APDuring the latest spinning of the coaching carousel, Mario Cristobal’s name was attached to a handful of openings, most notably the vacant head-coaching jobs at Rutgers and Pittsburgh.
As a result of that interest, FIU confirmed in late December that it was aggressively pursuing a new deal for Cristobal. Six months later, it appears that aggressiveness will pay off — until the next coach-hiring cycle, of course.
According to the Miami Herald, FIU is “closing in on” a new contract for Cristobal that will involve both a raise and extension. Cristobal is currently signed through the 2016 season, and he made $497,000 in 2011.
How much of a bump and the length of the extension remains to be seen.
The 41-year-old Cristobal, who was just given a raise and extension in August of last year, has spent the past five seasons as the Panthers head coach, compiling a record of 24-38, although his teams are 15-11 in the past two seasons. He also led FIU to its first Sun Belt Conference title in 2010.
In addition to Rutgers and Pitt, Cristobal had also drawn the interest of Houston and Southern Miss. He was also one of the early betting favorites as a permanent replacement for Bobby Petrino at Arkansas.
How can a school that doesn’t have any fan base pay a coach half a mil?
Cristobal is such a wimp. He had a chance to actually coach bigger time programs for even more money but he turned them down. He does not want to leave South Florida. “Mario, Mario asienda mey….tu sey provionos sfacheem!” And he IS!!!
The Auburn folks will have to call a professor at THE U. of South Carolina, International Department for the translation. This saying was spoken in Italian by the great Bob Grant! The only Romance Language spoken at Auburn is “speaking in tongues.”
thegamecocker,
Sometimes internal thoughts should not be outwardly expressed…not even on the comment section of collegefootballtalk.
@thegamecocker: Cristobal has the perfect situation at FIU. South Florida? Check. At a school where he can build a legacy, not follow in someone’s footsteps? Yep. Able to recruit enough talent and win enough games to meet or exceed the expectations of fans and University bigwigs alike? Indeed. Making an acceptable amount of money? Yes. To throw all of that away for a job at Pitt or Rutgers would be clearly indicate brain damage on his part.
Shouldn’t be long before he starts kicking Miami’s sorry ass.
I have nothing against FIU. Cristobal in my opinion is an egocentric BS artist. And anyone who thinks FIU will kick Miami’s ass is not rationale.
@fatcamper
Stay FAT – FOOL!
Cristobal should strike while the iron is hot. He’s likely to have back to back losses to Duke hanging around his neck by September of this year.
Gamecocker please don’t be mad at 35 longinches because after all he is our most loyal fan. Who else would always not only trolling on Miami news stories but also feel the need to mention Miami on other articles. I think he is by far our best fan.
The lack of traction given the sparse number of comments re this article/topic says it all. I’ve posted 3 times about this and I represent 33 1/3% ! Critsobal will earn a nice paycheck there but will never be a big-time, high-profile coach.
Plus, who wants to play for “Fashion Institute”? (That’s a joke Auburn followers).