Mario Cristobal restored the Miami Hurricanes to their rightful spot atop the college football world. Miami fell short in the National Championship game, but the Hurricanes have consistently ranked among the top teams in the country and have produced standout 2026 NFL Draft talent, including Rueben Bain Jr.
Rueben Bain Jr. Credits Mario Cristobal for the Miami Hurricanes’ Resurgence
Bain joined Ryan Wilson and Ran Carthon at Miami Pro Day this week, where he lauded Cristobal for his part in Miami’s championship run last season.
“It was a crazy road coming in,” Bain said (1:00). “We just trusted Coach Cristobal and put that amount of faith in him because we knew he had the better plan for us and not only for us but the program and all our all my brothers. We came in and bought in everything and we gave our all to this program and after year after year you see how we grow and how we got to the point where we are now, where everybody’s speaking about the Hurricanes in the manner that they are and we just bought in.
“Like I said, it was Coach Cristobal that really started this for us and we had the mentality and mindset to take his vision and bring it to reality. Um, it was ups and downs, bumps and bruises, but that’s football. Everything ain’t going to be smooth and pretty. We just kept grinding it out, kept working, kept trusting each other and beating up on each other.”
Before he was a coach, Cristobal was an elite offensive tackle for the Hurricanes during their most dominant era, winning two national titles at Miami in 1989 and 1991. He played under legendary coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson and was an All-Big East selection in 1992.
Although Cristobal held a dream job with the Oregon Ducks, he was deeply troubled by Miami’s decline. As revealed via an ESPN interview in January, Cristobal said to his wife, Jessica Cristobal:
“Do you understand this will consume my entire existence? Miami has lost its way. We are the ones to help it find its way back. Miami is going to hold up that trophy again.”
Cristobal ultimately landed at Miami, and his homecoming was framed as a mission to restore “The U” to its former glory through physical play and elite recruiting. The early years saw growing pains, including a difficult 5-7 debut season in 2022, but the program made a major leap forward in 2024 and 2025. Entering the expanded 12-team playoff as the No. 10 seed, Miami became the bracket busters of 2025.
Miami later went on to beat Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff and Ohio State in the CFP quarterfinal before securing a 31-27 win over Ole Miss in the CFP semifinal. Recalling that earlier conversation after the win over Ole Miss, Jessica told ESPN,
“This is his entire life’s dream, to get to this point. And he was right. It has taken every ounce of his effort and time. But I am willing to do whatever it takes to support what our dreams are, and we’re here. It’s just incredible.”
Miami fell short of a perfect ending with a tough loss at Hard Rock Stadium, but the Hurricanes exceeded expectations and silenced critics throughout the season. According to PFSN, Cristobal’s program has a 31.3% chance of securing the CFP in 2026 and a 3.9% chance of winning the National Championship.
