Miami HC Mario Cristobal on CFP Title Loss: Hurricanes Will 'Use It' as 'Fuel'

They had the ball in their possession with the chance to claim the program's first championship since the 2001 season, but the Miami Hurricanes came up short in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night — on their home turf at Hard Rock Stadium, no less — losing to the Indiana Hoosiers, 27-21.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal wants his team to remember this moment. 

"I'll take full blame for it. We were one drive short of winning the National Championship. I do see pain in moments like this, and we should. If we're a competitor that's worth anything, you feel it, and you use it. You give those feelings a direction," Cristobal said after Miami's crushing championship loss in his postgame press conference. "I know the guys coming back will, and I know that the guys moving on will also use that as fuel."

The Hurricanes, who claimed the No. 10 seed in the College Football Playoff, previously beat the No. 7-seeded Texas A&M Aggies at College Station in the first round (10-3), followed by beating the No. 2-seeded and defending-champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinals (24-14) and the No. 6-seeded Ole Miss Rebels in the semifinal round (31-27).

In all, Miami finished the 2025 season at 13-3 overall and 6-2 in ACC play, marking its second consecutive double-digit-winning season under Cristobal, who became the Hurricanes' head coach for the 2022 season; Miami is a combined 35-19 since he took over.

As for looming departures, quarterback Carson Beck, running back Mark Fletcher Jr., wide receivers Keelan Marion and CJ Daniels, defensive linemen Akheem Mesidor, Rueben Bain Jr. and Ahmad Moten and defensive backs Jakobe Thomas and Keionte Scott are among the many Hurricanes players likely off to the NFL.

Cristobal was previously the head coach at Oregon from 2017-21, with the Ducks going a combined 35-13, and the head coach at Florida International from 2007-12, with the Golden Panthers going a combined 27-47. Cristobal was the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama under head coach Nick Saban in-between his first and second head-coaching positions from 2013-16.

Cristobal taking over at Miami was personal, as the former offensive tackle was part of two Hurricanes title teams (1989 and 1991) across his four seasons with the program from 1989-92. Following Miami's 2001 national title campaign, the Hurricanes posted just three double-digit-winning seasons through the 2021 season (2002, 2003 and 2017), which was the last year under previous head coach Manny Diaz.

Where does Miami now stand in the college football hierarchy?

"They had the guts, the faith and the trust to look at a place that was a complete mess and say, 'I'm going to be a man of action; I'm going to make things real; I'm going to make the University of Miami a prominent program once again, and we're going to win, and we're going to win big, and we're going change the culture, and that's not easy,'" Cristobal said about his players and the future of the Hurricanes' program after the game. "I lot of people look at that and shy away from it. These guys are legitimate big-time human beings. They're going to be awesome fathers and husbands and leaders of the community way beyond football.

"I think everybody associated with the University of Miami and, really, even if you're a college football fan, you got to be fans of these guys because these guys represent the way it's supposed to be done."

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