Nick Saban is a college football legend, having won seven national championships between 2003 and 2020. Now, some of the other coaches who worked closely with him are looking to win their first, including Miami’s Mario Cristobal.
Cristobal is one win away from doing so, after he guided the Hurricanes to a thrilling victory in the late stages of the Fiesta Bowl over Ole Miss.
Quarterback Carson Beck ran in the game-winning touchdown, and Miami’s defense prevented Trinidad Chambliss from completing a miraculous Hail Mary touchdown in the final seconds, although pass interference debates rage on.
However, Ole Miss seemingly had the Hurricanes on the ropes a few times, which raised red flags among analysts about their mistake-prone play. In contrast, a potential opponent like the Indiana Hoosiers played nearly flawless football this season.
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With Cristobal’s victory in the books, he appeared on ESPN for a video chat with the College GameDay panel. Saban didn’t hesitate to call out his former associate head coach for some things he noticed during the Fiesta Bowl.
“You should have been ahead two scores by the half, no question about it. The two minutes before the half where they stole three points…you should’ve never let them get the ball back,” Saban said as he critiqued Cristobal.
“What the hell are you doing?” one of Saban’s ESPN co-stars asked from off-camera.
“Look, coach, I hate to stop you, but let me correct you as by your standards, and I’ll show you your notebook if you want to. If you are under 45 and you try to pop a run or a screen, and if you do, you go, but with over a minute, and especially a minute and 10 seconds, your philosophy was to be aggressive and try to get points,” Cristobal fired back at Saban.
“That’s what we did, so there you go,” the Miami head coach said, pointing his finger at the camera.
“I may have changed my philosophy some,” Saban responded as his colleagues laughed over the remarks.
The humorous exchange went viral on social media, racking up over 12,000 likes on X with numerous comments reacting to the former coach and his student.
“Cristobal coming in hot! 😂 That clapback is pure gold, love the energy on College GameDay!” one X commenter wrote.
“Nothing better than Saban and his former coaches ribbing each other. Delivers every time,” another commenter said.
“Love the coach banter – Saban’s notebook must be intense!” another commenter wrote on X.
After working at FIU and being fired, Cristobal became the associate head coach, offensive line coach, and recruiting coordinator under Saban at Alabama from 2013 through 2016. Interestingly, he opted for the job after getting hired first as Miami’s associate head coach and tight ends coach.
The coaches exchanged plenty of value while they worked together. As Saban mentored Cristobal, his associate head coach also proved himself to be the top recruiting coordinator, ranking No. 1 in the national 247Sports.com composite rankings every year he worked at Alabama.
Since then, Cristobal’s gone on to become head coach at Miami and has his Hurricanes just one win away from a national championship. He’s received plenty of advice and criticism from Saban and will likely continue to credit his former mentor as he remains in the spotlight.
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