Miami has made a small but notable addition to its football staff, bringing former offensive lineman Luis Cristobal Jr. back to the program as a graduate assistant on the offensive line. Cristobal Jr. is the nephew of head coach Mario Cristobal and a former Georgia State and Miami lineman, which gives the move a family connection.
It also gives the Hurricanes another set of eyes in a position room that is heading into a transition year.
Luis Cristobal Jr. joins Miami staff as OL graduate assistant
Cristobal Jr. spent the 2023 season with the Hurricanes after transferring from Georgia State, where he had played the first four years of his college career. In his lone season at Miami, he saw action in four games as a reserve lineman and started at left guard in the Pinstripe Bowl against Rutgers. Before that, he played in the final 10 games of the 2021 season at Georgia State after earlier appearances in 2019 and 2020.
Cristobal Jr. knows Miami's program from the player side, knows what Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal want from the offensive line room, and has experience both as a transfer and as a reserve lineman who had to wait for his opportunities. For a graduate assistant role, that kind of familiarity can matter.
Miami's offensive line was one of the program's strengths during its playoff run, but it is also one of the spots under the most scrutiny entering 2026 because of the turnover from that group. Cristobal and Mirabal are trying to keep the standard of that room high while breaking in new pieces.
Miami is replacing much of the offensive line from last year. Francis Mauigoa, Markel Bell, Anez Cooper and James Brockermeyer are all headed to the NFL draft, and will be tough pieces to replace.