It's official: Miami Hurricanes announce Mario Cristobal as next football coach

From the start, the University of Miami was targeting another native son, this one with more head coaching experience and success at the Power 5 level.

Finally, on Monday, after a tumultuous, rumor-filled 24 hours, Oregon's Mario Cristobal retuned to Miami, accepting the Hurricanes' offer to become the highest paid coach in school history.

“My family and I are excited to return home to the University of Miami, which has been so instrumental in shaping me as a person, player, and coach,” Cristobal, 51, said in a statement. “This program has an unparalleled tradition and an exciting future ahead of it. I can’t wait to compete for championships and help mold our student-athletes into leaders on and off the field who will make our University, our community, and our loyal fan base proud.”

Miami president Julio Frenk welcomed Cristobal in a statement.

“Mario’s legacy as a student-athlete at the U is well established," Frenk wrote. "And the standard for competitive excellence that he and his teammates helped establish is one to which we continue to aspire. Our selection, however, was not one based in nostalgia for a proud past, but rather in a bold vision for a promising future.

“The characteristics that helped Mario excel as a national championship-winning player - drive, determination, and discipline - continue to propel his success as a coach. In Mario we have found a head coach who shares our belief in providing student-athletes with the very best opportunities to succeed on and off the field, and our commitment to winning at the highest level.”

The announcement came hours after the school fired coach Manny Diaz.

Before Miami made the announcement, Cristobal broke the news to his players at Oregon. He is taking over a team that as a kid he would hop on his bike to go and watch practice.

Cristobal's salary will be around $8 million per year, according to reports. Miami also is responsible for paying Cristobal's $9 million buyout.

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Cristobal spent the last few days deciding between coming home or accepting Oregon's extension that, according to reports, would have nearly doubled his $4.5 million per year salary and added 10 years.

Miami now turns its attention to sealing its deal with Clemson's Dan Radakovich to become its new athletic director. Radakovich would replace Blake James, who was fired last month.

Cristobal takes over an underachieving program that has spent nearly two decades trying to get back to the glory days that saw it win its fifth - and last - national championship two decades ago.

Since joining the ACC in 2004, Miami has never won a conference title, played in one conference championship game and has had one 10-win season, 10-3 in 2017 under Mark Richt.

Cristobal's name has been linked to Miami for years. He was born in Miami and attended Christopher Columbus High School before signing with the Hurricanes where he was an offensive lineman from 1989-93 and a part of two national title winning teams under Dennis Erickson. He started his coaching career with the Hurricanes as a graduate assistant under Butch Davis and returned to the school as a fulltime assistant in 2004 before leaving three years later to become head coach at Florida International University.

Now, the Miami native finally is coming home, perhaps the lure of family the deciding factor.

About a week ago, Cristobal returned home to visit his mother, Clara, who is suffering from an unspecified illness. Cristobal told the media in Oregon she is "day-to-day."

"She's fighting," he said. "That's the best way to say it, and that's exactly what I expected to see out of her. I appreciate everybody's thoughts and prayers that sent them my way. I wish I could respond to every single person, but I do appreciate it."

While Miami's pursuit of Cristobal was taking place, Diaz was left twisting in the wind. He remained under contract and was out recruiting early Sunday. The look was not a good one for Miami, which held onto Diaz as an insurance policy in case Cristobal decided to remain at Oregon.

Cristobal was 35-13 in just more than four years as the Oregon head coach, winning two Pac-12 titles. He arrived at Oregon in 2017, joining Willie Taggart's staff as the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Later that year, he was named interim coach when Taggart left for Florida State. Cristobal was given the permanent job within days as the Oregon players mounted a social media campaign to name him coach.

Cristobal started his head coaching career at FIU in 2007, becoming the first Cuban-American head coach in FBS history. He was 36. He was fired after six seasons - and being named the 2010 Sun Belt Conference coach of the year - and landed a job with Nick Saban in 2013 as Alabama's assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. He moved to Oregon in 2017 as a co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach before taking over for Taggart less than a year later.

Although he never reached the College Football Playoff at Oregon, Cristobal led the school to four bowls in his four full seasons, including two New Year's Six appearances. The Ducks are headed to the Dec. 29 Oregon Bowl against Oklahoma.

Oregon's 2021 regular season ended in disappointment, though. After reaching No. 3 in the CFP rankings, the Ducks lost twice in three weeks to Utah by a combined score of 76-17, including Friday's 38-10 drubbing in the conference title game. Yet, the signature win of his career came in the second week of the 2021 season, a 35-28 victory at No. 3 Ohio State.

Cristobal's overall record is 62-60, including 27-47 in six years at FIU.

Cristobal is known as a relentless recruiter who helped Oregon become the premier program on the West Coast. He was named 2015 national recruiter of the year while at Alabama and Oregon had the top ranked recruiting class in the Pac-12 in each of the last three years.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1993 at Miami, Cristobal returned for a master’s degree in 2001. His post-college playing career started when he signed with the Broncos in 1994 as an undrafted free agent and then played for NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals in 1995-96.

The addition of Cristobal and possibly Radakovich would mark a seismic shift in the athletic department and football program and land Miami two home-run hires.

Radakovich would take over as athletic director after holding the same position at Clemson for the last nine years. His salary would start at a base of $1.5 million with incentives that could boost it to around $3 million, which would make him the highest paid AD in the country.

Since Radakovich arrived at Clemson, the program has won two national championships (2016, 2018) and appeared in the College Football Playoff six consecutive years. The Tigers run of six consecutive ACC titles was snapped this season.

Clemson will finish 2021 with its worst record in a decade. Yet, with a win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, the Tigers will be 10-3, which equals Miami's best record in 18 years.

Diaz was 21-15, including a 7-5 record this season after Miami started 2-4. But like those before him for most of the last two decades, never got the Hurricanes to compete with the elite teams nationally or even in position to win a conference championship. Yet, Miami was 16-9 in the ACC in Diaz's three years, the second best record in the conference behind Clemson in during that time.

Diaz, also born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, was hired three years ago after three years as the team's defensive coordinator under Mark Richt and tasked with returning the Hurricanes to the glory days that he witnessed while rooting for the Hurricanes as a kid. The closest he got was an 8-3 record during the COVID interrupted season of 2020.

Now, like the three coaches who preceded him (none of whom lasted five full years), Diaz leaves a program that continues to fall short of expectations, with Mario Cristobal the latest entrusted to bring it back.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Hurricanes land Oregon's Mario Cristobal as football coach