Everything Mario Cristobal Said After Making the CFP, Focused on Texas A&M

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The time for marketing and campaigning is over. The Miami Hurricanes are in the College Football Playoff and face a road game against one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

Texas A&M presents many challenges for the Hurricanes, but that won't stop Miami head coach Mario Cristobal from preparing for everything.

Cristobal is focused on the Aggies now, but was still proud of his team. A few hours after the Selection Sunday show, the Hurricanes' head coach spoke to the media about what this moment meant to him and how the team will look ahead to the SEC Challenge.

On the team's reaction to making the CFP...

"Well, we've been communicating via phone, FaceTime, text messaging, or whatnot, but we do not have a team meeting today. Our meeting is tomorrow morning, as we begin preparations. We had worked around the entire week, and this is typically a day off in their work week, so we kept the schedule as is, but you can tell by the tone of their message was, 'hey, let's, let's get to work.' Obviously, extremely happy, extremely grateful for the opportunity, but very, very, very driven to get to the task at hand."

On what the next two weeks look like as far as practice, getting players healthy...

"We'll begin normal preparations, as you would, two weeks out from, let's say, when you're in camp two weeks out, or when you're on a bye week two weeks out. So it doesn't change. When you have the opportunity to put together two full game weeks without the game on the first week. So that saves you some of the, maybe some of the physical things that you are exposed to. But, all in all, from a preparation standpoint, you will be able to maximize the right number of practices."

On Miami's top players getting another chance to play in a meaningful game...

"I mean, it's always the goal, right? I mean, when we first arrived here, that was always placed as priority. So guys like that, like you mentioned, that have been here with us from the beginning. Guys have joined us as of late, too. So really, for everybody, for our entire program, every coach, every administrator, anybody involved in the University of Miami, it's awesome. It's why you do it, to give yourselves a chance, an opportunity to play for for national championship. And then for us, is making sure we focus on 1-0. But yeah, to those guys, yeah, it means everything to them. They're they got to jump on film nice and early, within minutes of the announcement, so as you would expect, so just an awesome moment for them."

On whether standout DB Keionte Scott will be available for the CFP run...

"No, we're not sure. We're very hopeful. We know he's going to be back here in the near future. Expect the near future. I cannot say exactly, but we do feel like he's trending in the right direction. As it relates to everybody else, we feel really, really good about it. So that's a one guy that we're waiting for."

On what it means for Miami to take this next step as a program...

"It's validation of everything that we, I don't know, everything that we preached, everything that we set out to do, and I say the beginning of what we set out to do. We haven't arrived anywhere yet. We have a long ways to go. But the continued progress of our program, year after year after year, and the fact that, when you look at our recruiting class, the number of players that we'll have coming back, the continued investment in the program, the trajectory. I mean, sky's the limit for us. So, you know, for us, this is a great step, but again, we're not here just to participate, right? We want to make sure that the best version of the University of Miami is out there, like it was the last four weeks. But certainly for our program, progress is always validation, and we don't want to stop that trajectory."

on what gives him confidence that his team can compete in the postseason...

"What gives me confidence is their attitude, their effort, and their work ethic. When you approach preparation with that type of enthusiasm and energy, it typically leads to some really good things, to higher-level execution, and it really fires me up. I mean, this has been an unbelievable group to be around. It really has. They just bring it every single day. So I can't wait to get to work with him. I mean, judging their messaging, their messages to me, I should say, it's a group that they know. They know that for us to give ourselves the best opportunity, the best chance, we have to go to work."

On the difference on selection sunday year-over-year with Miami in a similar spot...

"Yeah, it's a great question. I think last year I felt like, legitimately, there was a debate. We had some positives, other teams had some, some positives and angles. It was like, 'Alright, what's going to actually tip take this over the top?' Whereas this year, I felt like all the facts should be speaking for us, like we didn't have to create any kind of angle or posture. I thought there was just a matter of the information repeatedly being placed on the laps of the decision makers, because we always thought there was enough. And credit to [sports information director Camron Ghorbi]. All the work he put in, his team, because they really did a great job at the simplicity of getting those facts to the forefront of the college football world. And, really appreciative all all the so many people, so many big names you know, so many TV and media personalities just stating the facts and the obvious that Miami was deserving and best because of what we have done, what we are doing now, and of course, the head to head. So yeah, there was confidence and certainly gratitude to be rewarded for the hard work of our players in our coaching staff."

On if there is frustration in the selection and committee process...

"Man, it's hard. It's a hard job. It's a tough industry, right? I mean, where else are so many variables, you know, so influential in determining the outcome of a game that could send teams in a death spiral, or propel others to new heights. You have human error, and you have officiating, and you have injuries and all that. So there's so much that goes into the game of football that, when you also add a committee to make decision, it's just hard, it's hard on everybody. So there's a lot of stuff that has to be assessed, looked at, you know, certainly remedied, and then there's a lot of positives as well. So I don't know. I don't know how to answer your question. I know one thing, the passion behind college football is at an all-time high. And I the part I'm most happy about in terms of the process is that we didn't compromise winning on the field. Because with all the chaos in college football right now, all the uncertainty, college football has been hurled into a different galaxy. Right coaches are taking jobs, but they have to fly back to be able to coach their teams for the current job. With all this going on, I'm glad that we didn't punish the student athletes who actually laid it on the line on the field as it relates to the criteria to be considered someone in the field, and I'm glad that we didn't devalue them."

On what jumps out most about a Mike Elko coached team...

"Big, strong, fast, explosive. You have elite playmakers in all phases, from their quarterback, their wide receivers, their defensive fronts, most sacks in the country, as explosive as you can get with the Heisman quarterback. I think their trenches really stick out right away. I mean, again, just big and physical. I know their strength coaches really, really well. I know how they train those guys are built to go deep into November, December, January, and play at a high level, just top to bottom, a team that doesn't have weaknesses, and one that has been playing at a high level all year."

On potential ramifications in the sport with how the selection process played out...

"That's their choice [on Notre Dame bypassing a bowl game]. I don't know how that affects, or doesn't affect, how things are done and processes. Actually, Coach [Nick] Saban always had a great line. It was like, if you want to make everybody happy, don't coach and get involved in football. Go sell ice cream because the ice cream man makes everybody happy. In football, not everybody's going to be happy. Notre Dame's a great football team. All processes need to get, I don't know, assessed again and remedied wherever they can, but I think everybody's working at it. Last year, we were excluded, and we weren't very happy. And you know, it's a tough business, man, it's a really, really tough business. I respect everybody and everyone involved in it. And my focus right now is really on just getting us prepared for Texas A&M."

On how passionate the fan base was to defend the program during these discussions...

"That part is unbelievable. And again, coming back to Miami had nothing to do with good contract or fame or fortune, it had everything to do with making sure the University of Miami made its way back to where it was, a top the college football world. So the amount of work, the amount of people behind the work, the amount of hours, blood, sweat, tears from everybody. For them, this is awesome. This is like 23 years of right frustration now you have to back-to-back 10 win seasons and the opportunity to go and compete and play for a national championship. So I think for them, it's awesome. I think they've been awesome. It's validation, right? You, after all those hours and all that effort, you want validation that this is going in the right direction, and that's what it does. It validates progress. Doesn't validate final goal achieved, but it validates significant, real deal progress. So all I can say is, for everyone involved, anyone that's part of the Miami Hurricane family, and some more people that never actually went to school here, but became part of the Miami Hurricane family, I feel awesome for them, certainly grateful for their support. All the people that do so many things behind the scenes on the front lines. There's no need to motivate us to go to work for the University of Miami. We're all about being a Miami Hurricane. So it's an incredible blessing, and I can't wait to continue working our way towards more and more progress."

On his thoughts on MIke Elko...

"Great football coach. Certainly, his teams have always played at a high level. He did a great job at Duke and certainly doing an awesome job at Texas A&M as well. His teams are physical, they're tough, they're very well coached and disciplined. A lot of respect for Coach Elko."

On his reaction to seeing Alabama come in at No. 9...

"I mean, I gotta be honest, I still felt confident. And then, of course, you feel anxiety. No one can sit here and lie and say you weren't nervous because when it's not completely in your hands, those feelings kind of come in a little bit. They creep in. But yeah, when that thing popped on the screen, it was, I don't know, like an explosion of gratitude. 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 hits strong. We had about three minutes of some high fives and really strong juice, and then right to film work getting ready for the opponent. It's awesome, man, it's awesome. And always envisioned this opportunity for Miami. That's why we got on the plane and came all the way across the country to be back here as part of it. To see that next step in the process become a reality is an unbelievable feeling, an undescribable feeling, and now it's time to get to work."