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College Football in South Florida in Reboot: A look at the changes
UM and FIU have made under new coaching.
Photo Credit: ACC
Why The Change?
The South Florida Community has endured some of the toughest hardships in college football
during the 2021 season. For both football programs at the University of Miami and Florida
International University, expectations for the 2021 season came with having a winning season,
getting back into bowl games, and (at least for Miami) getting into the top ranks of the
powerhouses of college football. Unfortunately, neither team came close to their expectations.
FIU started the year with a dominant win over the LIU Sharks ,a FCS school, but couldn’t find a
formula to win again as they lost every game afterwards by frustrating margins. The Golden
Panthers had more individual accomplishments to boast about themselves than the team's actual
performance on the field. To name one, Sophomore wide receiver Tyrese Chambers broke the
FIU single-season receiving record which was held by current Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y.
Hilton had 1,074 receiving yards when he graduated from FIU. Despite the accomplishments, the
team still got blown out in a majority of their games, including one against the FAU Owls as they
lost that one 58-21 in early October. Butch Davis, the former head coach of the Golden Panthers,
and the university agreed to part ways after the season. Davis, who will be forever known as the
FIU coach who beat UM in 2019, ended his tenure at FIU without a single win against an FBS
opponent since that win over “the university of Coral Gables” (as the FIU fan base would put it).
With 1,000 plus days without a FBS win, the program looked to rebuild their identity.
Miami's case , who started the year as the 14th ranked team in the country, got blown out in two
of their first three games which included Alabama and an underdog Michigan State team that
upset the Canes at home. Even though the Hurricanes ended the year with a 7-5 winning
season, it felt more like a year of disappointments in the eyes of the Hurricane fan base. A
missed game-winning field goal against Virginia Tech at home, Redshirt Senior quarterback
D’Eriq King getting a season-ending injury in week 3 and a heartbreaking loss against the
Florida State Seminoles on rivalry week are only a few misfortunes that plagued the Canes
season as they finished the year unranked. Manny Diaz, who was the Hurricanes head coach for
the past three years, couldn’t avoid the diehard fan base's pleas for the university to hire a new
coach to bring the U back to national notice. Diaz, a South Florida native and Canes fan himself,
was fired in early December of 2021.
With both programs looking for a new upbringing in the upcoming 2022 season, FIU and
Miami’s football programs hired new head coaches for their respective programs in early
December. How did these new coaches settle in within a month of being on campus? Let's first
take a look at FIU and how their new hire is doing.
Mike Maclntrye: FIU
On December 9th, 2021, FIU hired Mike Maclntrye as their new head coach for their football
program. The former defensive coordinator of the University of Memphis has a deep coaching
resume that spans to the early 90’s. Maclntrye started as a Graduate Assistant at UGA from
1990-1991, until an offer for the defensive coordinator job at Davidson College in 92’ became
the first of many coaching gigs that he would have revolving around the defensive game of
football. Since then, Maclntyre has coached as a coordinator, a positions coach (defensive backs
and wide receivers) and even as a head coach for 7 other universities. He also has experience
coaching on the professional level as he coached the defensive backs for the Dallas Cowboys
from 2003-2006 and as well for the New York Jets in 2007. With over 30 years of coaching
experience under his belt, and two former head coaching jobs from programs needing a rebuild,
FIU felt Maclntrye was the perfect fit for the program.
To start off his first weeks at FIU, Maclntrye started with hiring his own staff. Even though he
hasn’t hired a defensive coordinator yet, he made waves by hiring Coach David Yost as the new
quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. Yost, who was formerly with the Utah State Aggies
coaching staff as their offensive coordinator, comes into FIU bringing 34 years of coaching
experience. Including years coaching Jordan Love who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in
the first round of 2020. However, what can we expect from FIU's offense under the surfer looking
O.C. with long, blonde hair?
“I’m a speed and space guy”, Yost tells the Miami Herald, “I want to play fast with fast guys. We
will have a spread offense, and will play with tempo”. Yost coaching influences include
Mississippi State's head coach Mike Leach and his philosophy of having an aggressive
play-caller like approach to the game. “We’re going to blitz the defense. They’re not going to
blitz us”.
In order to do any of these things, Maclntrye will need to heat up FIUs recruiting by a full notch
above the thermometer. Within his first month, he has done that and more. As of today, according
to 247sports.com, FIU has signings from multiple three star talents already and a couple of hard
commits from around the country. Including the 38th best defensive lineman out of South
Carolina, DJ Aiken, according to 247sports.com. Macintyres’ involvement in recruiting in the
transfer portal is also taking notice. Since his hiring, eight new players have transferred to FIU
from other schools that are in the power five conferences.Three of them come from the
University of Syracuse.
However, the most impressive thing about his recruiting perspective is that he is targeting
athletes in FIUs backyard, South Florida. This includes three-star running back Anthony
Hankerson from St.Thomas Aquinas High School. Hankerson, coming off a Class 7A state
championship, is a powerful runner that ran for 3,400 yards in his three years at St.Thomas
Aquinas. According to 247sports.com, the Hankerson has offers from Georgia, LSU, Arizona,
Florida and other division 1 schools but is considered to have “warm” interest in committing to
FIU. The Golden Panthers seem to have had a good first month of rebuilding.
Miami: Mario Cristobal
Mario Cristobal: former offensive linemen at the University of Miami who was coached by Hall
of Fame coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erikson. A two-time champion as a colleigente
player and a South Florida native. These facts alone were on the minds of every Hurricanes fan
when looking for the next head coach of the storied football program. Nobody really knew for
sure if Miami would bring the South Florida native home. But on December 6th, 2021, the
University of Miami spent $17 million to buy out Diazs’ current contract and Cristobals’
contract at Oregon, fired Diaz from his head coaching position and signed Cristobal for $8
million annually for 10 years to make him the next head coach of the Miami Hurricanes football
team
Cristobal, who’s impressive 35-13 record during his four years at the University of Oregon, was
one of the hottest items on the coaches available in college football. He brings with him two PAC
12 titles, 21 years of coaching experience and knowledge for recruitment. His recruitment, which
gained real recognition during his time as the University of Alabama’s recruiting coordinator
from 2013-2016, has put Oregon as the leader in recruiting in the PAC 12 since 2019 according to
247sport.com. Miami, who has struggled to recruit in recent years, found themselves on a roll in
recruiting within Cristobal's first month.
The Hurricanes signing class of 2022 (still growing) has gained 10 commits with four and three
star talent. Recent Miami Hurricanes commit Cyrus Moss is regarded as the number one prospect
of 2022 from the state of Nevada and is already enrolled at UM. The edge rusher was offered by
Oregon last year when Cristobal was the current coach of the Ducks, but has now flipped Moss
to the Canes. More of this is to follow as it is common for coaches who move to another team to
have players follow them as well in commitment. With high talent coming into Miami, Cristobal
will need even more impressive coaching staff to come in to coach them.
According to caneswarning.com, Cristobal has brought in offensive line coach Alex Mirabal,
defensive lineman Joe Salave'a and wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon with him from
Oregon to Miami. He has also hired Kevin Smith from Mississippi to coach the running backs.
However, the most welcoming hire of Cristobals’ first month at UM was probably his decision to
bring Aaron Feld. Aaron Feld is the juiced, enthusiastic Strength and Conditioning Coordinator
that has been on Cristobals’ staff for the past three years at Oregon. Now, Feld is with the
Hurricanes continuing his #FILLtheSLEEVES mentality with a mustache that can be only
described as remarkable. Cristobal expects to hire more staff in the coming days. Many see him
looking for NFL assistants to hire next on his staff.
With a fan base full with a heavy diet of incredible hires in staff and the dream becoming a
reality of bringing Cristobal back to Miami for the first time since 2006 when he was a O-line
coordinator for the Canes, the only question remains is if it will result in a future powerhouse in
CFB. Only time will tell.
The Future for the Two
With National Signing Day slowly approaching us on February 2nd, both programs in South
Florida have made great strides in their reboot. With a rugged 2021 year of college football in the
Sunshine state, the sun shines well on the Miami coastlines horizon. In the words of the FIU
head coach Mike Maclntrye in his introductory press conference, South Florida IS ready for
some football.
Written by- Brandon Hernandez
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