Head coach Mario Cristobal takes great pride in his staff and his players blocking out the outside noise and expectations. His Miami Hurricanes focus on one game at a time, not on narratives or headlines.
During my week at the ACC Kickoff media days, I had the privilege of speaking with Cristobal, quarterback Darian Mensah, running back Mark Fletcher Jr., and linebacker Mohamed Toure. Each and every one of them used the phrase "1-0" when discussing their goals for the upcoming football season. Every week is an opportunity to go 1-0.
When I asked the Miami contingent about falling just short of the national championship last year, none of them took the bait to reflect on 2025. "It’s a new team," I was repeatedly told, and they are focusing on what’s in front of them, not what’s in the rearview mirror.
While these answers didn’t give me the quotes I hoped to get about last season’s playoff odyssey, I found their mentality refreshing. One of the hallmarks of Mario Cristobal’s philosophy is to keep things simple and focus strictly on what you can control today. His players take that to heart.
Here are some other things I learned about Miami and about the conference at ACC Media Days:
Darian Mensah was a conference-wide talking point, as expected
His transfer from Duke to Miami shortly before the portal deadline was discussed by multiple coaches and players throughout the conference. Mensah spoke openly about Miami’s success with Cam Ward and Carson Beck as major factors in his decision. "The opportunity to compete for a national championship was also a big factor for me as well," he told me in a sit-down interview.
Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi claimed that Miami reached out to his QB, Mason Heintschel, before approaching Mensah. He then says he warned Duke that they were coming after their starter next. I have my doubts about Narduzzi’s recollection of the events and the timeline.
Duke coach Manny Diaz was asked about the Mensah departure and was refreshingly diplomatic in his response. He noted that the question of alleged tampering is "unanswerable" because "you can only say what you can prove." Diaz is completely focused on Duke’s current quarterback and roster.
The ACC changed their conference championship tiebreakers because of Miami
A convoluted and highly criticized system of tiebreakers allowed Duke to reach the ACC Championship Game over Miami and three others in a five-way tie last year. Duke got the nod over Miami with the same 6-2 conference record despite not having faced Miami head-to-head. The Blue Devils had a far worse overall résumé, with five total losses compared to Miami’s two.
The old tiebreakers caused a team inside the top 12 in the CFP rankings to sit home while an unranked team played for a conference title. Had Miami played in that game, the championship would have appeared more credible, and the television ratings would have certainly been higher.
Conference commissioner Jim Phillips announced a new tiebreaker formula at media days. Had this system been in place last year, it would have been Miami facing Virginia in the conference championship game. In the new system, a multi-team tie would be settled by the strength of a team’s overall body of work, as determined by the Sports Source analytics.
We hope Miami doesn’t find themselves in another five-way tie, but if they do, their body of work would get them to Charlotte if it’s strong enough.
The ACC still finds a way to make the easy stuff look difficult
I was dumbfounded when filling out the ACC media ballot for Preseason Player of the Year. Somehow, the conference left Miami WR Malachi Toney, one of the top players in the country, off their ballot for POTY. There was no explanation given for Toney’s absence, which makes me wonder if it was a simple oversight by someone in their tech department.
No matter the reason, leaving off the player who led the conference in receiving yards, receptions, receiving touchdowns, and who was named Conference Rookie of the Year feels unfathomable. Toney has Heisman Trophy odds and found himself on the cover of the EA Sports College Football 27 video game. Despite all that, he apparently isn’t considered a top player by his own conference.
