It’s been five years since Dennis Smith joined Mario Cristobal to help rebuild the Miami Hurricanes, and to hear it from his mouth, it’s been quite the undertaking.
Smith, who has been tasked with helping Cristobal manage the football operations and navigate the NIL era of college football, told CBS Sports’ Adam Breneman that he was shocked at the lack of talent he saw on the roster during the first spring practice under Cristobal in 2022. He told Breneman that the lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball were so evident that he and Cristobal needed to use the transfer portal more than they wanted to simply field a competitive team while the high school recruiting plan was being executed.
🚨Out Now🚨I sat down with Miami Football Executive Director Dennis Smith to talk about what it takes to build and sustain a modern college football powerhouse.We discussed his day-to-day role, navigating NIL and revenue sharing, and what it has meant to help build Miami into… pic.twitter.com/Ezb9H6KOnM
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) June 12, 2026
“I just came from a place, Louisiana Tech, where we had 4-5-6 players in Group of Five football, that were better than the players on the field here,” Smith told Breneman in an interview on the ‘Next Up with Adam Breneman show. “I ask myself, ‘how does that happen?'”…