MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Mario Cristobal wrapped up his postgame news conference after Miami’s three-touchdown victory over rival Florida State on Saturday night by pounding his fist on the dais.
It was his version of a mic drop on where the Hurricanes should be viewed in the pecking order of in-state programs. After all, this was the first time in 20 years that Miami beat Florida and Florida State in the same season.
“I think all recruits — in state and out of state — can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the trajectory of the other programs,” the 54-year-old former offensive lineman said, scowling.
You can certainly understand why Cristobal felt the need to flex. He had a house full of recruits at the stadium, and two years ago, Florida State crushed Miami on the same field, 45-3, as Cristobal was just starting his reconstruction of the roster.
Mario Cristobal: “All recruits, in-state, out of state, can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the other programs (in the state).”
— Clay Ferraro (@ClayWPLG) October 27, 2024
But is being champions of this state the flex it used to be? Not by a long shot.
Florida State is the second preseason AP top-10 team to start a season 1-7. The last one (Illinois) did it in 1954. As for Florida? Few are giving coach Billy Napier much of a chance to survive the season with the murderer’s row of opponents the Gators have lined up over the next month before they wrap up the season in Tallahassee. USF is 3-4, UCF is 3-5, FAU is 2-5 and FIU renamed its football stadium in honor of Pitbull.
You get the idea.
College football is not the game it used to be when Cristobal was blocking for Gino Torretta and Miami was on its way to its fourth national title in eight years in 1991. It’s not even the same game it was a few years ago when Cristobal led Oregon to back-to-back Pac-12 championships.
The transfer portal has changed it all. You can’t build superteams by simply stacking elite recruiting classes together year after year. You can microwave it.
The guy Cristobal coached against Saturday — Mike Norvell — proved that last year when he went 13-0 and won the ACC with a roster full of transfers, including quarterback Jordan Travis.
Is Miami 8-0 and ranked fifth in the country entering November if Cam Ward chooses to sign with Florida State instead? Probably not.
Elite transfer quarterbacks make their coaches look good. But you can say that about a lot of the top-ranked teams in college football. Would Washington have reached last year’s national title game without Michael Penix Jr.? Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame — four other teams ranked in the top eight — are led by transfer quarterbacks.
Cristobal deserves credit for being a dogged recruiter and for understanding the only way to build a winner is to surround your quarterback with as much talent as possible. That includes scheme and coaching. Norvell dropped the ball on all that after his latest collection of skill talent left.
Without an offense, Florida State wasn’t going to let Ward beat it by flinging the football all over the field, so the Seminoles dropped into coverage and challenged Miami to run.
The Canes did and demonstrated why they’re the best team in the state right now: Cristobal’s concerted effort to make his team bigger and more dominant on the offensive and defensive lines to win most nights.
It was the same story in the season opener against Florida, and the same story last year for Miami in a 27-20 loss in Tallahassee. The difference then was Travis was healthy and Miami started a true freshman who wasn’t ready at quarterback. You saw what happened Saturday when Norvell was the coach without the QB who was ready for the moment.
“We knew when we came here that we were going to get our teeth kicked in early,” Cristobal said. “I probably spoke to several people in this room about, ‘Man, wow, this is quite a monumental task. We’ve got to flip this thing. We’ve got to flip this roster.’ … And that’s painful, particularly when it comes to the trenches. I think the trenches tonight are a great indication of progress and the hard work by our entire organization, recruiting staff.
“I think it’s good for young coaches to not ever hesitate to take on rebuilds if they believe in it. Deal with all of the crap and nonsense for a little bit, but then start putting it together, start getting wins. We’re progressing, but we’re not anywhere near where we want to be yet.”
Florida State has plenty of reasons to worry about the state of its program. Norvell is the sixth-highest-paid coach in the college game with the third-highest buyout ($64 million). His list of successful homemade in-house recruits doesn’t look good right now, and Florida State’s 2025 recruiting class is barely hanging on to a top-50 ranking.
Miami, meanwhile, appears to be in good shape to swipe some big names on the trail in the weeks ahead and sign a third straight top-10 recruiting class as the program pushes to win its first ACC championship.
Does that mean The U is back?
I’ll answer that with this: Did going 13-0 last year prove FSU was back?
No program in college football will be back until the head coach, the NIL collective and the powers that be find a way to build a sustainable winner.
There are only a handful of those across the FBS right now.
But at this moment, Cristobal and Miami are the best bet in this state to get there.
(Photo: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
