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Update 1:55 p.m. Mario Cristobal is officially announced as the new head coach.
“My family and I are excited to return home to the University of Miami, which has been so instrumental in shaping me as a person, player, and coach,” Cristobal said. “This program has an unparalleled tradition and an exciting future ahead of it. I can’t wait to compete for championships and help mold our student-athletes into leaders on and off the field who will make our University, our community, and our loyal fan base proud.”
Mario Cristobal is the new head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. After a seemingly interminable dance while Manny Diaz remained head coach, the university finally fired Diaz and has inked Cristobal to a contract.
SOURCES: Oregon’s Mario Cristobal did a players-only meeting to tell them that he’s leaving to become the new head coach at Miami. Most of his staff is on the road and learned of it after. AD Rob Mullens has scheduled a staff meeting for 9 AM: https://t.co/NMexj5sY90
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 6, 2021
The former FIU head coach and Alabama assistant was 35-13 in five seasons at Oregon, with back-to-back Pac-12 Championships in 2019-20, as well as a Rose Bowl win in 2019. But a 38-10 loss in the Pac-12 Championship Game this season, the second loss to the Utah Utes in 14 days, was a bit of a disappointment.
But as an alum of The U, and a two-time national champion as a player in Coral Gables, he was the top target of the program. It was a chaotic process, but the university finally got what it appears to have wanted. Clemson AD Dan Radakovich will be Cristobal’s boss in Miami, and bringing in a highly successful athletic director and head coach shows how committed the Hurricanes are to winning and getting back to their glory days.