Mario Cristobal's One Month Vacation In Miami

        Mario Cristobal is a Miami born man who played offensive line at the University of Miami from 1989-1992. He was a part of two national championship winning teams (89 & 91) and served as an assistant coach from 2004-2006 at Miami before leaving to become head coach of FIU's football program. At FIU he did a great job building a team and a even better job of recruiting south Florida, winning FIU's first ever conference championship in the Sun Belt Conference. Also he took his team to 2 bowl games, winning in the Little Ceasers Pizza bowl in 2010, but losing in 2011 in the Beef O Brady's bowl. On December 5th, 2012 Cristobal was relieved of his position as head coach at FIU. On January 10th, 2013 Mario was hired at The University Of Miami as a tight ends coach, assistant head coach & recruiting coordinator. 

        As of today February 18th reports are telling us that Mario Cristobal will accept job that the University of Alabama has offered him as an offensive line coach under Nick Saban. Alabama will be paying him 3x the salary he was going to make at Miami. I've been reading peoples opinions on the situation all day and I feel the need to state mine and why I think Cristobal leaving to Alabama is a cowardly move on his part.

1. Money- From my understanding this is the number one reason why Cristobal is leaving for Tuscaloosa, reports say he is going to make 3x as much as he was going to make a Miami. One thing that most people are not aware of is that he still has a contract with FIU through 2017 and is still getting paid from that contract about $525,000 a year. That paycheck + the paycheck Miami is giving him as an assistant head coach is a lot of money, a seven figure income. Mario is giving up his hometown and a job at his alma mater, for a few more grand a year. There's one thing I know for sure and it's that Cristobal can't live on the water with a yacht in his backyard in the middle of Alabama. I'm just saying, if it's me I stay loyal to a place where I have spent my entire life at rather than turning my back to it.         
2. Nick Saban- Another reason people are saying why he left is to gain experience under head coach Nick Saban. I'm sorry but wasn't he already a head coach? He literally took a program that was broken and led them to two bowl games and a conference championship. If the reason he want to go to Alabama is to coach UNDER Saban then he is literally backing down. If he is there to build his resume like other people are implying, that leads me to my next point.           
3. Alabama Brand- Lets Understand something, Alabama does not NEED Mario Cristobal. The main reason he is there is for Alabama to have a presence in south Florida recruiting, and in my opinion they don't need him for that either all you have to tell the kid is that you've won 3 of the last 4 college football championships. What sounds more impressive to you on a coaching resume, winning a championship at a school that has won 3 out of the last 4 championships....without you, or winning a championship at UM who hasn't won a title in over a decade with kids that you have recruited onto the team? What I'm saying is winning at a school that is on the rise but not yet at the level of Alabama currently is going to look better on your resume in the long run.                                                                                                                              

         Cristobal leaving will not hurt in house, it's pretty much just a slap in the face to us fans. We still have tremendous recruiters at UM and the hiring of Coley makes this a little more comforting. Coaches come & go but the #CanesFam is here forever.