UM still has faith in ‘proven winner’ Cristobal

What does the UM administration think about Mario Cristobal’s disappointing first season?

Athletic director Dan Radakovich conveyed this assessment on Tuesday:

“It was a difficult season in terms of wins and losses, but Mario is a proven winner, and he has a clear vision for how to build a championship program at Miami. We are excited about the future of Hurricanes football.”

I also asked a UM official close to the president (not Radakovich), and here was the feedback I received, given on condition of anonymity:

“There is great disappointment in the record, but everyone is firmly behind Mario and the staff. He will be given a reasonable and fair time to turn it around. Mario has a lot of support here. Everyone understands he doesn’t have the talent [to win big].

“[UM president] Julio

Frenk is smart and patient. Dr. Frenk is not thinking, ‘What have these guys done’ [with regard to several of his top executives recommending the hiring of Cristobal last December]. There’s no fracture in the group. There’s uniform support.”

But that said, the official said the Canes should never lose to Middle Tennessee and Duke.

What’s a reasonable amount of time for Cristobal to turn it around? The official said it hasn’t been discussed but speculated that it would be at least three years.

“The buyout is enormous,” the source said. “But nobody has brought up a buyout, obviously. He’s got a lot of support here.”

Cristobal likely won’t be pressured by the administration to make coaching changes.

As for why UM gave Cristobal a 10-year contract (for $80 million) as opposed to say, a six-year contract, the official said: “I don’t know if he would have come for less than 10 years.”

Through the 5-7 debacle, Cristobal miraculously has held on to every player in UM’s top-10-ranked, 19player 2023 recruiting except one: quarterback Jaden Rashada, who flipped to Florida. Then he got four-star edge player Collins Acheampong to flip from Michigan to UM this week.

So how is Cristobal achieving this?

I asked Brett Goetz, who coaches the South Florida Express 7-on-7 team and met with Cristobal. Several Express players have gone elsewhere over the years, including Ohio State and Alabama, in large part because UM wasn’t winning and those players wanted to go to national powers.

“He gives them the best chance to turn the program around,’ Goetz said.

Goetz likes how Cristobal “meets with a lot of NFL coaches, takes the time to learn. I love the toughness part and cutting out all the [expletive] and the turnover chain. That stuff is a joke. When you’re not winning, stop dancing on the sideline when you’re down by three touchdowns when you get an interception.

“He talked about his [Oregon team’s] win at Ohio State last year. He’s so technical. They had to play them at noon Eastern time. He did a lot of research into sleeping patterns and when to make these guys go to bed, interesting stuff nobody would think about.”

Goetz said he emerged from his meeting with

Cristobal knowing “there’s no more BS. You can’t be late for practice. There’s accountability.”

Goetz cites three factors in Cristobal’s early recruiting success:

“First, NIL. I hear kids talking about that. Then, I think he’s been given tons of resources such as money for coaches. And I think Mario is the other reason; he has been around really good programs —including Alabama and building up Oregon — and he knows what it takes to win and knows what a winning roster looks like and what it takes to get it. His passion for the university rubs off on recruits, being there, and being a player there.

“And I can tell he learned a lot being around Nick Saban at Alabama. The guy is a worker, he’s determined. If they sign all the guys in 2023 that are committed, that’s great. And you need two or three of those classes together to build what he wants to build.”

UM flipped one player from Goetz’s 7-on-7 team — MiamI Edison receiver Nathaniel Joseph — and five-star cornerback Cormani McClain, who also plays for the Express, committed to the Hurricanes in October.

Cristobal’s biggest problem for 2023 is that most freshmen aren’t ready be major contributors immediately. So UM will need to hit big in the transfer market and add at least 10 high-impact players in the portal.

CHATTER

The Dolphins have a good situation going at outside linebacker, with two accomplished veterans (Bradley Chubb and Melvin Ingram), a rising young talent in Jaelan Phillips and a young veteran (Andrew Van Ginkel) who’s helping despite a reduced role.

Phillips’ 4.5 sacks rank only 51st in the league. But Phillips, since Week 6, ranks second in the league with 35 pressures. He’s eighth overall in quarterback pressures among edge defenders, with 45.

Van Ginkel’s playing time has diminished from 71 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps last season to 25 percent this season. But he’s finding ways to contribute, including his first career interception on Sunday.

The drop in playing time, initially the result of an August appendectomy but more a byproduct of Ingram’s addition, has come at an inauspicious time, with Van Ginkel due to become a free agent in March. “I got good film out there so I’m not too worried about it,” he said.

Tua Tagovailoa, who ranks first in the league in at least seven statistical categories, got married and had a child in recent months, coinciding with his on-field success. “It’s very unique how having a child impacts how you see things differently in life,” he said. “It’s like nothing that I’ve ever experienced. I thank my Heavenly Father up above that I got a boy first.” ...

Amazon analyst and former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick

told AP: “The stuff over the middle of the field — there isn’t a better passer in the league right now than Tua and what he’s done.”

One priority with Marlins position prospects is getting minor-league success to translate to the big leagues. Miguel Rojas

told me that some of them put too much pressure on themselves and don’t play “with the same freedom” they had in the minors, and so “they don’t feel comfortable in the majors. It’s not about talent. It’s about feeling comfortable in a big-league clubhouse.” That will be one of many challenges for new manager