For weeks, new Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal has been playing his own game of “Can you top this?”
It was impressive enough that he landed Kevin Steele, whose units have ranked in the top 30 in points allowed in eight of his 11 years as a defensive coordinator at Alabama, Clemson and Auburn.
But then, days later, Cristobal lured defensive backs coach and skilled recruiter Jahmile Addae from national champion Georgia.
And then, two days later, he surprised the college football world by snagging offensive coordinator Josh Gattis — a rising star in the business — months after he guided the Michigan offense to the College Football Playoff.
Along the way, Cristobal landed a prominent former FBS head coach (Charlie Strong) to coach linebackers, a respected longtime assistant to coach quarterbacks (Frank Ponce) and a well-regarded running backs coach from Mississippi (Kevin Smith), along with two key assistants from his Oregon staff (offensive line coach Alex Mirabal and defensive line coach Joe Salave’a).
So how did UM suddenly get an All-Star coaching staff after years of lagging behind some other schools in payroll for assistant coaches?
Credit not only Cristobal for securing what might be the best UM staff in more than a decade, but also UM president Julio Frenk, executives Rudy Fernandez and Joe Echavarria and Board of Trustee members for allocating an assistant coaching salary pool that significantly exceeded what it had been.
“We owe our student-athletes two things: a great education and the opportunity to develop their special talent to the best of their ability,” Fernandez, UM’s executive vice president for external affairs and strategic initiatives, said by phone Monday.
“When you recognize you owe your student-athletes those two things, the natural progression is that you owe them the very best coaching available.”
Fernandez declined to discuss UM’s coaching budget. But a source said Cristobal’s contract included an amount he would be given to spend on his football staff. That number is believed to be in the $8 million range. Gattis left a Michigan job that reportedly was due to pay him $1.1 million.
“It was important to Mario to make sure he had necessary resources to make this move, and the university was also interested in making this move,” Fernandez said.
“It doesn’t happen without board [of trustees] support. This took substantial board support. We’re not operating on an island. Laurie Silvers our board chair, Manny Kadre our board vice chair, David Epstein who chairs the athletics committee, Jose Mas.... The board leadership all supported this.”
Though no formal vote was required to approve higher coaching salaries, Fernandez said the hiring of Cristobal and athletic director Dan Radakovich required approval by a “committee on the board.”
Cristobal had the autonomy to spend the pool of football staffing money any way he wished.
“I’m excited by the staff he built,” Fernandez said. “I can’t say enough about what a great leader he is. He is going to transform the program and have a positive impact on the U. We trusted he would build a great staff.”
Was Fernandez surprised that Cristobal lured assistants from 2021/22 college football playoff teams for similar jobs?
“One of the things I’ve learned is A-level talent wants to work with other A-level talent and the type of people he’s attracted to fill out his staff should be a clear indication of how respected he is,” Fernandez said.
“The folks we’ve announced, Gattis leaving Michigan, Ponce coming as QB coach, Steele as DC, the people he’s attracting are A-plus talent in the field. The fact they want to work with Cristobal tells you he’s highly [regarded].”
Fernandez acknowledged “we haven’t played a single game yet. But I’m very excited by what he’s building. The credit goes to Mario. We have great alignment with the board level to senior administration to Dan Radakovich leading our athletic departments to Mario.”
The UM administration believes that allocating more money on football — including Cristobal’s long-term contract that will pay him at least $8 million a year — ultimately will pay off.
“These are investments we’ve made because in order for us to be competitive and sustainable, you need football to be successful to help finance non revenue generating sports,” Fernandez said. “The vast majority of sports don’t generate a dollar of revenue.
“Julio Frenk and the key board leaders gave a lot of thought to [what would happen] if we attracted someone who would excite the fan base instead of playing before a half empty Hard Rock and playing at a full capacity stadium instead. What would revenue look like [then]? That’s what led to this.”
And UM believes Cristobal is the right man to lead the turnaround.
“I’ve gotten to know him,” Fernandez said, “and he’s an impressive leader who has a vision and work nonstop, and when you couple that with experience he brings to the job exciting things are going to happen.”
