Well that didn’t take very long. Mario Cristobal has been the Head Football Coach at the University of Miami for just under 10 months and has only coached four actual games yet we’ve already made it to this point – a “come to Jesus" moment. What does that mean? In short, it’s a critical moment where one has to come to a realization or make a decision to change some critical aspect of what they’re doing. Every Hurricanes coach has approached this junction at varying degrees of their tenure. But how has Mario found himself here already?
Through 4 games the Canes find themselves at 2-2. The record itself isn’t the issue – it’s how they’ve arrived there. The first two games were wins, as expected against "lesser" opponents, but were then followed by a marquee matchup against Texas A&M in College Station. They would lose that game 9-17 but it was the offense’s inability to score that was the focus of conversation. The bright side of the situation was that they would be facing another "lesser" opponent the following week with a Bye week after that – two opportunities to get the offense clicking before conference play began.
Week 4 saw the Canes host the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. The Blue Raiders wasted no time in bombing Miami. Their offense was wildly successful as they had four plays going for 69 yards or more while racking up 45 points. The crowd at Hard Rock Stadium was embarrassed, flabbergasted, disgusted, irate, livid – I could go on but you get it. The defense deserves plenty of criticism but it’s the offense that’s receiving much of the vitriol from fans and national media. Tyler Van Dyke came into the season with high expectations including projections to be a first round draft pick but through four weeks he’s been a far cry what most thought he’d be and it got so bad against Middle Tennessee that he was actually benched! I mean, when you start a game with your first two passes being intercepted and one being returned for a touchdown, you’re headed down a rough path. TVD and the rest of the offense has been unable to truly gel and Saturday’s showing was deplorable.
Mario was hired to turn around a program that has underperformed and fallen short of expectations for the better part of 20 years. He came in with the reputation of being a disciplinarian and well-respected recruiter after turning around an Oregon program from sub-par seasons following Chip Kelly's departure. Offensively, he seems to prefer what some would consider an old-fashioned style - dominating run game that opens up play action and passing opportunities, especially to the Tight Ends. That is a drastic difference from what TVD and Miami ran the prior two seasons with Rhett Lashlee as the offensive coordinator. Those two years saw the Canes run a spread, up-tempo, RPO based offense. In doing so they were able to make many explosive plays and put up a lot points. According to people around the program, many players haven’t been overly excited about the new “run first” strategy that Mario and newly hired offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis, have installed. That lack of buy-in and questionable play-calling by the aforementioned Gattis has led to four consecutive, disjointed passing displays that is holding back the potential of the entire offense.
Thus, the "coming to Jesus". Hurricane coaches of recent have been considered player’s coaches, making changes and decisions inclusive of how the players wanted things to be. Coach Cristobal is not known to be such. So, what will he do? Will he make a critical change in his vision for what this offense will be? Or will he demand the players get on board and take away playing time for any who refuse to fully get in line? Each option could have very differing results and there possibly is no right answer. If changes are made it could alter what Mario truly wants to the offense, and by extension the team, to be long-term. Short-term success for long-term sacrifice. On the other hand, if the staff sticks to their guns it could result in more losses than wins this season which could have repercussions with the fanbase and recruits. Short-term sacrifice for long-term success.
Majority of individuals did not see this Miami undertaking as a rebuild for Mario. What many are being exposed to now are underlying cultural issues within the program of which are usually more crucial to success than the amount of talent on a team. The Canes are on a bye this weekend and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It won’t take long to see what path Mario and staff choose as they welcome the North Carolina Tar Heels in Miami on October 8th. I will be very keen to see how this plays out and, as a fan, I can only hope it’s for the best.
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