The Miami Hurricanes did not gather in front of the cameras for a College Football Playoff selection show watch party like some other teams did. The team was scattered for the announcement.
But after the news that Miami would play in its first-ever College Football Playoff game came out just before 12:30 p.m., players started filtering back into the football facility. The jubilation continued into Monday’s usual team meetings and activities.
“When I say we’re fired up, it might be the understatement of the year,” Mario Cristobal said Monday.
“(There was) a lot of anticipation, some guys wondering what was going to happen,” Cristobal added. “So we did see a lot of guys yesterday and right after the announcement, and you can imagine they were through the roof with excitement. And then of course, today, that type of opportunity just drives your excitement, your energy, your urgency to another level. And we saw that today. So we’ve been back to work and preparing and again, just ready to get back at it.”
The Hurricanes’ trip to the playoffs was bumpy, and losses to Louisville and SMU in the middle of the season nearly doomed it. But for the first time since the 2002 season, UM has a legitimate chance to compete for a championship. The moment was not lost on Cristobal.
“When that thing popped on the screen, it was — I don’t know — like an explosion of gratitude,” Cristobal said. “I don’t know if that makes sense. It just hits you, man. Another monster step for us. Another significant step for us. And it’s real. And to see the Miami logo, the U, beside the CFP logo, that hit strong. We had about — I don’t know — three minutes of some high fives and really just strong just energy and juice and (then) right the film work, getting ready for the opponent.”
A strange coincidence around Sunday’s announcement: It was four years to the day after Miami introduced Cristobal as the program’s head coach. Before Cristobal made his weekly appearance on WQAM’s The Joe Rose Show on Monday morning, the station played the opening of Cristobal’s introductory press conference from 2021.
“It’s always been Miami for me. I mean, come on,” said Cristobal, who won two national titles as a UM player. “I’ll never, can never, will never deny that. It’s always been that. … But when you’re in the business and you’re coaching and, we’re out west and we had just … won the conference two out of three times, finished No. 5 in the country the previous year. And then you look at the amount of work that has to be done, that’s what you have to weigh because it’s not going to be pretty, especially early. There’s going to be some unbelievably painful moments that no one can understand and no one can ever fathom.
“But I don’t care about that. So that’s never affected me. It’s not part of the process, noise and B.S. That’s not it. It’s all about the people. And I always have believed, loved and trusted the people, the community of everything University of Miami. And as long as we brought in the right people, there was nothing to stop it. And we’re progressing.
“We’ve reached now another step, but again, there’s a lot of work to do and a lot more to accomplish. But it certainly was a rewarding day.”
