Miami is undefeated but has been tested the last two games. Many are saying Miami is a paper tiger and will soon fall. The Canes will face another tough and well coached team at Louisville this Saturday.
Miami had a bye week last week. In addition to getting healthy, the team had to deal with the mental aspects of two close wins.
On Monday, head coach Mario Cristobal met with the press and shared his thoughts on the mental and physical state of his team. What did they learn after those close games and what does the staff do to prepare them for this week’s challenge?
"I mean, we, first and foremost, you take a real humble approach to the bye week, and you look in the mirror and you say, 'Man, that's that ain't good enough.,”
“And if it's not good enough in a win or a loss, it shouldn't be good enough regardless of that stuff. So I think first and foremost, technique and fundamentals stand out. Eye discipline. There were plays where we allowed explosive plays, particularly last game, and where most of the yardage given up were on explosive plays, and then the plays that we ran really well were really effective. And then on offense, kind of the same thing. When we were off, from a technical, communication standpoint, a fundamental standpoint, then we either gave the ball up or end up punting, and we haven't punted very much this year. So that stands out. We always go right back to coaching, because you have to do that. You have to take it upon yourself. You have to take ownership as a coach, and you've got to make it a point that, not to cover material, but to teach. Very big difference. You know, anyone go out there and say, 'Hey, we covered that in a meeting.' Well, that's BS. Anyone can cover and blab. You got to teach it. And teaching means you're sharing in the learning process, right? And so we feel that we did a much better job getting to the nuts and bolts of what needs to get better.”
“Again, I think the root of all improvement lies in elite teaching as it relates to the game itself, situational football, technique and fundamentals. And we had a very detailed approach to that, and as well as an approach to developing more young talent and increasing the level of competition at each position, to turn up and dial up the levels of urgency at those positions. So, to speak, to eliminate or limit mistakes due to understanding that, 'Hey, there is no free pass.”
“We all are expected to perform.’"
GO CANES!
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