Mario Cristobal can improve his coaching skills

Mario Cristobal can improve his head coaching skills. Cristobal is an above-average football coach but only an average head coach. The football program improved from six wins to ten wins. More players will come in via recruiting or the transfer portal. However, Coach Cristobal needs to consult mentors to hammer into him how to fix the poor coaching decisions.

No Miami fan can forget Jimmy Johnson's reluctance to run the ball in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. A look back at Dennis Erickson's coaching career reveals a defining characteristic, as Chris Green noted in The Bleacher Report in 2011 “Undisciplined and penalty-prone teams are a hallmark of Erickson programs.”

In 2018 It's a U Thing highlighted a horrible coaching mistake by Butch Davis during a game against Virginia Tech. A report published in 2021 by the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning provides a strategic guide for Coach Cristobal to elevate his coaching abilities.

This method emphasizes the importance of reflective practice, going beyond just measuring oneself against personal standards. It involves a thorough evaluation of measurable elements associated with time management and decision-making in critical situations.

Syracuse game -- 4th down on the 10

Shane Shoemaker of The Sporting News quoted Cristobal explaining his decision to kick a field goal versus Syracuse trailing 42-35 on fourth and 10 later in the fourth quarter.

"It was outside the 10-yard line with four minutes to go...It was, 'get the points and get a stop.' It was a heavy go...They kept putting points on the board. It was a matter of us getting one more stop." Any layperson knew that the correct decision was to go for it on fourth down. "

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal

Any layperson knew to go for it on fourth down. Cristobal confused valor with shrewdness. The Syracuse offense soul-crushed the defense. It wasn't the right decision to rest the game on their shoulders.

The Miami offense was moving the ball. The team's performance stunk the whole day. But the team's morale would've been well-focused on converting the fourth-down play.

Georgia Tech in 2023 and Stanford in 2019

This decision comes from the offensive lineman in him, not the head coach. The correct call was to kneel on the ball and kill the clock. The fact that he made the same mistake twice is not good. He would've benched any player deciding the same thing. Oregon was up 31-28 with less than a minute in the fourth. Miami was up by three also with less than a minute remaining.

Cristobal must understand that he is no longer a player. The message to his offensive line would've been better communicated in a film session. Kneeling on the ball to drain the clock gives the team a sense of confidence.

Georgia Tech in 2024

This shows bad clock management or bad communication during the two-minute timeout. Every layperson knows that timeouts are very valuable in a close game. Georgia Tech was in a position to convert the first down with a fake punt. Coach Cristobal could rehearse these clock-management situations with his coaching staff in the offseason.

The team and probably the coaches were exhausted with gameplan execution. This objective factor can be inputted into a report. Then, coaches could coordinate on triggers and/or keys to use to pause and make the right decision in another game.