Mario Cristobal's expletive-filled defense of Miami football is spine-tingling

Mario Cristobal's most memorable line before Monday night's College Football Playoff championship was not about X's and O's. It was about pride, anger and 20 years of hearing people take shots at the program he calls home.

"I had 20 years of watching Miami get ridiculed. It pissed me off. I got to the f****** point where I couldn't stand the sh** going on. My brother told me, 'If you don't f****** do it, who the f*** is?!'"

Mario Cristobal to Yahoo Sports

Mario Cristobal has led Miami to the national championship game

No. 10 Miami will face No. 1 Indiana on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium. It is Miami's first national title game appearance in the CFP era.

Cristobal's comments to Yahoo Sports made it clear how personal the job has been for him since he left Oregon to take the position in December 2021. Cristobal is a Miami native and a former Hurricanes offensive tackle who won national championships with the program in 1989 and 1991.

Cristobal was tired of the endless "is Miami back?" debates, and the way the program became a punch line nationally any time it came up short of the glory days.

Now, Miami is here; one win away from being crowned national champions. The Hurricanes reached this game with a first-round win at Texas A&M, then an upset of Ohio State in the quarterfinals, and a semifinal win over Ole Miss.

The Hoosiers are undefeated, top-seeded and have bulldozed their way through the CFP. Miami is the underdog according to Vegas and many in the media, even with the game in South Florida.

Cristobal has been careful in public about not turning the week into a referendum on "The U" nostalgia. But, underneath that restraint, his passion for the program and the history is unmatched.