The Miami Hurricanes have officially reached rock bottom under Mario Cristobal.
The first-year head coach spoke with reporters on Saturday after his team's 45-3 thrashing at the hands of longtime rival Florida State, a loss that dropped Miami to 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in the ACC. Cristobal went out of his way to address the sellout crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, apologizing to fans for the Hurricanes' ugly performance.
“They were awesome,” he said of the crowd, per CaneSport. “Place was electric to start off [the game]. I have to apologize to them – because that’s what we want. It’s what we want. It’s what we’re building to be and building to do. Trust me. No one feels this more than I do. I hate it for our people. I hate it for our fans. I hate it for our players.”
Miami entered 2022 with high expectations after hiring Cristobal—an offensive tackle for the Hurricanes in the late 1980s and early 1990s who grew up in South Beach—away from the Oregon Ducks last December. He signed a 10-year, $80 million contract to coach Miami, eliciting widespread hopes of the program's return to past glory after years of mediocrity.
But the Hurricanes have struggled en masse this season, with zero wins over top-25 teams and multiple blowout losses to unranked foes, including Middle Tennessee State.
The play of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke has been especially disappointing, with the preseason Heisman Trophy candidate throwing for 1,671 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 63.7% of his throws. Miami is averaging just 19.0 points per game on the season at large, good for 110th in the country.
Van Dyke's future in South Florida beyond this season, like many of the Hurricanes' current starters, could be in doubt. Miami has at least made inroads on the recruiting trail since Cristobal took over, hosting a plethora of top prospects for Saturday's game and currently sitting eighth in 247Sports' 2023 recruiting rankings.
“We’re in a building process. We’re laying a foundation and have to go to work,” Cristobal said. “It ain’t fun. Days like this are really painful. There is no excuse, no side-stepping it or sugarcoating it. That’s why I came here. We have to go to work. We have to do lots of it.”
Miami will try to get back to .500 next Saturday at Georgia Tech.
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