The Miami Hurricanes play either the Oregon Ducks or Indiana Hoosiers in the CFP title game
Throughout their run to the CFP title game, the Miami Hurricanes received plenty of support from former players.
Several alums, including Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin and Jarrett Payton, were in attendance for the playoff run. After the Hurricanes defeated the Ole Miss Rebels in the semifinals, coach Mario Cristobal expressed his appreciation for the support from the old school
"I was a graduate assistant coach when those guys were freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, and saw how hard they worked to get Miami on track back then," Cristobal said. "So seeing guys like that, seeing guys that maybe weren't popular and big names back in the day, just seeing our alumni around is awesome for them, because a lot of these guys grew up watching some of these guys, or saw some of the highlights of them, because it's been so long. Again, we're the tightest -- we pride ourselves of being the best brotherhood in college football. I know these guys appreciate it."
The Hurricanes play either the Oregon Ducks or Indiana Hoosiers in the title game at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami hasn't played for a championship since 2003 when it lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. All of this comes after some felt the Hurricanes didn't deserve a berth in the CFP ahead of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish or Texas Longhorns.
CRISTOBAL ON THE VICTORY
The Miami Hurricanes are back in the national championship game for the first time since 2003.
They knocked off the Ole Miss Rebels Thursday in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs. After the game, Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal addressed the outcome of the game.
"Honestly, football isn't complicated; people are," Cristobal said. "When you start jumping offsides and you get some of these pre-snap penalties, you complicate things for yourself. I think it's the simplicity of these guys. They know exactly who they are, and they know what it took to get us to this point and they were not settling for getting to this point just to get here. 1-0 was the objective. They weren't going to let anything get in the way. So all they did was do what they do every single day on the Greentree Practice Field and did it to an elite level to finish the game. Again, I can't speak more highly or proudly enough of them and their resilience."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of MiamiRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com.