By Scott Salomon
Miami will face Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm EST, in a battle featuring two coaches that need to win to prove to their respective fanbases that they are worthy of the big contracts that they signed. One coach could be playing to save his job.
The question is who needs it more? This is a heavyweight championship bout between Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. Cristobal needs to instill confidence in his team and their recruits, while Fisher is fighting to save his job.
“The massive amount of work done in one year has put us on a great trajectory to begin progressing at a good rate,” Cristobal told ESPN in a recent interview. “The secret is out there in the dirt. Put your hand in the dirt. Go to work. The work done over this past year has been incredible.”
Cristobal arrived in Miami before last season amid plenty of fanfare. The prodigal son came home and Miami fans were expecting an immediate improvement. Unfortunately, they still had a roster of mostly recruits from the disappointing former head coach Manny Diaz. Mario and the Canes endured a below-average season, finishing at 5-7 and left out of the post-season bowl activity.
Cristobal returned home to coach the Hurricanes and be with his late mother, who died shortly after he accepted the position. He knew it would be painful to rebuild and reset the expectations and goals at Miami.
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“I see his vision,” Oregon transfer TE Cam McCormick said. “I’ve been with him so long, I know how he works. People question it sometimes, I’m like, ‘Listen, just buy into it. Trust me, it works.'”
Meanwhile, in College Station, Fisher and his talented roster, filled with 5-star recruits, finished the 2022 season just as Cristobal did, with a 5-7 record and no bowl qualification.
They did, however, eke out a 17-9 victory over Miami at home on September 17. Miami then lost four games in a row and fans were already growing restless. He says that this team is different. Cristobal has been preaching this week that his young Canes are ready for the challenge.
“I think the juice takes care of itself. They are aware of the opportunity they have in front of us,” Cristobal said. “They are elevating standards on a daily basis. There certainly is progress and we are proud of that. Being home needs to be an advantage for us.”
One of the biggest wholesale changes that Cristobal did this past off-season that brought optimism to Coral Gables was acquiring tremendous talent on the offensive line. Cristobal has two new tackles in freshman Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola. Matt Lee anchors the line from the center position that he inherited when he transferred from UCF. Sprinkle in left guard transfer Javion Cohen, who came over from Alabama via the portal, and you have one of the top offensive lines in the country.
Cristobal, however, was very complimentary of Fisher and his team, but he said his team was ripe for the challenge.
“It’s a lot of great years of great offenses and they are a challenging bunch and we are looking forward to it. He’s done it every way imaginable,” Cristobal said of Fisher. They are really good they score a lot of points and make a lot of explosive plays. They are not a one-dimensional team and they protect the quarterback well.”
Texas A&M is currently a four-point favorite on the road. Cristobal is looking to avenge last year’s loss, which Miami could have very easily won, but for a few key mistakes in the second half.
“Last year we were struggling in the red zone and they were a top-seven ranked defense in the red zone. There are a lot of really good football players there and they are very well coached,” Cristobal said.
The two-time Pac-12 Champion coach knows the arduous task in front of him.
“Texas A&M is an impressive team coming off of an impressive win,” Cristobal said. “They are big up front, talented and physical. They have a very strong running game. They are big up front, talented, heavy-handed, and have a strong run game. You watch the way their TE gets involved.”
Miami’s new Great Wall of Mirabal opened up big holes for veteran Henry Parrish, Jr. and true freshman Mark Fletcher, Jr., who scored on a 26-yard run that had a seam to run through that was bigger than a rip in Rosie O’Donnell’s pants suits.
“They performed well, I thought all backs did,” Cristobal said. “They play with really good discipline and ball control. Those guys did a really good job.”
Fisher agreed.
“Miami is a very good opponent, and they know how to run it. Mario is a line coach himself … The line is big. I mean they’re really big up front, physical. It’s gonna be a physical game inside,” Fisher said.
Fisher continued to praise the Hurricanes, against whom he maintains an 8-1 record in nine games, seven while at Florida State.
“They’re a great team. We have to play well on the road,” Fisher told reporters on Saturday. “[It’s] gonna be a great challenge and we have to have a great week of practice to be able to get ready.”
He spoke rather fondly of Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.
“The quarterback’s an experienced guy, been around a long time. He was the frontrunner for the Heisman a year ago coming into the season,” Fisher said about Van Dyke. “He can throw the ball [and] do all the things you need to do.”
Jimbo Fisher definitely did his homework on Miami. ?
Thoughts on his scouting report? pic.twitter.com/5ccW5N8zg7
— 305 Sports (@305Sportss) September 7, 2023
Fisher, who won the 2013 National Championship at Florida State, is not ready to throw in the towel on his career at TAMU.
“I am not as stubborn as people might think,” Fisher told ESPN’s Chris Low a few weeks before the season started. “I know what I want in a football program. I’m not going to panic and do something just because someone outside this building thinks I should. I’m going to do what I think is right for the program. That’s the way it’s always been.”
