Everything Mario Cristobal Said in Preparation for CFP Matchup Against Texas A&M

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The time for celebration is over. The Miami Hurricanes are now in the preparation stages for their first College Football Playoff game against Texas A&M.

Head coach Mario Cristobal already has the mindset of getting everything under control while he can, as he moves to the next steps of preparing the team, himself, and the coaching staff for the upset that many are not expecting.

Cristobal spoke to the media ahead of their working "bye week" to share early thoughts on the Aggies and how his team is adapting to the new process.

Opening Statement

"Obviously, some great news yesterday, and validation of a lot of hard work by a lot of people and the opportunity to go and compete in the College Football Playoffs. So many people to thank, from the administration to all the coaches, the academic department, recruiting, development, custodial department. I mean, they're always just working here overtime with us. Nutrition, strength and conditioning, sport science. Appreciate you guys covering us through the great moments and the tough ones as well. And again, when I say we're fired up, it might be the understatement of the year."

On being back around the team on Monday…

"Well, you can imagine, right? I mean, we had set the calendar like we would for a regular game week. As you head towards the end of the season, you really don't change your regimen, your structure. And so Saturday is a game day. Sunday is a day off. Monday, you get back together. But there were lots of guys around, right? They was a lot of anticipation, right? Some guys wondering what was going to happen, 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."

On the impact of having 12 days until the game to prepare and get healthy…

"Well, really helpful. I think this past week was really helpful, also, because we had the opportunity to get some guys a little bit healthier, other guys a lot healthier. And now you have an extra 10- 12 days to prepare, and you know who your opponent is, right? So they have all the film on us. We have all the film on them. They're an excellent football team, top to bottom, very talented, explosive. They are coached really well. Play with great pad level, great technique and fundamentals. At this time of year, you've established your identity, and you have an opportunity to work on other things to keep evolving. I think we have done that on offense and have played really good defense, and this gives us an opportunity to get better and continue to evolve."

On his team being at its best in the playoffs…

"I think we were playing our best football, yes, sir, here at the end, our last four games. And I thought we were playing really good at the beginning of the year. In the middle, we hit some, just got a little bit just off, you know, stagnant in a way. But at the same time, at some things we've been good at, we just weren't as good. And so it's your job as a coach to adapt. And everybody just sat in there, turned up the energy, the urgency, and we adapted. And yeah, I do believe these last four weeks have been at all levels. I'm talking from schematically, energy, execution, the ability to play more players. A lot of the young guys have been playing. We've talked about how Carson [Beck], at one point in time, had a freshman behind them, two freshmen receivers out here, one over there, so I think that's helped us a bunch. And I just think the confidence of our team has really grown strong over the past several weeks."

On the team responding after the SMU loss…

"They exercised one of the greatest things we have, one of the most powerful things we have, the power of choice, right? They just decided, 'You know what? We know who we are. We have shown it this season very recently, and we're gonna we're gonna do it again.' And I mean, collectively, the leadership is really, really strong. It's not like there's one vocal leader that's commandeering the whole thing. So what you've seen is a team that has a super high care factor. They really love being around each other, and they have an incredible, driven mentality to win and succeed and do right by each other. So all that stuff is strong, and all that being said, all they want to do is right now is get back to work. I think that mentality quickly shifted from being excited about being selected to, 'Let's get to work.' We're playing a great opponent. We have to be at our very, very best when we head over to College Station, and a ton of respect for them, because, again, like we mentioned earlier, they do have some really, really good football players."

On the experience of playing in College Station in the past…

"No, that's one of the best atmospheres in all of college football or pro football, I imagine. I mean, I've been there actually four times: once here at Miami, once when I was at FIU, twice at the University of Alabama. So I've been there four times, and all four times it's a maniacal scene, right? Great support, extremely loud. Certainly, they do a great job. What can you say? I mean, it's very well documented. So again, preparation has to be at its best."

On the comments from Notre Dame athletic director that the relationship between the Irish and ACC has been permanently damaged…

"I don't have any thoughts or any comment on that. My focus, effort, time, energy, is 1,000 percent into the University of Miami."

On Notre Dame opting out a bowl game and whether it was something the program considered if it hadn't been selected…

"I would say, first and foremost, I wouldn't comment on anybody else's situation because you never know. You never know exactly what's up. And I have too much respect for football and for Notre Dame to comment on their situation. As it relates to us, we haven't been faced with that situation, and we don't ever expect, want to, or would really allow that situation to happen. But that's, again, that's not a comment in any way, shape, or form, as it relates to them. You just don't know what each program is going through. Some programs lose a coach, sometimes you're going to be down a ton of players, and people have to make a decision. But, yeah, I don't want to comment on anybody else's stuff because, again, it's just not my place, and it would be disrespectful."

On the key to winning a game of this magnitude on the road…

"Well, I think the key to any game, and there's a lot of stuff that people talk about. I think you hear coach talk all the time, again and again, again, the same stuff. When it comes down to these type of games that have a different level intensity, being that it's win or go home, it all comes down to execution. It does. And that's a culmination of everything you've been doing, not just during the week or that day before that pregame speech. It's what you've been doing since January. You want all that to show up in a good way on the field against great, great players and a great team. So, I do think it comes down to that. There's a lot of things that go into that. I won't certainly waste a bunch of time with that, but executions at a premium."

On the biggest changes DC Corey Hetherman made to help this defense be successful…

"Schematically sound, I would say, first and foremost. A four down front primarily. We showed some primary field under, but we do jump into the over front, the even front a bunch. I think that communication at the top of the priority list, that was number one. In fact, the few times that we haven't been successful or lack of communication. But I think communication has been ramped up to a level because the level of teaching by the coaches, the level of understanding by the players, has really been elevated. I think leadership, energy as it relates to practice and preparation, has been drastically improved, I should say. I think the amount of time invested in tackling has helped us a bunch as well. Last year, we were we had a significant amount of missed tackles. We've improved in that area a ton. I think block destruction has improved for us as well, the use of our hands and making sure that our feet in the ground, and that our hands are inside and being able to shed blockers and be able to leverage the football. I think, if you watch us this year, I think the guys that are playing understand a little bit better, or a lot better, what the guy next to him is doing, if that makes sense. So, just a schematic understanding to be able to play within the system. That word's often thrown around, 'the system.' If you're systematic, it all works together. The pieces work a lot better collectively this year than it did last year. And again, we also added some really good pieces. I mean, the safety position took a dramatic uptick, right? Who else? Guys like [Mohamed Toure]. Mo came in, did a great job. So we missed Kiko [Mauigoa], right? Kiko is a great player, hard to replace guy. Mo's come in and gotten great snaps from the rest of linebackers and Popo [Aguiree] and Chase [Smith], and I could go on and on. There's a lot. I think it does start with two things: the hiring of Coach Heatherman, the rest of the assistant coaches, but the players buying in to a guy that has no Miami ties, but quickly established himself as a very knowledgeable person with a very high care factor and a ridiculous amount of intensity."

On the impact of Miami's true freshman class…

"I think it all starts with the way that we practice. Allows them to develop at a high level, and so the bright lights haven't really affected them. Certainly starts with a guy like Malachi [Toney] and it quickly turned to on defense, Bryce Fitzgerald, the impact that he's had. And I know I mentioned the receivers earlier, because they have, they've had a tremendous impact. Some guys were down with injury, and some other guys had to step up and play, just from a rotational standpoint, it happens, but Girard Pringle, tremendous impact back there as well. I guess Elija [Lofton] is a sophomore. I think of him as a freshman. But then over on the defensive side, on special teams, you've seen a significant amount of guys getting repetitions. I think what you're going to see more and more here, as we head into this month, is more guys playing. The experience that they're getting now. Two things, number one, help us win now, and number two, for the future. They're playing in high-level games against great competition. It's invaluable. It's priceless. So, really good class, and we got to keep stacking them. This is the one we just signed is really our fourth full cycle. So we'll finally have four full cycles inside the building. That's huge, right? Because that's really like your entire team is guys that you recruited from high school, plus whatever portal additions you have, which will also explore some opportunities there."

On the experience and leadership of QB Carson Beck in the lead-up to this playoff game…

"Well, his leadership and his experience certainly is invaluable. I also think it's important to point out that he's surrounded by guys with a lot of experience as well, right? You have James Brockermeyer, got a ton of experience. Mark Fletcher behind him, a ton of experience. [Francis Mauigoa], [Anez Cooper], right over here, you got Samson [Okunlola] and Matt McCoy. I mean, we often take for granted Markel Bell. It hasn't been a ton at this level, but with all the games we played in last year and now 12 more games this year, that's a lot of experience. And when you flip over on the other side, I mean, you have a lot of upperclassmen, a lot of senior leadership, especially the safety position, on the edges. Rueben [Bain] is a junior, but plays like a sixth-year senior, right? Akheem Mesidor, certainly a guy like David Blay, who we expect to be fully healthy by the time we get going again. Mo [Toure]. I mean, the list goes on and on and on, so I think we're excited about the fact that when you have to walk into places like this, that have great environments or whatnot, that your upperclassmen with experience could certainly take a more significant lead role."

On Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed…

"Yeah, nobody's really stopped him this year. I mean, you said it correctly. He's a true dual-threat guy, but he could very easily be one of the other at the highest level at any point in time in the game. And his ability to extend plays improvise, he can do it as a drop-back passer. He could do it as a dual threat guy, and stretch run it option, run it triple option it, design quarterback runs, just break contain and head downfield, or just extend the play, find somebody open down the field. Very strong arm, very accurate, tremendous competitor. Probably the part that sticks out the most, a lot of guys have athletic traits like that, but what sticks out about him is, he just doesn't allow the previous play to affect him. He just rolls. And he's been one of the biggest factors in their surge this season. I think he should be one of the Heisman finalists."

On what the last week was like as he had to fight for his team on public platforms…

"Well, I'd like to point out that guy right there [sports information director Camron Ghorbi]. This guy, I mean he's put down more Cuban coffee than I've seen anybody in my family ever put down. I mean, he worked 20 hours a day, and but you know what he did? He just put the facts out there. He didn't let the facts get drowned by posturine, because that's what at the end here, and which we talked about it, right? Like last year, I felt like we were in a debate. We had some strong points, but we also had some weak points, and we had to go back and forth and stick and move and jab. And we felt that this year we felt that we had a case that didn't need to go to court, right? And we just felt that, 'Man, okay, it's loud everywhere. Let's make sure that at that volume is turned up on the facts, on the real stuff.' And credit to him, to Cam Ghorbi, who was absolutely phenomenal. He just is he just never ceased to just continue to make sure that that was at the forefront of every, where the eyeballs were at, where the ears were listening, and to make sure that that we were heard. And I credit the conference as well for doing that. Certainly championed our cause. But the truth spoke loudly. And so it was a unique week in many, many ways. So, here we are. On we go."

On Miami native and Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, who will be a Heisman finalist…

"Actually, me and his dad were teammates at Columbus, offensive linemen. They wouldn't recruit linemen like us nowadays. Now, they're huge. Back then you could be kind of halfway skinny. But, yeah, a great football player. Certainly, they're doing a tremendous job up there in Indiana, and very happy for him and his family for all his success."

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.