Cristobal: Focus is on the coming season
Following the slaying of running back Kendall Berry, Florida International coach Mario Cristobal says his team has grown closer.
About the ongoing grief following Berry’s death, Cristobal clearly did not want to say much in a preseason videoconference. About the March 25 killing, Cristobal has made very few public comments but he noted that the focus of the team is on the coming season and not the tragedy.
Cristobal said, “Kendall will always be a brother of our family. We’re a strong football team. We’ll always keep him in our mind and we’re looking forward to a great football season.”
Outside the front doors of a recreation center, Berry was stabbed to death on FIU’s main campus. A number of shocked students have witnessed the incident.
Quentin Rashad Wyche has been charged with Berry’s murder. Wyche had once tried out for FIU’s football and he remains held without bond in a Miami jail awaiting trial. About 24 hours after the killing, he turned himself in to police, and court documents show that after he and Wyche fought over Berry’s girlfriend, Berry was stabbed.
As a walk-on last summer, Wyche tried unsuccessfully to make FIU’s team.
Cristobal said, “We’ve had a great offseason. Guys have really been working hard. As you know, one beautiful thing about college football, it always brings groups of young men together with a common goal and a common purpose. These are strong-minded young men that have very, very high standards and goals, and I’ll tell you what, it’s been a great, great offseason.”
On Aug. 9, FIU opens training camp and it starts the new season Sept. 11 against Rutgers. According to the league’s preseason poll, in the Sun Belt Conference this season, the Panthers were picked to finish sixth.
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