MARIO CRISTOBAL BIGGEST WIN? STICK AROUND, FIND OUT

Mario Cristobal and his biggest win?

For most people it stands out in a lifetime of effort.

It’s the crowning achievement, the top of the top, and oddly enough it means more to the winner than anyone else.

At least it should.

Take the head football coach at the University of Oregon, for instance.

What is Mario Cristobal’s biggest win?

According to most sources he’s a big winner on the player recruitment trail, earning high marks each year chasing after high school kids who light up Friday night football fields.

Cristobal’s ability to land the Pac-12’s top recruiting class back-to-back-to-back years (2019, 2020 & 2021) and emphasis on player development has resulted in Oregon fielding one of the most talented rosters in the nation. Through Cristobal’s first three seasons, Oregon has produced 37 all-conference selections, 13 NFL Draft choices and six All-Americans, highlighted by three national award winners.

Coach Mario Cristobal sailed into town on the good ship Willie Taggert, the head coach who used Oregon as a stepping stone to his dream job at Florida State.

Instead of dragging the nation for a new coach after Taggert, Oregon stuck with one of the assistants he brought in, Mario Cristobal.

Was it a good decision, or an easy out?

Based on performance, Mario was a good choice.

Now he’s got a dream job lined up in Florida, too? The University of Miami is a step up from Oregon?

Homers Want To Go Home

Cristobal is a University of Miami guy, playing for national championships on Jimmy Johnson’s team before Jimmy stepped up to the Dallas Cowboys.

Let’s agree that the Cowboys are a step up from Miami the same way Oregon was a step up from Cristobal’s last stop.

With coaches coming and going and wiping their feet in Autzen on the way out, is Oregon gaining the right reputation?

Things changed at the school when they brought in Chip Kelly to run the offense.

His rise to prominence included taking over the head coaching work from Mike Bellotti, who got bumped to Athletic Director and then retired as the highest paid member of the Oregon public employees retirement system at the time

He had a good run, a lucrative run that got better for him.

Bellotti, who retired from the University last year to become an analyst for ESPN, receives a monthly pension of $41,341, an annual total of almost $500,000.

His money is his business and no blogger needs to poke around and find out where it all goes. He made a deal and it stuck.

Coach Bellotti was more of a company man who rose through the ranks. He didn’t use Oregon as a stepping stone to his dream job. But what was the company, Nike or UofO?

If it’s Nike, why not relieve PERS of the bag of money bag headed his way each month? Coaches come here to shine under the Nike sun, but the state is on the hook to pay them on the way out?

That’s pretty good business on one hand, and a pretty good burden on the other.

Is there a better way to find balance between public and private interests?

Oregon Ducks Biggest Wins Were Two Losses In The National Championships

The program lost to Auburn under Kelly, then Ohio State under Coach Mark Helfrich before he took a buy-out.

Oregon faced programs that came under scrutiny; Oregon came under scrutiny. The biggest wins, and losses, draw attention.

They also attract top players who want to be part of excitement, which leads to a common problem: Top players come from all around the country and each have their own expectations.

Eighteen players come from Oregon high schools, compared to Alabama with forty one in state players, and Utah with thirty one.

Not to say Oregon has become a football mercenary school, but the numbers are the numbers.

The story goes that Cristobal has recruited players that traditionally pass on Oregon, the big guys.

Those are the big guys who got punished by Fresno State and Utah. Twice. Those are the road graders who plow the field for running back, who protect the quarterback to pass.

Players Play, But What If The Coach Checks Out

I saw Oregon lose to Arizona State in Sun Devil Stadium a couple of years back. Justin Herbert was fielding snaps that arched back to him at the same time the D-Line got to him. Instead of direct, straight, snap from center, he was getting a pop-up all game long.

No change from the coaching staff to correct it.

This past Friday Anthony Brown was having an off-day full of problems. More of an off-night and not the first.

One of the commentators said he was a tough guy based on the two ACL injuries he’d had before he transferred to Oregon. Two ACL injuries in college sounds bad.

And he finished the game instead of getting pulled.

When you see how former Duck Justin Herbert is lighting up the NFL you might ask why he didn’t shine as brightly in college. You should ask that question. How would a coach answer?

Mario Cristobal has brought the hammer to Eugene and he should stick around and swing it longer. Live up to the promises made to bring in the 5-Star players. Be a team guy, not a business guy.

Is it his time to leave with so much on the table for next year?

Today’s headline from the Eugene Register Guard:

Mario Cristobal leaving Ducks to coach Miami Hurricanes

On Saturday, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead accepted the vacant coaching job at Akron. So it is unknown who will coach the Ducks in the team’s bowl game later this month. 

The season ended with the Stanford loss, then it ended with the first Utah loss, and finally ended with the second Utah loss. And it’s still not over.

What is over is Mario Cristobal’s tenure here. Sports King Phil Knight swings a golden scepter, but it wasn’t enough.

Where will the Miami money come from? Here’s one line, and it’s Florida special.