What to know about Miami football coach Mario Cristobal heading into CFP quarterfinals
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Shortly after the 2021 season, Miami football addressed its future by turning to its glorious past and hiring Mario Cristobal away from Oregon to be its next head coach.
Four years later, the Hurricanes are one of eight teams left in the hunt for a national championship.
In its fourth season under Cristobal, No. 10 Miami is 11-2 and facing off against No. 2 Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
The Hurricanes have shown signs of significant progress the past two seasons under Cristobal. They’ve posted back-to-back seasons with at least 10 wins for the first time in more than 20 years. Earlier this year, quarterback Cam Ward was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, becoming just the third Miami player ever to earn the distinction. Now, they’re one game away from their first 12-win season in 23 years and an appearance in the national semifinals.
The U very much appears to be back.
Integral in that effort has been Cristobal, the Miami native and graduate who has built his former school up in the proverbial trenches and complemented it with elite skill position talent.
On the heels of the Hurricanes’ first-round playoff win at No. 7 Texas A&M, and before they take the field against Ohio State in a rematch of the 2002 national championship game, here’s a closer look at Cristobal:
Mario Cristobal coaching career
Shortly after a standout playing career at Miami, where he helped lead the Hurricanes to a pair of national championships as an offensive lineman, Cristobal made his way into coaching.
He began as a graduate assistant at his alma mater before moving to Rutgers, where he was an assistant coach for three seasons. After the 2003 season, he made his way back to Miami, where he was a tight ends coach for two seasons and an offensive line coach for one.
He didn’t have to travel far for his first head-coaching job. Following the 2006 season, Cristobal was hired as the head coach at Florida International, which had just completed its third season as an FBS member and made Cristobal the first Cuban-American head coach in FBS history.
He gradually improved a program that was winless the season before his arrival. By Cristobal’s fourth season, the Golden Panthers went 7-6, won a share of the Sun Belt championship and won a bowl game for the first time in program history. His team’s accomplishments helped Cristobal win Sun Belt coach of the year honors.
After the 2012 season, just one year after leading Florida International to an 8-5 finish, he was fired by the school following a 3-9 record. The Golden Panthers finished with a winning record in just two of the 12 seasons after Cristobal was dismissed.
It didn’t take him long to land on his feet. Shortly after being let go, Cristobal was hired at Alabama, where he was the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16. During his four seasons in Tuscaloosa, Cristobal helped lead the Crimson Tide to a national championship in 2015 and had five offensive linemen selected in the NFL draft. During that 2015 title season, Alabama won the inaugural Joe Moore Award, given annually to the best offensive line in college football.
He left Nick Saban’s staff after the 2016 season for Oregon, which hired him as its co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under new head coach Willie Taggart. After Taggart left Oregon after just one season, Cristobal was elevated to head coach, a move that quickly paid dividends. The Ducks won Pac-12 titles in 2019 and 2020, including a 12-2 finish in 2019 that ended with a victory in the Rose Bowl.
Over Cristobal’s first three seasons at Oregon, 44 Ducks players were all-conference selections and 14 players were picked in the NFL draft, a group highlighted by top-10 picks Kayvon Thibodeaux (2022), Penei Sewell (2021) and Justin Herbert (2020).
He’s saved perhaps his best work for a place near and dear to his heart.
Cristobal returned to Miami after the 2021 season and after a difficult first two seasons, he has the program back to national relevance. The Hurricanes’ 10-3 record last season was their second 10-win campaign since 2003. This season, they’ve been even better, with an 11-2 mark heading into their playoff quarterfinal matchup against Ohio State on Wednesday, Dec. 31. The 11 victories are Miami’s most since 2003.
Mario Cristobal record
Cristobal heads into Miami’s game on Wednesday with a career record of 95-78, including a mark of 33-18 in his four seasons at Miami.
Before being hired at his alma mater, Cristobal went 35-13 in parts of five seasons at Oregon and 27-47 in six seasons at Florida International.
Here’s a year-by-year look at Cristobal’s coaching career:
Florida International
- 2007: 1-11
- 2008: 5-7
- 2009: 3-9
- 2010: 7-6
- 2011: 8-5
- 2012: 3-9
Oregon
- 2017: 1-0
- 2018: 9-4
- 2019: 12-2
- 2020: 4-3
- 2021: 10-3
Miami
- 2022: 5-7
- 2023: 7-6
- 2024: 10-3
- 2025: 11-2
Mario Cristobal salary
Cristobal made $8,302,883 in total pay during the 2025 season, according to USA TODAY Sports’ coaching salary database. That figure makes him the 17th-highest-paid coach at the FBS level (among coaches whose salaries are publicly available) and he’s the third-highest-paid coach in the ACC, behind only Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick.
It’s an increase in pay from the 2024 season, when he brought in $7,783,059.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What to know about Miami football coach Mario Cristobal heading into Cotton Bowl
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