SIAP - OT - Cristobal takes off the interim tag
http://www.nbcsports.com/northwest/oregon-ducks/breaking-oregon-name-mario-cristobal-new-head-coach
About 70 Oregon players signed a petition lobbying for Cristobal to take over the program. He was named interim coach for the team's Dec. 16 meeting with Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The push now is to keep defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt on as defensive coordinator. He wanted to replace Taggart as head coach, so it will be interesting to see if he is willing to remain at Oregon given that he was passed over for another assistant.
December 8th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^
Basically the AD picked Cristobal to appease the current players and salvage one recruiting class.
He’s unproven, and could bolt back east at some point just like Taggart did.
I expect them to be hiring again in 3 years or less.
December 8th, 2017 at 7:58 PM ^
December 8th, 2017 at 8:43 PM ^
The guys had one stint as a HC and went 27-47. They went 7-5 this year. Offense was alright but he didn’t even call the plays. His offensive line was a heavily penalized group. He won’t be calling plays for Oregon next year either, sounds like Arroyo will be doing that.
He’s a good recruiter, but can he continue to bring kids from the SE to Oregon? History says no. So he’s a CEO type coach with almost no track record. Brady Hoke style.
And the worst part for Oregon is that he’s from Florida! You’d think they would have learned from Willie, but nope. Mario was even talking about his mom in Miami during the introductory press conference. As soon as a big job opens in the SE that guy is gone. That’s if Oregon doesn’t have to fire him first.
December 9th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^
People expect them to throw Nike money at big names, but they don't. Their answer to fix a horrible defense was to hire Hoke at $600K. Probably less than half of the SEC average for DCs.
Cristobal has a pretty good resume, no need for a bidding war and they deal could be done right away. The player support was a nice bonus that the AD can point to when people say they should have gone after a bigger name.
December 8th, 2017 at 8:07 PM ^