The Miami Hurricanes had one of the best teams in college football and their program history in 2000, being a computer decimal away from playing from another national title.
Mario Cristobal is taking a page from that team’s book to try and improve his defense in 2025 and beyond.
Miami is reportedly hiring Damione Lewis as their new defensive line coach, per multiple outlets.
Miami is expected to hire Damione Lewis as a defensive line coach, sources tell @GabyUrrutia247 and me for @cbssports/@247sports.
Lewis, a former Miami and NFL defensive lineman, has been a defensive line coach the last couple years for Colorado and the Seattle Seahawks.… pic.twitter.com/F90FWtMMOr
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 11, 2025
Lewis wrapped up his four years on the field with the Canes in 2000, where he earned All-Big East honors twice. He was drafted 12th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams.
He had a 10-year career in the NFL with the Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans. He appeared in 141 games with 65 starts at defensive tackle, totaling 277 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, and 23.5 sacks.
He comes to Miami with plenty of experiencing coaching his old position. He coached defensive line in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks from 2020 to 2023 before making the jump to college last season with Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes. The Buffs took a big step forward in sacks in 2024 from the previous season, leading the Big 12 last year with 39.
Now, Mario will have an experienced NFL player and coach to send into living rooms along with Jason Taylor for recruiting purposes, to tell players what it takes to get to the league and how he can help them. Talk about what should be a major recruiting feather in the Canes’ cap moving forward.
Welcome BACK to Coral Gables, Damione!