Former Hurricane Mario Cristobal Named 2015 National Recruiter of Year
A Miami Hurricane was named the top recruiter in America for the class of 2015 by ESPN and Scout. Unfortunately for Canes fans, that guy is bringing his haul of elite talent back to Alabama, where Mario Cristobal serves as offensive line coach and assistant head coach.
Cristobal, the former Canes offensive lineman (1989-1992) and head coach at FIU (2007-2012), is making a massive impact on the recruiting trail, landing three five-star recruits this year alone. Two of his crop includes some of South Florida's finest in receiver Calvin Ridley (four star) and defensive back Shawn Burgess-Becker (five star), both out of Coconut Creek.
Cristobal actually joined Al Golden's staff as an assistant coach at Miami for a brief time in 2013, but Saban snagged him a month later to fill their coaching void on the offensive line left by Jeff Stoutland when he joined the Eagles.
Before his comically brief stint as an assistant at Miami, Cristobal inherited an 0-12 dumpster fire of a football team at FIU. He led the program to seven wins and its first ever bowl game berth in 2010, beating Toledo in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. He tallied eight wins the next season, but after the Panthers went 3-9 in 2012, he was shockingly relieved of his coaching duties after one down season despite being the coach to drag the program to relevance.
Considering his notorious impact recruiting and looking at the history of Nick Saban's coaching tree, it appears to be only a matter of time before another program gives Cristobal the reins to their football program.
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