhill rushing system.
While the Hurricanes do use a lot of power rushing concepts, I have concerns about a guy with 15 career receptions joining an offense that had 40 receptions from running backs last season.
There’s talent all across the offense. But is there an identity?
2) What is the Role of the Transfer Portal at Miami?
Having watched Media Days across the country, this question is likely to come up during Cristobal’s time at the podium. Unlike many other coaches, though, Cristobal is more likely to give a unique answer.
The Hurricanes brought in 15 transfers this offseason, many of them highly-rated and many of whom will be expected to start at important positions. The Hurricanes will start transfers at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and at multiple spots along the defensive line and in the secondary.
There’s a contingent of college football fans who think teams cannot succeed by relying on the transfer portal despite the fact that several teams—including last year’s runners-up, Washington—have portrayed themselves as successful in recent seasons.
Miami has been one of the most successful teams in the portal under Cristobal, but is that out of luxury or necessity?
Going forward, I’d like to know if Miami plans to find a large portion of its starting lineup through the portal. Most coaches will give a standard answer, “We start in the high school ranks and fill in the gaps with the portal,” but Cristobal could give a surprisingly nuanced answer.
3) How Has Cristobal Changed This Offseason?
Look, this was the kindest way I could find to ask the question we all want to be answered: What fail safes are being put in place, so Cristobal doesn’t botch clock management going forward?
For context, in a shocking 23-20 loss to Georgia Tech last season, Cristobal called a running play when it was mathematically possible to kneel down and end the game. The Hurricanes fumbled and allowed a game-winning touchdown to the Yellow Jackets for Miami’s first loss of the season.
The Hurricanes won just three games the rest of the season, including an overtime victory against Clemson that overshadowed Cristobal’s ugly clock management at the end of regulation. In that game, the Hurricanes seemed to commit to neither running out the clock to get to overtime nor pushing the ball down the field to get into field goal range for a win. If not for some questionable overtime coaching on the Clemson side, the Hurricanes would have started ACC play 0-3.
Miami collapsed late against NC State and Louisville as well, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of Hurricane fans after a promising start to the season.
Cristobal will face more scrutiny than most for his late-game decision-making. I want to know what he’s doing to improve in those situations.
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