In 2021, Miami football hired alumnus and two-time national champion Mario Cristobal to revive the program he called home decades earlier. It was a rough start to his Hurricanes head coaching tenure, defined by disappointment and mind-boggling decisions, as many fans called for his firing. Even when the team broke through in 2024, it still could not win the big game. That reputation followed Cristobal in 2025 after losses to unranked Louisville and SMU. He shed that label during the holiday season, however, and is now returning to the title game.
Miami continued its magical College Football Playoff run on Thursday, outlasting Ole Miss, 31-27, in what was an all-time great Fiesta Bowl. Cristobal is not satisfied, however. He knows the job is not finished.
Although they will have home-field advantage inside Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, the Hurricanes cannot allow themselves to get overconfident. Furthermore, the veteran HC knows his squad did not play its best against the Rebels.
“My f****** head is spinning,” he told Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger after the career-defining win. “I’m ready to go watch the film. We should have scored 10 more points.”
Miami stumbled at times, but Mario Cristobal watched his players compete like warriors
Miami quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception at the Ole Miss 14-yard line, kicker Carter Davis missed a 51-yard field goal attempt and the offense settled for three after mounting a 13-play opening drive, so the Hurricanes could have potentially earned a decisive victory. Even so, they racked up 459 total yards and more than doubled their opponent's time of possession en route to a momentous triumph inside Glendale, Arizona's State Farm Stadium.
Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed 22 times for 133 yards, wide receivers Keelan Marion and Malachi Toney each recorded massive touchdowns and Beck capped off a heroic drive by dashing into the end zone for the game-winning score. Mario Cristobal expressed great pride for the supreme determination his players showed in the CFP Semifinal, but he is getting right back to work.
The Hurricanes may not be able to survive missed opportunities versus a Big Ten powerhouse like Indiana or Oregon. Miami will have to clean things up on both sides of the ball if it is going to claim its first national championship in nearly a quarter century. Cristobal certainly wants his team to maintain the same intensity, however.
He has a week and a half to figure out how to complete this program resurgence.
