Miami football rumors: Could Hurricanes entice Mario Cristobal to come back home?

Despite not having an athletic director, the Miami football team is expected to make a big run at Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal during this year’s trip around the coaching carousel.

Even though the Miami football team still has Manny Diaz under contract, the chaotic administration is expected to make a run at Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal.

The Miami connection to Cristobal is obvious. He is a Miami native and played his college ball for Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson during the peak days of “The U”. While he has found success over in the Pacific Northwest, his alma mater might be desperate enough to do whatever it takes to bring their prodigal son back home. Miami has yet to replace Blake James as its athletic director.

With Brett McMurphy of The Action Network backing up Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald’s initial reporting, there could be some validity to this.

Miami football rumors: Hurricanes may make a run at Mario Cristobal

If Miami was not Cristobal’s alma mater, there would be no reason to believe he’d be going to Coral Gables. Oregon has deep financial resources stemming from Phil Knight’s Nike money. The Ducks have been the preeminent power out west since the demise of USC. Miami has not had consistent on-field success since losing the national title to the Ohio State Buckeyes nearly 20 years ago.

With news of this coming out the day of the Pac-12 Championship vs. the Utah Utes over in Las Vegas, John Canzano of The Oregonian backs up Jackson and McMurphy’s reporting that Miami is indeed going hard after Cristobal. If the Ducks fall to the Utes for the second time this season and lose the Pac-12 Championship game, Cristobal just might be taking his talents to South Beach.

While potentially leaving a great job at Oregon for a middling one right now at best in Miami, it truly illustrates the power of leading one’s alma mater can have over a head coach. Keep in mind that for every Kirby Smart out there, there is a Scott Frost. While Cristobal should be closer to the former than the later, Miami is in dire need of improved resources more so than its head coach.

It would be so Miami to try to hire Oregon’s head coach before firing Diaz and before hiring an AD.

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