The college football world is one week removed from five-star Jackson Cantwell announcing his commitment to Miami (FL) over Georgia. By now everyone knows how surprising this decision was because most recruiting experts thought Georgia was the clear leader heading into Cantwell's commitment date. However, at the end of the day none of that matters, all that matters is that Cantwell is headed south to Miami.
Georgia fans were not happy after Cantwell's decision, mainly because reports surfaced about a last second increase to Miami's NIL offer that could have swayed his decision. Cantwell had no choice but to push back against this because it does put him in somewhat of a bad light, but he is no longer the only person claiming his decision had nothing to do with NIL.
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal recently came to Cantwell's defense as well, and in doing so he may have taken a shot at Georgia fans as well as Kirby Smart in the process.
“You see all that noise and trash? There’s an example of what’s irrelevant in life.”
Was this a fair response from Mario Cristobal?
Smart previously made an eye opening comment after Cantwell's decision, saying that no freshman will ever come to Georgia and expect to make more than his veteran seniors. While Smart didn't specifically call out Miami or Cantwell, it seems like that message was directed at them.
Cristobal also did not mention Georgia or Smart specifically either, but this definitely seems like a response to Smart's statement. This also seems like a direct message to Georgia fans (and the rest of the country for that matter) because everyone outside of Miami believes Cantwell's decision was driven by money.
It's unlikely that Smart or Cristobal will comment further on this subject, but it is quite interesting to see two power four head coaches go back and forth like this. But when it comes to Cristobal and Smart having the right to say these things and defend their programs, there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of them doing this.