Miami Hurricanes head football coach Mario Cristobal made some waves this week by announcing that he is doing away with the “Turnover Chain” that has become a staple of the team’s sideline during games.
Cristobal said this week that the team is moving in a direction where they don’t need it anymore. Appearing on ESPN’s First Take, Cristobal was asked to elaborate on that.
The Hurricanes head coach then explained that his goal at Miami is to “establish a standard” and “reestablish our DNA” to compete for a championship.
“We have to establish a standard,” Cristobal said. “We have to reestablish our DNA, where everything is done on a championship level.”
Nowhere in that statement did Cristobal explicitly say why the Turnover Chain had to be done away with in order to achieve that goal though.
The Turnover Chain was first introduced as an idea by Manny Diaz during the 2017 Miami season. Jeweler AJ “King of Bling” Machado turned it into a reality – a 36-inch, 5-5 pound, 10-karat gold Cuban link necklace with a gem-encrusted “U” charm.
Over the next few years, it would become a prominent member of the Miami sidelines whenever the defense forced a turnover. The Turnover Chain was also redesigned several times in the process.
But for whatever reason, Mario Cristobal feels it’s a detriment to what he’s building in Miami.
It may be years before the Turnover Chain is brought to the sidelines again. Maybe never.