Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal takes a not-so-subtle dig at Nick Saban for leaving the Miami Dolphins
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban left quite a few South Florida sports fans seething back on January 3, 2007. And on Saturday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal gave the college football great a very clear reminder about it. Cristobal joined the College Gameday crew on set on Saturday morning in Berkeley, California, where […]
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban left quite a few South Florida sports fans seething back on January 3, 2007. And on Saturday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal gave the college football great a very clear reminder about it.
Cristobal joined the College Gameday crew on set on Saturday morning in Berkeley, California, where the Canes are taking on the California Bears at 10:30 pm ET. When Saban was talking about how Cristobal – who worked under Saban at Alabama – used his Spanish and was able to land the Crimson Tide some South Florida players, the latter used the opportunity to get in a quick jab at his former boss.
""When we used to go recruiting in Miami, when he was on the staff, every school we went in, he talked Spanish, "Saban said. "I didn't know what was happening, but we got some players."
"I was protecting him from the Dolphin fans," quipped Cristobal.
On January 3, 2007, Saban announced he was taking the head coaching job at the University of Alabama. That came just two weeks after Saban went on a now-famous rant about how he wasn't going to take the Alabama job while being mildly contentious to the local media for even bringing up the issue.
"I'm not going to be the Alabama coach," Saban said on December 21, 2006. "I shouldn't even have to comment on this. I think I've said this over and over and over again."
The response from Cristobal on Saturday likely hit home in a good way with Dolphins fans, even to this day. It doesn't matter how much time has gone by; many Miami fans still feel as though the legendary Alabama coach did the Dolphins wrong on that day almost 18 years ago. It's a wound that hasn't healed for some, especially since Saban unquestionably made the right move for his career while the Dolphins have continued to mire in mediocrity ever since.
Many Hurricanes fans are also understandably Dolphins fans, so Cristobal surely scored some points for the latter on Saturday while also probably making himself a touch more popular with the former as well.
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