Two coaches. One stage. A roast nobody had on their 2026 bingo card. Mario Cristobal and Kirby Smart shared the spotlight at the Steve Spurrier Awards in Gainesville, Florida, on Monday, and what started as a lighthearted evening turned into a back-and-forth that CFB Twitter is still picking apart. Smart threw the first punch. Cristobal hit back. But not everything landed the way the Miami head coach intended.
Kirby Smart was smiling. That much was visible. But on Feb. 24, college football insider Ari Wasserman posted on X what the room probably already sensed, Smart was “laughing but you know he was enraged inside.”
Kirby Smart was laughing but you know he was enraged inside
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) February 24, 2026
They started with Carson Beck. Cristobal, on stage with Smart in the building, went straight for the quarterback. Smart couldn’t get over the hump. Beck transferred to Miami, went 13-3, threw for 3,813 yards and 30 touchdowns, and dragged the Hurricanes to the national championship game. “That’s a great piece right there to watch what a player like Carson Beck can do with great coaching,” Cristobal said. The implication was obvious. Smart built him. Cristobal finished him…