Mario Cristobal on now-retired University of Miami men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga: "He is iconic"
Miami football coach Mario Cristobal wants now-retired Miami men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga to do at least one more thing for the Hurricanes.
Cristobal wants him to share all his knowledge.
A day after Larrañaga announced his sudden retirement after 41 years as a collegiate head coach, the last 14 of them at Miami, Cristobal paid tribute Friday while wrapping up preparations for the Hurricanes' appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State.
"Love and respect him," Cristobal said. "I mean, he is iconic. He is legendary. He just put that program on his back and went to work. He will be missed tremendously. I'm going to raid his roster for tight ends and defensive ends. I think he's an exceptional human being. I look forward to getting with him and picking his brain on leadership and on team building and culture and getting him over and having him in front of the guys. I know he always wants to be involved in the University of Miami."
Larrañaga will be offered a position to stay on at Miami in some form, athletic director Dan Radakovich said. It would follow how Miami reacted to women's basketball coach Katie Meier's retirement this past spring; Meier remains at the school as a special assistant to Radakovich and a professor.
Larrañaga became the latest in a long line of college basketball coaches to step away from the game — with at least part of the reason being changes brought on by the Name, Image and Likeness era in college athletics. Larrañaga had spoken out multiple times about the lack of transparency and regulation surrounding NIL and the effect that has on programs.
"You've got to be totally committed," Larrañaga said. "After 53 years, I just felt that I couldn't successfully navigate this whole new world."
Cristobal, speaking Friday at a Pop-Tarts Bowl news conference as he sat alongside Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, understands where Larrañaga is coming from.
"I'm sure we've come across a few things that are not likable, borderline detestable," Cristobal said, as Campbell nodded in agreement. "But we love football more than we love the issues that have arisen due to just changes in the game. ... This period of time, no one knows how long it's going to last, when there's going to be some type of order associated with it. Hopefully this too shall pass, in just the uncertainty of how to navigate. Because there is no handbook. We were probably all groomed by coaches and we worked under people that gave us blueprints that we use, and now that blueprint is out the door and you have to create a new one that is changing every other week."
The Hurricanes are in the process of planning a celebration of Larrañaga's career, one that saw him take Miami and George Mason to the Final Four — and reach the Elite Eight with the Hurricanes in back-to-back seasons.
"You couldn't ask for a better human being and for a leader for our program and young men than Coach L," Cristobal said.