Miami's Mario Cristobal Seems To Take Subtle Jab At Florida Gators Ahead Of Week 1 Clash

It's not often that the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators meet on the field. That's why the Week 1 matchup between the two will be must-see. Well, that, among other reasons.

Whether or not the two meet on the gridiron, the Canes and Gators are always in a battle against one another in recruiting as they are in the prospect hotbed in the state of Florida.

Quite often, both of these teams are in a battle for some of the top recruits in the country. That was no different two years ago with four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada.

Rashada had offers from all over the country but originally committed to Miami in June 2022. Though less than six months later, he decommitted and chose the Gators. But that didn't last long either.

Once the winter transfer portal window opened, Rashada quickly left Florida for Arizona State, with many questioning exactly what happened.

It was later revealed that Rashada was enticed to come to Florida when he was offered a four-year, $13.85 million contract to sign with the Gator Collective, a now-defunct organization that offered name, image, and likeness deals (NIL).

But after the organization went under, Rashada was said to have allegedly not only lost the $500,000 signing bonus from the collective but also nearly $10 million that he originally had in place with a Miami booster, per The Athletic .

The now Georgia quarterback also claims that Florida head coach Billy Napier vouched that certain Florida alumni would make good on their promises and that Rashada would receive $1 million by signing on the Gators' National Signing Day.

Rashada has since filed a lawsuit, seeking damages of around $10 million. Napier and two others have since filed a motion to dismiss Rashada's suit.

Meanwhile, at ACC Media Days, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal seemingly took a subtle shot at his upcoming opponent and their collective, while praising their own.

“In terms of NIL, we have a really, really not only an excellent NIL program but one that is completely and utterly responsible and accountable all the time,” Mario Cristobal said. “They run it like an unbelievable business.”

While on The Joe Rose Show , Cristobal added, "NIL has been around a long, long time, it's just actually legal now. Those out there complaining and everything, or anything else, I don't care, they're not my concern, I have no comments about them. Even though I just did. For us, the focus on Miami, we do it the right way, we have a great NIL program. And the truth of the matter is, the people involved do such a good job that it allows us to run free and clean and efficiently and focus on the things that are important."

The 2022 season was Cristobal's first at Miami, so he was just getting reacquainted back at his alma mater. Since then, his recruiting efforts, coupled with NIL offerings, have vastly improved the Canes' roster. Currently, Miami has the No. 9 ranked recruiting class in 2025. This season, they bring in the No. 5 ranked class, while last year, they had the No. 8 class.

The Canes and Gators will faceoff in Gainesville at Ben-Hill Griffin Stadium on Aug. 31 at 3:30 p.m.