CORAL GABLES, Fla. — One week before Miami opens its 2026 college football season at Stanford, head coach Mario Cristobal is making one thing clear: He doesn’t want his players thinking of themselves as the hunted.
The Hurricanes reached the CFP National Championship Game last season before coming up short to Indiana and Fernando Mendoza, raising expectations around a program that enters the new season with plenty of attention.
But Cristobal rejected the idea that Miami should view itself as having a target on its back.
“I’ve never subscribed to that narrative. Honestly, if anyone thinks like that or talks like that, they should, they should be tossed out of the building,” said Cristobal. “If anyone is raised like that, they are not wired to be at the University of Miami.”
“Here you wake up every single day thinking ‘I’m gonna do my best to do whatever it takes to be one and know and whatever comes with that.’ The other stuff, the betta, and I mean, we don’t go that route,” he added.
Cristobal’s preferred approach is to remain aggressive rather than allow his players to become consumed with the idea that opponents are coming after them.
The Hurricanes will travel to Stanford for their season opener on Friday.
The full one-on-one interview with Cristobal will air as part of a season-opening kickoff special on Local 10 Thursday night at 8 p.m., ahead of Miami’s opener at Stanford on Friday at 9 p.m.
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