Thursday night marks the start of the 2025 NFL Draft, with night one covering the first round, as 32 players will have their dreams come true. Already underway, the draft began as many expected, with Miami Hurricanes star Cam Ward going first overall to the Tennessee Titans. While a monumental night for Ward, who looks to be the franchise quarterback for Tennessee, there are plenty of others who benefit from Ward’s selection Thursday night.
One of those people is Mario Cristobal, the Miami Hurricanes head coach who just finished his third season with the Hurricanes after serving as the Oregon Ducks head coach prior. Not only does Cristobal get to use Ward’s success as a recruiting tool, as it definitely played a part in them landing Carson Beck, but Ward’s selection puts Cristobal on an elite college football coaching list.
As shared by 247Sports’ Gaby Urrutia, Cristobal becomes just the fourth active head coach in college football to produce multiple first round quarterbacks. The other coaches include Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, and USC’s Lincoln Riley. Cristobal’s other first round quarterback was at Oregon when Justin Herbert was selected sixth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Three of college football's best coaches, with Day and Swinney both being National Championship winners, Cristobal will not only get to add that accomplishment to his bio, but use it for recruiting as mentioned. Already regarded as an elite recruiter, high schoolers and college transfers will now recognize that Cristobal has a proven track record of producing quality quarterbacks.
As mentioned with Beck, he’ll look to see a similar trajectory as Ward, as Beck would’ve likely been a mid-round pick had he not withdrawn from the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, he heads to Miami with not only pressure to lead the team to success, but bounce back after a 2024 season that had its handful of rocky moments.
Even if Beck doesn’t turn into a first round pick in 2026, the Hurricanes might have themselves one at offensive tackle as former five-star Francis Mauigoa heads into the 2025 college football season as one of the most promising offensive linemen in the sport.
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