CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — A man drove past where the buses that carried the Miami Hurricanes back to their campus on Friday afternoon, windows rolled down on his vehicle and he was smiling as he honked his horn over and over and over again.
It was Miami coach Mario Cristobal.
Yes, he allowed himself a few moments of joy.
Cristobal and the Hurricanes are back home, where they’ll stay for the remainder of the season. They’ll be the visiting team — as the lower seed — in the College Football Playoff championship game against Indiana, a 56-22 winner over Oregon in the Peach Bowl, at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, meaning they’ll be on the sideline opposite the one they usually occupy. The plan is that they will get to use their regular locker room, though.
“We’re progressing at an unbelievable rate,” Cristobal said in the parking lot before driving away — and before he signed dozens of autographs and took dozens of selfies with fans who showed up to welcome the team home from their Fiesta Bowl win over Mississippi on Thursday night. “Our guys are fighting through injury. They’re fighting for each other. They’re doing a great job, just keeping focused on being a great team. We’re playing for each other and for the University of Miami.”
Miami (13-2, No. 10 seed in the CFP) is playing a championship game on its home field for the fifth time. The Hurricanes won national titles at the now-demolished Orange Bowl to cap the 1983, 1987 and 1991 seasons — Cristobal played in that 1991 game — then lost a title game at the Orange Bowl to wrap up the 1994 season.
Players arrived shortly after Cristobal and were mobbed in a similar fashion, some stopping for photos and quick chats, others being whisked away relatively quickly. Cristobal said he had a meeting to get to Friday evening; other coaches like offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said they were looking forward to a couple of hours off to rest up.
By Saturday at the football complex, it’ll be back to work for the coaches.
“We’re beyond excited to be able to come back home and play one more time at Hard Rock,” Cristobal said. “It’s the final chapter for the season, right? We’ll have an opportunity to determine how that chapter ends.”
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