The Miami football program has been named on two of the “22 compelling storylines, teams, coaches, players that will dominate the 2022 college football season” by CBS Sports. Miami was profiled in the outlook for their own season and in an Orange Bowl game versus Michigan from CBS Sports New Year’s Six projections.
The hiring of Mario Cristobal as head coach has created a lot of excitement for the Miami football program. Cristobal has quickly improved recruiting for Miami. Miami currently has the eighth-ranked 2023 class. The Hurricanes signed the 16th best 2022 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.
Miami has made a greater commitment of resources to the football program with the hiring of Cristobal. Cristobal has hired a highly regarded coaching staff nationally and is expected to lead an effort to improve facilities. Cristobal returns to Miami after previous stints as a player and assistant coach in Coral Gables.
After the first two days of training camp, Miami players have stated a difference in how the Hurricanes are run. Cristobal has high expectations of his players and expects discipline. Cristobal and his staff will have a busy training camp with starting positions that will be decided before the season opener on September 3.
"7. South Beach bullies: After 20 years wandering in the championship wilderness, Miami may have finally figured it out. The solution? Throw money at everything. Native son Mario Cristobal got a reported $80 milllion contract. Miami finally got a coach who understands the culture and can recruit his ass off.Add an NIL battleship (John Ruiz), and the plan to spend their way to a championship doesn’t seem outlandish and not that far off for the Hurricanes. But will it translate on the field?"
Cristobal has repeatedly spoken about what it takes to succeed at Miami. In five seasons as a player on the Miami football roster, Cristobal was a part of national championships following the 1989 and 1991 seasons. Cristobal also was on the Butch Davis staff that helped build the 2001 national championship team.
In his inaugural season, the first goal for Miami will be to win the ACC Coastal Division. Miami won its only outright Coastal Division title in 2017 when it lost to Clemson in the ACC title game. The Hurricanes also made their last Orange Bowl appearance in 2017 in a 34-24 loss to Wisconsin.