A national 247Sports article lists Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal among 15 coaches with the most to prove next season. Why?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 I think this is totally fair that 24/7 Sports, the national site, gave 15 Power Conference
00:08 head coaches who have the most approved this year.
00:12 And Mario Cristobal makes the list.
00:14 And I don't take that as an insult to Cristobal.
00:16 I actually take it as a compliment because he is, from a recruiting standpoint and a
00:21 roster building standpoint, he is overachieving compared to his results on the field.
00:27 And that brings expectations, right?
00:29 So here's what they write about Mario Cristobal.
00:32 He owns a losing record in two seasons as the head coach at Miami, going 12-13 overall
00:36 with a bowl appearance in 2023.
00:39 An embarrassing bowl appearance.
00:40 Yep.
00:41 The Hurricanes are in position, they say, to potentially make a big jump in 2024 with
00:45 transfer quarterback Cam Ward taking the reins of the offense.
00:48 Miami is yet to make any of the weekly college football playoff rankings under Cristobal.
00:53 Still, the Hurricanes are projected to be among the favorites in the ACC alongside Clemson
00:59 and Florida State.
01:00 Cristobal has proven success in recruiting, they say, and it is time to translate to wins
01:05 on the field.
01:06 I couldn't agree more, Bruce, especially when out of the three schedules that Cristobal
01:12 has played, you know, including the one that's coming up this year, this looks on paper like
01:16 the most manageable of the three schedules so far.
01:20 I believe Miami now has the best quarterback that Cristobal has had, you know, during his
01:25 brief time at Miami.
01:26 No excuse not to take a big jump.
01:29 All true.
01:30 Let me just take a wild guess, though.
01:31 The Florida Gator coach is on that list.
01:33 Yes.
01:34 And you know what?
01:35 When I was reading through the list, I thought they weren't going to put him in there and
01:39 I was like, "Where's G5?"
01:41 No, they did.
01:42 He's near.
01:43 I'll give you the other coaches that make the list are Deion Sanders, which is totally
01:47 because listen, it was all smoke and mirrors with Deion last year.
01:50 He was like America's sweetheart and then the team didn't really do anything.
01:54 So he's actually got to win more games this year.
01:57 Sonny Dykes at TCU, Dave Aranda at Baylor, Pat Narduzzi at Pitt.
02:01 They had an awful year last year.
02:03 Mack Brown at UNC.
02:04 I kind of feel like UNC hasn't really underachieved during his time, but you know, Dabo Sweeney
02:09 at Clemson.
02:10 They've got to become a national power again.
02:13 Shane Beamer at South Carolina, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, Sam Pittman at Arkansas, Billy
02:17 Napier at Florida, Jonathan Smith, Michigan State, Lincoln Riley, USC, Sharon Moore, Michigan,
02:24 and Ryan Day at Ohio State.
02:26 I think that's a pretty good list.
02:27 I think that they, you know, they covered everybody I think that needs to be covered
02:30 in there.
02:31 Why did they put Mississippi on that list?
02:33 Didn't they, they were like 10 or 11 wins last year, weren't they?
02:35 Yeah, but the thing is, like, I feel like with Kiffin, they've been on the cusp of
02:42 making the playoff and now that it's a 12-teamer, I think they need to get in.
02:46 Like I think for, and honestly for Ole Miss, the expectation, it's a 12-team deal now,
02:51 Bruce.
02:52 If they don't make top 12, I think you look at that as a disappointing season for Ole
02:56 Miss.
02:57 I think that's why he's in there.
02:58 Well, it could be, but I don't know.
02:59 I just don't know if he's in the hot seat at all.
03:01 Yeah.
03:02 At all.
03:03 I don't know.
03:04 Look, he's still playing, they're playing Bama, they got Georgia, they got, they play
03:06 teams that are pretty damn good.
03:08 Yeah.
03:09 So, it's hard to say.
03:10 The SEC is tough.
03:13 If this was last year, you would have had Jimbo on the list, but he's gone.
03:17 So let me, let me ask you about.
03:18 What do you think about Miami?
03:19 You mentioned it.
03:20 They could get into the playoffs.
03:24 So yeah, Miami, so the teams that are technically favored are Florida State.
03:31 Obviously there's a lot of new pieces there.
03:33 Clemson, who had a better year than people realized last year.
03:38 Miami did beat them last year, which was nice, finally.
03:41 And Miami, Miami, Clemson, Florida State are the three favorites.
03:43 I think though, there's some teams in there that don't get enough respect, Bruce, because
03:48 I definitely, I respect Louisville.
03:50 Miami's got them on the road on their scale.
03:52 I think Louisville is probably a little bit underrated and they did make the ACC playoff
03:57 championship game last year, despite awful quarterback play.
04:02 And I also think, I think North Carolina State probably a little underrated.
04:05 I wonder about North Carolina.
04:08 Obviously they're losing their star quarterback, Drake May, to the NFL, but I wonder how they're
04:12 going to be.
04:13 And the receiver who came in the game, like in the last second, the Walker kid who had
04:18 three touchdowns.
04:19 Yeah, Tess Walker.
04:20 I remember that morning, you know, for some BS reasons.
04:24 And you know, Louisville has got some of our former players.
04:27 Yes, absolutely.
04:28 Don Chaney being a recent one.
04:30 And the tight end too.
04:31 Didn't do anything here.
04:33 Skinner, yeah.
04:34 Yeah.
04:35 So, but yeah, look, you could say it's an easier schedule.
04:39 It means nothing to me because look at the games we've played in the last couple of years.
04:44 Again, I'll repeat this and I'll sound like Mr. Negative and I'm sure I'll get comments.
04:48 I'm not sold on Mario and the sidelines.
04:50 I'm sorry.