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Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal may have more job security than perhaps any coach in the nation.
That’s despite the fact that Cristobal made perhaps the worst coaching error in the history of organized football on Saturday night.
Cristobal tried to explain away his decision to run the ball (resulting in a fumble) rather than taking a knee late in the Canes’ dramatic loss to Georgia Tech.
But his explanation didn’t exactly make sense.
“When the drive started it was going to be 1:57; we took 1:27 off, it was recalibrated,” he said. ” We should have taken a timeout. I thought he was getting the first down. We talked about two hands on the ball, but that’s not good enough. That’s it. (We) fumbled the ball at 25 and they went 75 yards in two plays.”
Okay, but why didn’t you take a knee?
The baffling decision led many fans to call for Cristobal, who is a Miami native and Miami graduate, to be fired in just his second season at the helm of the Hurricanes.
But there’s one major problem that could prevent that.
Cristobal signed a 10-year, $80 million contract prior to the 2022 season. Miami reportedly paid the University of Oregon in the area of $9 million to buyout his contract with the Ducks.
A large chunk of that money came from Miami mega-donor John Ruiz.
Ruiz is the CEO of LifeWallet, a company once valued at $32 billion. He’s also the driving force between the Hurricanes’ vast NIL program.
Oh, and he’s also under federal investigation for potentially misrepresenting his company’s value to potential investors.
Cristobal has eight years and $62 million remaining on his contract following this season. Miami would likely need to buyout the entirety of that $62 million should it choose to move on from the coach.
And the man in charge of financing much of the deal may well be broke.
So, Canes fans, you better buckle in. Because Mario Cristobal probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.