The Miami Hurricanes might have finally made a run for the national title after 23 years of tribulation with their 31-27 win over the Ole Miss Rebels. Still, it was Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal’s absolute crash out as a coach that had become meme material on Twitter and Reddit when things got chaotic near the end of the Fiesta Bowl.

The big play that caused all the fuss was when Miami’s QB, Carson Beck, totally balled out and rushed for a 3-yard touchdown. That score put them up 31-27 with only 18 seconds left on the clock.

You’d think everyone on the sidelines would be jumping for joy, right? You couldn’t get any more wrong than this. One Miami assistant coach was on Cloud 9 and quite literally was all over Mario Cristobal.

The Hurricanes’ head honcho immediately lost his cool on the sidelines, turning to an assistant coach and yelling, “Get off me!”

As harsh and rude as they may sound, the reason for his anger was actually a pure game context: the touchdown was incredible but the game was not over yet by any means.

His assistant might have thought they had it locked up, but Cristobal knew the game was very far from over, and they still had to play defense and stop Trinidad Chambliss from throwing a Hail Mary.

For comparison’s sake, it was actually giving Kobe Bryant’s iconic 2009 NBA Championship quote about locking in, “What’s there to be happy about? The job’s not finished. Is the job finished? I don’t think so.”

Truth be told, the Rebels were this close. With one timeout remaining, Pete Golding’s Rebels got the ball back and actually managed to get within range for a desperate, last-gasp Hail Mary play from near Miami’s 37-yard line. The pressure was absolutely massive for both teams as they lined up for the final play of the game.

Fortunately, DC Corey Hetherman’s defense has performed well, as it has since the playoffs began. They swatted away the Hail-Mary pass attempt in the end zone and sealed the deal with a 31-27 victory. Not going to lie, Chambliss missed the WR by one inch.

It’s safe to say that Cristobal’s fiery attitude totally paid off, keeping everybody laser-focused until the final whistle and sending them straight to the national championship!

To make it more fascinating, Cristobal’s gallantry didn’t end there. Right after the game, the Hurricanes’ HC literally shouted civilians off the podium.

Mario Cristobal gets rid of fans off the podium

During their Fiesta Bowl trophy presentation, Mario Cristobal had a moment that perfectly summed up his “players first” mentality. The podium got totally swamped with fans and random ‘extra’ people who shouldn’t have been there.

Because of that, many of the actual players couldn’t even get on stage to celebrate their first-ever Fiesta Bowl win.

Cristobal wasn’t having it.

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While the announcer was trying to deliver the official presentation and praise the team, the coach was busy clearing the stage. He was shouting at every unauthorized person to get out of the way and make room for his team.

You could clearly hear his dissatisfaction as he asked, “Hey, can we actually get our players up here instead of all these extra people?”

Cristobal made sure the spotlight was on the guys who earned the victory. Right in the middle of all the excitement, he made sure to give “Glory to God.”

In a quick interview clip, he clearly said, “The big man upstairs, thank God for everything. Always, first and foremost, always, always, always.”

Another reason for mutual fans to root for Mario Cristobal against Indiana or Oregon at the natty on January 19.