Miami is capable of winning a national championship. And yes, Mario Cristobal is why
Miami is tough and physical, in the mold of Cristobal. But in the moment they needed something else, Cristobal pushed the right button.
ARLINGTON, Texas — There is a box of notes back in Miami that Mario Cristobal is going to hold onto forever. It represents a moment. A belief. A decision that turned everything around, at a time when everyone had turned on his team.
It stems from Nov. 2, the day after Miami lost in overtime to SMU to give the Hurricanes a second loss and all but knock them out of the College Football Playoff picture. The postgame news conference felt like a funeral, with muted voices and dejected faces.
That Sunday afternoon in Miami, Cristobal called a typical staff meeting. But looking back now, he calls this one “The Meeting.” In that room, Cristobal didn’t come down hard on his staff, no yelling or pounding of the table. It was the opposite. It was positive. He wanted to raise the spirits of everyone, and he wanted coaches to do the same for the players. Because he knew no one else would.
“We are going to have to be our best fans, our best supporters, our best family,” Cristobal recounted Wednesday, thinking back on that moment. “I’m going to lift you up. You’re going to lift me up.”
Two months later, back in the Dallas area for the first time since the SMU game, Cristobal and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. lifted each other up. This time, literally, as they hugged, high-fived and dropped a cursory amount of swear words in celebration.
Mario Cristobal joins SVP after Miami's win over Ohio State ⬇️ https://t.co/XJtdAoDYEp pic.twitter.com/OzdreY3Y7H
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2026
Miami upset Ohio State 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl, punching a ticket to the College Football Playoff semifinals and delivering Cristobal a second consecutive marquee playoff win. The win at Texas A&M was nice. But the win against the defending national champion Buckeyes was a different kind of statement.
Maybe “The U” isn’t quite back yet, but it’s getting darn close.
This is a team that can win it all, and it’s because of the alumnus head coach who built this Miami team the way it needed to be. Tough. Physical. Like the offensive lineman he was. And in the moment they needed something else, Cristobal pushed the right button.
“One of the most important character traits of a true leader is to know what the group needs, and he did an unbelievable job in a dark time,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said.
