- 8 hours ago
Mario Cristobal joins highlighting the growth and development of his roster. He gives high praise to Malachi Toney for his work ethic and maturity. Cristobal dives into the challenges of developing talent and how difficult it can be to project what players will become at the next level. He also speaks highly of draft prospects Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor, while emphasizing that Miami is no longer a “sleeping giant” but a program that has fully reawakened.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Toyota of Hollywood on 441.
00:01We tune in Hollywood and Sheridan, toyotafollywood.com.
00:03All right.
00:04Thank you, Woody.
00:05We are live out here at Carol Sofer Indoor Practice Facility.
00:10Practice number 10 of 15 coming up, a later spring football season,
00:15because this is what happens when you go to the finals in the playoffs
00:20and play an extra month plus.
00:21Mario Cristobal, the head coach of the Miami Hurricane,
00:24joins us this morning.
00:25And, boy, it is amazing what a year a difference makes in everything.
00:32The energy level and the buzz around the recruiting thing from what just took
00:37place, some of the commitments you have, everybody's already talking.
00:41I think you're okay.
00:43You can at least nod at me that the 2027 class is looking really good.
00:49And then on top of that, just people want to come see it.
00:53You've had a lot of guys come here, want to see the recruiting thing.
00:57And then you've had your true freshmen have had a chance to get a lot of work.
01:02And this spring's been great for them, especially because some other guys have
01:06been injured.
01:07So how good is your freshman class for what you've seen through the first nine
01:11practices?
01:12Well, I mean, I wish we had nine, 10, 20 more.
01:16But so far, you know, they look the part.
01:19And we certainly did not miss on athletic ability, on speed, power, all those tangible
01:26things.
01:26And what we have to find out is who has the intangibles, who legitimately has the
01:31drive, the determination to do what it takes to play at this level.
01:34And that's a daily commitment.
01:35So we are testing them every single day, every imaginable situational football
01:41scenario, anything involving conditioning, right, anything involving competition to try
01:47to get the best out of them or the worst out of them and find out who's made of the
01:50right stuff or who has to be brought along and developed.
01:54I always wonder, you're coming off just an unbelievable season, right down to the last
01:59drive of the championship game.
02:01So there's a buzz.
02:03Is it hard to get your team refocused on this year?
02:06You got a lot of new face, but you got a lot of guys that were here for last year
02:10to
02:10to take it now.
02:12Hey, we got one step left that we didn't reach.
02:14Yeah, there's no we don't kind of meddle with people that need to be motivated, right?
02:20I mean, if if you need to get motivated to come into this place and train and get
02:25prepared to be the best player you can be for this team, especially with the progress
02:29we've made, then we've made a mistake and got the wrong coach or the wrong player.
02:32So that's not an issue.
02:34But also, you know what?
02:35It's part of the regiment, the structure and part of the culture that the players have
02:38bought into and that they've enhanced, right?
02:40That they have driven.
02:42So now, you know, as we head more into, you know, this the third phase, right, you have
02:46the winter conditioning program, then you have spring football, so you're going to be
02:48in the summer.
02:49Now they got to start taking it over.
02:51So the Mark Fletchers, the Motore's, those guys got to now step up and be that guy.
02:56Hey, so Darian Minsall.
02:58Now you've seen him for a couple of weeks, your quarterback.
03:01Well, what have you seen?
03:03You had a couple of pretty good transfer portal guys here in the last few years.
03:06How good's he been?
03:08He's been excellent in every facet.
03:11I mean, he's a leader.
03:12He's tough.
03:13He plays the game like the way it's supposed to be played.
03:16He attacks his processes of meetings, of body prep, of mental prep.
03:22He's a really good teammate, very engaged with the guys around him.
03:26He's very quickly, like the other guys we've had here, he's been able to galvanize and,
03:30you know, kind of attract, you know, the guys to be around them.
03:34And I think what you're, I think what you'll see today will get you really, really fired
03:39up about what's going on here.
03:40Yeah.
03:41And speaking of that, last time we were here, I did notice everybody asked, Hey, what'd
03:46you see out there?
03:47I saw the speed team speed at the wide receiver position guys catching takeoffs and, and some
03:52great throws by all your quarterbacks, but you feel better about the receiver room.
03:57You got a couple of thousand yard guys coming, which I don't know if I've ever said that
04:01at UM, but also what you've added to this team.
04:05Yeah, we do.
04:06I mean, we, uh, talented guys, fast guys, you know, the difference last year for us was
04:11the dog mentality and the physicality of those guys, because they were just involved as much
04:16in the run game as they were in the passing game.
04:18And that was the difference for our team.
04:19And then on the, you know, in the, uh, in the secondary with Keontae Scott, Jacoby Thomas,
04:24all those guys, they, they kind of, they set the tone, right?
04:27So the importance of having these guys be very physical and be involved in the run game and
04:33be involved in all the perimeter blocking drills that come with what we do offensively
04:37is just as critical as how fast they run, how high they can jump and catch the ball because
04:42we're balanced, right?
04:44And to be able to let those horses in the backfield to run well, right, they've got
04:48to do their job to open up the passing game for us.
04:50Um, then on top of that, you lose four starters at, uh, on the offensive line.
04:56Uh, I know Jackson Cantwell's here.
04:58One of the top tackles in the country, by the way, before we get to everything, Cantwell,
05:03you think you left tackle, right tackle, or if you, if you guys not, you haven't decided
05:06at this time of year, we cross train everybody, everybody.
05:08Yeah.
05:09They're all getting reps all over the place.
05:11So, and they need that.
05:11And for the team, it's the best thing down the stretch.
05:14And I think you saw it last year.
05:15We were to plug and play guys in different spots on that line.
05:18So, uh, I, you know, go around and ask everybody, Hey, how you got, you lost a lot of guys
05:23that
05:23going to be playing Sundays in the NFL next year.
05:26And they're like, Oh no, we're fine.
05:28We got a lot of good young count.
05:29You feel that way.
05:30We feel like we have an opportunity every single year here to continue to progress.
05:34Yeah, we do.
05:34And I don't like to over praise guys at this time of year, cause there's a lot to accomplish.
05:39You know, I last year at this time, we looked okay, but also knew that we were going to have
05:43guys recover right from some off season issues, uh, or from some in season issues that get
05:48handled in the off season.
05:49Um, and that you're going to have to continue to put it together all the way through the
05:52summer.
05:53This year, there is no second portal window.
05:55This year you have what you have.
05:57That's right.
05:58So we look more advanced.
06:00We feel like we, you know, we, we got the guys that we needed to, we signed the approximately
06:0441, 42 guys, including a couple of specialists.
06:07So we feel really good about where we're at right now, but I don't, I don't overpraise.
06:12I'll let you be the judge of that.
06:14And just whatever you see, if it's positive, don't, don't praise anybody, man, just be tough
06:18on them and make them hungrier.
06:19Let me coming out of spring, you got a pretty good idea or is it still open competition
06:24and what best when you get back to summer camp and the games are, of course, you're going
06:28to start playing games.
06:29You got a pretty good idea coming out of spring where everybody's going to fit in.
06:33Well, I mean, this is what we do.
06:35We, we talk as a staff, say, okay, this is what we know we could be good at.
06:38We have shown that in spring.
06:40We showed it during the season.
06:41These are things that we show potential to be really, really good at.
06:45And then these are things we don't do really well and we got to fix them or we got to
06:48eliminate
06:48it from the scheme and not put our players in that position.
06:51That's what we do now.
06:52Now, that being said, this time of year, I mean, you think of April all the way to August,
06:56that is a massive amount of time for guys to develop both physically, mentally and learning
07:01what we do.
07:02So you don't count anybody out.
07:03Everything will be settled at the end of the day, by the end of fall camp.
07:07But this is a huge step in that direction.
07:10How we finish spring is how we're going to start fall camp.
07:13So there's a lot that goes into this.
07:15Not to talk about, I know you got a lot of guys, a lot of really talented young guys.
07:19We're always curious when a, when a freshman comes right where he should still be in high
07:23school and they come in early and get ready.
07:24JJ Dunnigan's a guy everybody's been talking about.
07:27A lot's been said about him, a safety out of Kansas.
07:31So how good is he?
07:33Well, I mean, we're about to find out today, right?
07:36You'll get a chance to see him out there.
07:37He just a long, fast, physical, and most importantly, mature guy.
07:44He has all the traits of a high level guy, but the way he approaches the game and his
07:48dailies, different level.
07:50A lot like, you know, we talked about Malachi Tony, how nothing's going to get in the way.
07:54You know what I mean?
07:55Like he couldn't care less about all the noise and the fluff and all the, you know, the bells
08:00and whistles.
08:00You don't give a crap about that.
08:02That guy wants to do ball and kick people's butts.
08:04And that's what he does.
08:05And he's on a, he's off to a very, very good start.
08:08And we're going to keep pushing the envelope with him and get him out there.
08:10Uh, Justin Scott, um, third year now, five-star guy, uh, out of what Chicago area.
08:16Let me ask you about how he looks and everybody's talking about him taking the next jump.
08:21We saw a little bit of it last year.
08:23He's obviously got a bigger role on the defensive line.
08:25No, you know what?
08:26In the second half of the season, he was a full-time starter and you saw the ability
08:30start to come out.
08:31And now you're seeing the athleticism and strength and conditioning starting to take its effect.
08:36Like he can run like the wind.
08:38He was a great basketball player.
08:39Well, let me not say that.
08:40He'll be bragging about it all day, but he was a decent basketball player and he could
08:44run for a big man, never on the ground in high school tape, which is something we always
08:47look for, right?
08:48If a guy has a balance of body control, he's not going to end up on the ground.
08:51And he was one of those guys.
08:53He's taken another really big step here in the spring.
08:56We expect a massive year out of him.
08:59All right.
09:00And, uh, I got to ask you, we got draft in two weeks and, uh, you guys are going to
09:03be
09:04a big story.
09:04I'm guessing you're going to the, you're going to be at the draft this year.
09:08Yeah, absolutely.
09:08So it's, I know it's big for you, potentially three guys going into first round.
09:13Um, all we do on talk radio around the country and all the TV shows and, and talk a lot.
09:18How many shows are there around the country, by the way?
09:20Oh my God.
09:21Uh, well, every NFL, there's only one Joe Rose show.
09:24Like that's only one.
09:25And then there's everybody else.
09:27There's one.
09:28But it is funny.
09:28Like I have to do shows and they want to talk, uh, about Reuben Bain and Akeem Mesidor.
09:35And, and you and I had talked about this before.
09:38I know Jason Taylor made it real clear how he feels about all the combine and, and the
09:43pro days and everything else.
09:44Um, you saw him up close, uh, whether it's the arms or the speed or the age or the 40,
09:52uh, and they played against great competition here in practice, probably a lot better in
09:57some cases than some of the guys they played in games.
09:59Right.
10:00Um, so I'm just curious as you hear all this stuff and stuff gets back to you, especially
10:05about those two guys and they might drop a little bit because of these things.
10:10What do you say to that?
10:11Well, I mean, let's call it what it is, man.
10:13All these, uh, you know, at this time of year, it's a, it's about the bullshit narratives,
10:17right?
10:17Yeah.
10:17I mean, these doors are open every single day throughout the course of the year for the
10:21NFL scouts coming and watch our guys.
10:23And they have loved these guys from the beginning.
10:26And you know why they're out here early.
10:28They don't miss practice.
10:29They slug it out every single day in practice.
10:31They seek out Francis Minoa and Markel Bell and Brock Amar and Inez Cooper and Oakland
10:37Lula.
10:37And they go against them relentlessly every single day and every major offensive line
10:43prospect that they went against, they annihilated.
10:47Okay.
10:47They didn't do well against, they annihilated.
10:49So now that being said, you know, every single day I do field calls from the NFL and all are
10:55completely all in on them.
10:58All right.
10:58So I, in terms of like chatter on social, I don't know what that is.
11:02I don't know if that's posturing by different teams.
11:04I don't know the NFL.
11:04It's not my game, but I know that these, everyone that's come through these doors and has gone
11:09to our games and watch them has flat out said they're the two most dominant players at that
11:13position in the country.
11:14Yeah.
11:15Work ethic, their moves.
11:19The other part that everybody talks about getting to the quarterback, which they obviously both
11:24can do.
11:24And I've seen the highlights from all the playoff.
11:26All you have to do is watch the four playoff games.
11:28You can see it.
11:28But against the run, which is, you know, they unravel people.
11:32I mean, they, they set edges.
11:34They knock people back.
11:35They box your spill counter.
11:37I mean, when people finished playing us last year and there's a lot of short necks, you
11:41know, because they just knock people.
11:43A lot of Advil and ice bags being handed out.
11:45You know what?
11:46And there's zero drama to these guys.
11:49No BS, no entourages, right?
11:52None of that mess, man.
11:54Okay.
11:54You're looking at two dudes that live in the facility and that can't get enough.
11:58So anything like that's a contrary to them being elite is laughable on this side.
12:03So I'm going to continue to be their biggest advocates and smash any bull that gets out
12:08there about that.
12:10You feeling added pressure after what you guys just did, just a great run from what you
12:15did.
12:16And it clearly at the end, and I know the UM way and you were here for it to see
12:20what
12:20it looks like at its best.
12:22Some of the best teams in the history of college football.
12:25You ever feel any more like, okay, you did that.
12:28Now you have to go to that final step.
12:30Do you ever feel that at all?
12:32I've never operated under the concept of that word pressure.
12:35Just like the expectations for myself for this program are beyond what anything or anyone
12:40outside can place.
12:42Does that make sense?
12:43Yeah.
12:43You know, and for us, it's like, uh, the awakening Miami has slugged around for 25 years, slugged
12:49around like irrelevant.
12:51You know what?
12:52All of a sudden, whoa, it's Miami's it's viewed very differently.
12:56And I think everyone has to appreciate that because that's really hard to get to, to come
13:00out of that hole, you know?
13:01And we feel like we're just getting started.
13:03So this is a time to focus on momentum, to focus on process on this side.
13:08It's always going to be positive anger, man.
13:10You know, we're, if we don't win every single game, you're always going to be pissed, right?
13:13There's very few guys that are always happy in this profession, but where it's, it's the
13:17right type of anger.
13:18It's, it's, it's all focused and directed.
13:21It's given a direction where it could be constructive and we can get better.
13:24And that's all we're doing.
13:25I always, uh, it's an interesting one.
13:27It's a lot of talk about transfer portal recently.
13:29We've, we've all talked a bunch about it.
13:31You've been able to get a lot of, one of your big things is you've been able to do well
13:36in
13:36that transfer portal and get guys to buy in to being team guys, which doesn't always
13:41work in basketball.
13:43Doesn't work in football in certain places.
13:45Is there some schools without saying their names that recruit against you that have
13:48just whiffed on the transfer portal?
13:50And I'm not saying where they are in the state of Florida, anything else, but I have no pity
13:54for them.
13:54No, just finding those right guys.
13:58How, how hard it, you figured it out pretty well.
14:01I mean, it's the most imperfect science in the world, man.
14:04Artijo used to say that all the time, like projecting right players and what they're going
14:08to be in a couple.
14:09It's just because you never know what's going to happen in their lives and their mind and their
14:12career and their health.
14:14You never know, but we do do so much research.
14:17I mean, we are dug in there all the way and we pull up every ounce of information we can
14:21and then take our best shot at what we feel is best for Miami, you know?
14:26And so far it's, uh, it's proven to work out at a really high level.
14:29Well, listen, I, I, I got to keep going.
14:31I'm having, I got you.
14:33I got coach going here.
14:34Pretty good.
14:35Damon Wilson.
14:36Um, how good is he?
14:38Creature.
14:40Yeah.
14:41He, I, everybody said his engine just never slows down.
14:45Well, I mean, I, the guys that really, I mean, Armando Bond has had an incredible, and I
14:49mean, he looks like a completely different human being.
14:51It looks like Hulk Hogan, man.
14:52He's 275 pounds now and he's ripping off the edge.
14:55And remember, he is supposed to be a true sophomore right now.
14:59Remember that.
14:59Yeah.
14:59He's a reclass out of, in a trench position, which is different than, right?
15:03Than the skill guys.
15:04But you look at Marquise Lightfoot has now gained 12 pounds and is on his way to gaining
15:0912 more.
15:10And he's had a massive, an awesome spring.
15:12And we mentioned Damon as well, but behind that, you know, third Scroggins is another guy
15:17that has really popped and made some big plays down the stretch, particularly in the Texas
15:21A&M game and all those young guys and Pickett and Charles and, you know, the, uh, there's
15:26just a bunch of really good players that, that have a chance to be really good.
15:29Yeah.
15:29This is, uh, it's going to be a lot of fun.
15:31Hey man, can't thank you enough.
15:33Thanks for, uh, for having us and, uh, spending some extra time.
15:36I'm willing to along with you.
15:37Cause you know, you're good, bro.
15:38I was getting a good vibe.
15:39So I said, what the hell, let's just keep rolling on this thing.
15:42But you're all set for today.
15:43I mean, you know, whether you want to jump in the drills, if you want to help out a coach,
15:46you want to, I mean, there's the old line stuff over there.
15:48You got enough people out here.
15:50I just kind of, can I act like I'm an assistant GM or something up here?
15:54Why don't you show Malachi how to run his routes correctly?
15:56Would you please jump out there and show him?
15:58I can tell you, I never saw four hours early getting to a, getting to the facility to catch
16:03footballs.
16:04Does this really go on every day?
16:05It does every day.
16:06That's what he is.
16:07Yeah.
16:07And it doesn't, uh, it seems as time goes on, he, uh, look, you know what you're going
16:11to see today?
16:12You're going to see a, a stronger and a faster version of Malachi Tony.
16:16And I wish you could see the, the intricate details of his film study, like him watching
16:21those NFL routes and learning how to beat, you know, trail coverage against or against
16:27or on a crossing route, right?
16:28Where you're playing both against a nickel and a safety trying to come down.
16:32And yeah.
16:32So he, everything he does is to try to annihilate an opponent, those inside out routes where
16:38he starts inside and goes the other way.
16:40And if you don't run with it, he is going to run across and get about three yards of
16:44separation.
16:45A lot of flexibility in those options.
16:48I mean, he can go anywhere on those and the way it's structured, we're not all given that,
16:51uh, that ability to go a different direction that quick.
16:54You didn't have that option.
16:56Unless I would have blown out my knees and ankles at the same time would have been hard.
16:59Hey coach.
17:00Thank you so much.
17:01Thanks for having me guys.
17:02Mario Cristobal here, uh, live with us this morning.
17:05Uh, talk.
Comments