Mario Cristobal didn’t mince words Tuesday when talking about Miami’s roster upon his arrival to Coral Gables as the Hurricanes’ head coach.

Cristobal, who took over as Miami’s head coach in 2022, threw the program’s talent level when he got there under the bus.

During his press conference at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, Cristobal said that in his first year at Miami, he remembers “watching film and saying we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“And I think this is the best way to put it, to summarize it: We were on a tarmac and we asked the pilot to delay — this is a flight during recruiting and fundraising — where Miami was on the verge of not having a player drafted for the first time in I don’t know how many decades, and then finally late in the seventh round, a player was selected,” Cristobal recalled.

“So to that statement, to me, Miami did not have the talent and Miami did not recruit to the level that Miami is supposed to recruit.”

Cristobal says it’s a different story now for his Hurricanes program, which finished the 2024 season with a 10-3 record and saw seven players get selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, including quarterback Cam Ward, who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 overall pick.

“Now you fast forward three years later, Miami is coming off a 10-win season,” Cristobal said. “Now Miami is sixth in the country in players drafted with double digit combine invites, with double digit wins, and with the No. 1 pick overall.

“The steady progress and trajectory is a product of a lot of people, players, coaches, staff members working really hard to get Miami to where it needs to be, and one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, why I chose to leave my place on the West Coast to come back and do Miami the way Miami should be done. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

Added Cristobal: “I think it’s evident in the players we have here today. It’s evident in the progression of our football team. It’s evident in the talent acquisition and the development of those players and the way that things are progressing for our program in general, on and off the field. I hope that makes sense, but I think it’s important to paint the picture, because if you want to tell a story, let’s make sure we tell the story from the starting point of what it looked like so we have an accurate depiction for what that story really is.”

Cristobal helped lead Miami to two national championships in 1989 and 1991 as an offensive lineman. He returned to his alma mater as head coach after leading Oregon to three straight Pac-12 Championship Game appearances and two Pac-12 titles.

Although the Hurricanes won 10 games last season, they lost three of their final four contests, including a 42-38 loss at Syracuse in the regular season finale that kept Miami out of the 2024 ACC Championship Game and put Clemson in it. The Hurricanes would then go on to blow a 10-point third-quarter lead in their 42-41 loss to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Two seasons ago, Miami lost four of its final five games in 2023, when the Canes finished 7-6 after starting 6-2. Considering Cristobal has had teams over the last couple years that started strong with some signature victories before fizzling out toward the end of the year, he was asked if that is something he’s focused on and talked about heading into the 2025 campaign.

“No doubt, it’s how you finish,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of progress over the last three years. Year one, our roster was not really built to take on Power 4 football, and those were some lopsided games and those were tough. Year two, everything was competitive and we won a couple more.

“Then last year we had a chance to win every single game, but we didn’t. The bottom line is we didn’t get it done. And it’s more than — I know we pointed out the defense a little bit earlier, but you know what also fell apart at the end, ball security. If you turn the ball over, you subject yourself to some not so positive outcomes. Without a doubt, finishing is a mentality. Finishing is a work ethic that comes with the offseason. We’ve always invested a ton of effort in those areas, and we’ve invested even more this offseason, and it will be a big part of training camp, as well.”

Although Clemson will not face Miami in the 2025 regular season, ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain sees the Hurricanes as a possible opponent for the Tigers in the ACC Championship in Charlotte this December. Miami will host Notre Dame to open the 2025 campaign on Sunday, Aug. 31.