Dennis Smith shares a story that shows exactly how far Miami has come under Mario Cristobal

Kids can be honest to a fault sometimes and Dennis Smith saw that firsthand.

The Miami Hurricanes football GM relayed a story to CBS Sports' Adam Breneman about his first few weeks with the program and how little excitement there was for the team in the community at the time.

"The third week I was here, we had a team from a local park and I asked them to raise their hand if they grew up Miami Hurricane fans. And one kid raised his kid and the coach from the team started knocking the kids on their head to raise their hand. Now fast-forward five years later...to see 200 kids flock to Malachi Toney and to see 200 kids flock to Mark Fletcher and to Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor. That right there tells the story. That's the future. Those are future 'Canes."

Miami had to recapture the love of the local community

Since 1980, the Hurricanes have been a major piece of the cultural fabric in the 305. Many of the players came from the local youth leagues and advanced to becoming stars in high school, often leading their teams to state championships, and then they graduated to play for the Hurricanes. The players that went on to pro careers often came back during the season to take in a game if it was possible and many returned during the offseason to train in the south Florida heat. 

READ MORE: Dennis Smith reveals the secrets behind Miami's roster-building success

The pattern was a familiar one for 30+ years, until it wasn't. By the time Smith and Mario Cristobal arrived, the Hurricanes weren't fun, they weren't cool, they weren't awful, but they were just there. The product on the field wasn't inspiring and there was no buzz among the players that they were going to need to rebuild and remind everyone of what Miami football is all about. 

The local connection is strong again

This mission has been as personal for Smith as it is for Cristobal. Both are alumni from the university. They wanted to inject the program with people that were going to take pride in Hurricanes football and were committed to seeing this rebuild through.

We've already discussed recruiting and the philosophy of roster building that Smith and Cristobal share. They are trying to get the best players in the country and many of those prospects are right in Miami's backyard. The kids from the local park that couldn't recognize any of the Hurricane players five years ago are now in high school hoping to follow in the footsteps of Toney or Fletcher, who played high school football at American Heritage School in nearby Plantation, Florida. Bain played at Miami Central and became the latest player from that school to become an All-American at Miami and first-round NFL Draft pick, joining Willis McGahee among others. Of the 19 commits in the current class, eight of them are within two hours of the campus.

READ MORE: Dennis Smith couldn't believe the mess Manny Diaz left Mario Cristobal to clean up at Miami

Smith and Cristobal came back to Coral Gables with the initial goal of rebuilding Miami football on the field and re-establishing that connection within the community. Now it's time to win a championship.

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