Fiu's New Football Coach

[SUMG]

MIAMI - Mario Cristobal has been named the Golden Panther’s new football coach, Florida International University athletics officials announced today. Cristobal, former offensive line coach at the University of Miami, is the second head coach in FIU’s brief football history.

“We are very pleased to hire Mario Cristobal as the head coach who will lead this program to higher levels,” FIU Athletic Director Pete Garcia said. “He has all the qualities we were looking for in a head coach -- character, integrity, work ethic and passion. We are confident he will lead this program in a manner that this University, alumni and the South Florida community will be proud of.”

A Miami native and graduate of Christopher Columbus High School, Cristobal, 36, is regarded as one of the top recruiters and coaches in college football. Cristobal comes to FIU from the University of Miami, where he coached the tight ends in 2004 and 2005 before taking over as offensive line coach in 2006 on Larry Coker’s staff. Cristobal took over an offensive line this past season that featured four new starters, including a true sophomore at left tackle and a true freshman at right tackle. Despite coaching a unit wrought with inexperience and riddled by injuries throughout the season, the UM offense saw a 39 percent decrease in sacks given up from 36 to 22, only seven of which the offensive line was deemed responsible for.

Over the last three years Cristobal helped develop tight end Kevin Everett into the Buffalo Bills’ 2005 second round pick, 2006 NFL free agent signee tight end Buck Ortega, and 2006 First Team All-ACC tight end Greg Olsen. Cristobal also mentored true freshman right tackle Jason Fox, a 2006 Rivals.com Second Team Freshman All-American.

“Mario will bring a lot of energy to the table at FIU,” Coker said. “He is a great recruiter and a great coach. Most importantly, he’s a great person. He is a genuine, classy and good person.”

Cristobal played out his high school career at Columbus High School before coming to the University of Miami as an offensive lineman. He played in four bowl games with the Hurricanes, and as a senior in 1992, earned All-Big East honors as an offensive tackle. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Cristobal signed with the Denver Broncos as a free agent and participated in preseason camp. He spent two years playing for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Miami in 1998.

He spent three years at Miami working with the offensive line as a graduate assistant under Butch Davis, who is now the head coach at North Carolina.

“Mario Cristobal is an exceptional man with a great passion for football and people,” Davis said. “He is an excellent recruiter and coach who has been around great football programs and I believe is an excellent choice for FIU. Coach Cristobal will make a huge impact on the program and will be dynamic in South Florida.”

Cristobal moved on to Rutgers as the tight ends and offensive line coach under head coach Greg Schiano in 2001. He was credited with helping bring Rutgers back to respectability from records of 2-9 and 1-11 to a 5-7 mark in 2003, their best year since 1998. Cristobal also mentored tight end L.J. Smith, who was a drafted in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003.

“I knew early in my relationship with Mario that someday he would be a head coach,” Schiano said. “FIU has landed a great man for the job.”

In 2004, Cristobal returned to his alma mater and joined Miami as the tight ends coach before taking over the offensive line in 2006.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Sounds like a great hire for FIU. Will probably bring a lot of talent to the table but I am unsure about his abilities as a coaching mind in terms of developing overall strategies. It will be interesting to see who he brings in as coordinators.