Mario Cristobal and Carson Beck created a storm in college football earlier this year. Beck left Kirby Smart behind at Georgia to pursue a $4 million NIL deal in Miami. The star QB is expected to display his talents as a Hurricane at his last stint in college football. However, Cristobal could use one particular approach to ensure that Beck delivers upon all the expectations with which he was brought in. That, and there’s some serious work awaiting him on the other side of the ball. Without addressing these strongly, Cristobal will not have it easy to reach better records in 2025.
April is here, and so is the approaching spring transfer portal. For the last time, before the season begins, programs will bet all they have to get some serious power into their rosters. Mario Cristobal easily had a steal of a deal when he got Beck at Miami. In his 2024 season, Beck amassed 3,485 passing yards, a pass completion percentage of 64.7%, and 28 touchdowns. However, Cristobal lacks some serious talent in the WR room, which is crucial to helping Beck execute the skills he’s known for. So, with the onset of April, the HC has an opportunity knocking on his doors.
Insider Brian Smith shared how Cristobal could look to address his problem. In an April 3 episode of Locked on Canes, he said, “[S]peaking to somebody close to Miami program, receiver is obviously a spot. They just don’t have experience.” Cristobal lost key receivers like Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George, and Sam Brown Jr. to this year’s draft. The remaining talent, under CJ Daniels, are sophomores JoJo Trader and Ny Carr. “They do need to get somebody that can come in and help.” Cristobal has some very young talents currently on his roster, with Trader recording just 61 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in his collegiate career so far.
Promise and talent are one thing, but Cristobal will need a receiver that can harmonize with those of Beck. “We’ve heard good things about Jojo and all that, but they need depth. And they need somebody they can rely on,” Smith said. He also added, “I’m sure Carson Beck would like to get at least one guy that’s been a starter in the SEC or something like that to come over. It shouldn’t be that hard to sell Miami’s offense, because they’re one player away from being explosive again.”
Carson Beck needs some serious help from Miami’s WRs. Collectively, the returnees have 173 receptions. The lone star so far seems to be Daniels, who is yet to join spring practice.
Cristobal cannot let the Beck transfer be the sole talking point of the Canes’ 2025 season. He needs a solid plan to make his WR room look more sturdy because it is far from that at the moment. On the defense, too, the HC has to plug some serious gaps to not have a repeat of the 2024 season.
Mario Cristobal has his work cut out to improve his defense
Miami was one stop away from getting a chance at fighting for the ACC championship title last year. The Cam Ward’s brilliance couldn’t overshadow the problems Cristobal had with the defense. During the Syracuse game, the defense collapsed against a much stronger Orange offense. A particular problem was the poor secondary, along with an underwhelming pass rush and linebacking.
This year, Cristobal is making things right by having new DC Cory Heatherman on board. However, On3’s J.D. PicKell thinks that the work is far from over for the HC. “My point [is that] Miami doesn’t have worlds to go on defense. They don’t have to totally be the 85 Bears if you will; they just have to be better. If you’re better on defense and your offense is maybe a step back from what they were last year, Miami is going to be in that conversation to win the ACC.” After all, the offense cannot be the only star of a football program. Miami’s defense was so poor that it couldn’t be hidden by its offensive greatness.
Cristobal will be entering his third season at Miami. Like every other program coach, he, too, will be setting his eyes on the ultimate goals of a conference and championship win. But that won’t happen unless Cristobal readily improves his defense to par, and there is a strong WR room to allow Beck to lead the offense to greatness.
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