Lance Guidry fired: Why did Mario Cristobal dismiss its DC?

The Miami Hurricanes have fired defensive coordinator Lance Guidry after a disappointing season.

Guidry had been the Hurricanes DC for two seasons, and its defense cost Miami a chance in the 2024 College Football Playoff. Before joining Miami, he was the DC at Marshall for two seasons.

Why did Miami fire Lance Guidry?

Miami coach Mario Cristobal announced he fired Lance Guidry on Tuesday.

Guidry's defense was a major issue for the Hurricanes in 2024. Miami allowed 23.9 points per game, ranking 60th best in the country. However, in Atlantic Coast Conference play, Miami allowed 30.8 ppg, ranking 14th.

The defense fell flat in a must-win game against Syracuse giving up 479 yards of offense and 42 points. Then, in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the defense allowed 42 points to Iowa State so Cristobal decided to move on, as the defense was a big issue in 2024.

"I want to first thank Coach Guidry for his contributions to the University of Miami," Mario Cristobal said in a statement, via 247Sports. "In a continuous effort to always improve all aspects of our program, I have decided to make a change on defense.

We will move forward and make decisions that provide our players, staff and program the best opportunity to win and develop at the highest level."

Overall, Guidry's unit allowed nine plays that went for at least 50 yards on the season, which ranked 107th in the country, as the Hurricanes couldn't stop the big plans. The unit also took a massive step back from 2023 as Miami allowed 22.8 ppg, so Cristobal decided to make the change to hopefully improve its defense in 2025.

The move comes after Cristobal was critical of the team's defense after the Pop-Tarts Bowl loss.

"When we win, we win as a team," Cristobal said, via 247 Sports. "When we lose, we lose as a team, as well. When you look at certain aspects of our game, yeah there were some issues. Sometimes it's communication and sometimes it's alignment.

Obviously, it's nowhere near where what is the standard for us. Now, when we go in there and as a team and we are in the middle of a game, we don't harp on that. We don't blame. We just keep going forward, and we try to make things work. But yeah, there were some issues, and it's not acceptable."

Miami finished the year going 10-2 in the regular season and lost its bowl game.