Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart and Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal played jokes on each other at the Steve Spurrier awards in Gainesville, Florida, on Monday night.
Bulldogs freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson was honored as the FWAA’s Defensive Freshman of the Year. Smart was not comfortable with Robinson sitting too close to Cristobal, who has enjoyed turning the commits to Miami from Georgia. As such, the Bulldogs head coach took a jab at Miami’s recruiting ways.
“Mario’s right behind him (Robinson) and if it had been up to him, he would have paid a lot more NIL money because it came down to us, too,” Smart said. “So I don’t like you being real close to Mario right now. You know what I’m saying? He’s still got another year left. Um, got to be careful around Mario. Sometimes they’ll take your players, if you know what I mean.”
Smart also called out the lack of conference championships Cristobal has won as compared to Spurrier at Duke.
“He’s like, you ought to start getting on some protein shakes. You’ve had too many carbs,” Smart said. “And I said, well you probably ought to spend some time with Steve Spurrier because he won more conference championships at Duke than you have in Miami.”
Cristobal has in total had won three conference championships, including back-to-back Pac-12 titles with Oregon, and the Sun Belt Conference in 2010 with the FIU Panthers football. He has yet to win a conference title with Miami, though. On the other hand, Spurrier has won seven conference titles, including the 1989Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship with Duke University and six Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships with the University of Florida in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000.
Miami HC Mario Cristobal Hits Right Back At Kirby Smart
After Kirby Smart was done with his monologue, Mario Cristobal got his chance to roast the Bulldogs coach as well. He took the example of Carson Beck and how he considers his best decision to leave Georgia and join Miami for his final season.
“It’s a great piece there to watch what a play like Carson Beck can do with great coaching,” Cristobal said.
Cristobal implied that Beck did well in his only season with Miami than his two other seasons with Georgia. Beck led the Canes to the national championship game this past offseason and has now entered the 2026 NFL draft.
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