Miami football program makes Mario Cristobal hiring official
Following the dismissal of head coach Manny Diaz on Monday morning, the hiring of Oregon head coach and Miami football alum Mario Cristobal as his successor is all but official. A nearly infinite amount of local and national media outlets have reported that Cristobal informed Oregon this morning of his decision to return to Miami.
The Miami Football program made the announcement of Cristobal as their head coach official via Twitter on Monday afternoon. According to the Miami Herald, Cristobal will earn $8 million per year for a contract expected to be for more than five years. Cristobal is 62-60 in 11 seasons as a head coach at FIU and Oregon.
After his stint at FIU, Cristobal spent four seasons at Alabama as the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban. Cristobal left Alabama to become the Co-OC and OL coach in 2017 at Oregon. When Willie Taggart left to become the head coach at Florida State, Cristobal was elevated.
Manny Navarro of The Athletic reported on Monday afternoon that Cristobal is expected to arrive in Miami on Monday evening and that a press conference introducing him as the next head coach will be sometime on Tuesday. The hiring of Cristobal and the expected salary for him and his staff are game-changers for Miami.
Cristobal is expected to bring several assistants with him to Miami. Some of the current Miami staff could be retained. Expect any new hires outside of those who worked with Cristobal at Oregon and with him at Miami to be compensated s competitively with the elite programs of college football.
Oregon cornerbacks coach Rod Chance and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal who are both Miami natives are the most likely to stay with Cristobal on his staff as they all return home according to Andrew Ivins of Inside the U. The official announcement of Cristobal as head coach and his staff will continue to develop.