Mario Cristobal faces high pressure winning in 2022

The expectations for the Miami football program after hiring Mario Cristobal are the highest they have been in 20 years. What should the expectations be in 2022? Cristobal is one of many high-profile coaches nationally in new positions in 2022. Those coaches will be compared in 2022 and beyond.

In his three-point stance column on Monday, Mike Farrell of Rivals.Com discussed the projections for the Miami football program under Mario Cristobal and later compared the pressure level he will have in his first season compared to other coaches in their inaugural campaign with their new programs.

Farrell ranked Brian Kelly at LSU and Lincoln Riley at USC as having very high pressure entering their first seasons after leaving Notre Dame and Oklahoma respectively. Cristobal is ranked with Billy Napier at Florida, Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame and Brent Venables of Oklahoma as having high pressure.

Farrell includes all the Power Five coaches in the first years with their programs. One other name of note is Dan Lanning at Oregon who is succeeding Cristobal. Farrell lists Lanning as having moderate pressure. Succeeding at the schools listed are all expected and adds to the pressure. Farrell discussed Cristobal.

"6. Mario Cristobal, MiamiPressure Level: High“The prodigal son returns to Coral Gables, and those around the program are already screaming that the U is back. A notorious recruiter, his first goal is to keep the top talent in Dade and Broward counties home and build the program back to the levels it was in the 80s and 90s.He’s lower than some others however because he’ll get a lot of time to get it right.”"

The success that Cristobal had at Oregon will influence the expectations at Miami. Cristobal was 35-13 in four-plus seasons at Oregon. Oregon was 11-14 in the two seasons before Cristobal became the head coach. Oregon stayed about the same offensively but improved significantly defensively in Cristobal’s first season.

The Ducks averaged 36 points per game and allowed 29 in the final season under Willie Taggart. Oregon averaged 34.8 but allowed only 25.4 in the first season under Cristobal. Miami is expected to be more physical under Cristobal. The focus in the first season under Cristobal should be on development, not the record.

Miami had the 13th most talented roster in college football. The issue with past staff was more development than talent. Cristobal was granted a bigger budget for assistant coaches. With the Staff Cristobal has hired, acquiring talent and development should improve quickly. Miami has a challenging 2022 schedule.

A non-conference game against Texas A&M and an ACC cross-divisional game in November at Clemson will impact how many games Miami wins this season. How Miami improves throughout the 2022 season will be important. Cristobal has already shown he is an elite recruiter. He has a staff to match him.