Mario Cristobal has Oregon Football back to where they belong
As draft pundits and scouts start turning the page towards the 2021 NFL draft, there is a school whose name keeps coming up towards the top: the Oregon Football program. The Ducks have always sent good players to the NFL, but this new era of Oregon football is much different than before.
Mario Cristobal became the head coach at Oregon in December of 2017 after Willie Taggart left for Florida State. Cristobal had previously coached for Florida International University in his hometown of Miami, Florida. He left FIU with a 27-48 record, making him a hiring that many in Oregon circles questioned. He was also the offensive line coach at the University of Alabama from 2013 to 2016.
However, Cristobal hit the ground running in Eugene. In 2018, the Ducks went 9-4, a two win increase from the year prior. In 2019, the Ducks took the PAC-12 by storm and finished the season 12-2. They capped off the year with a comeback win against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Had it not been for a last second by Auburn quarterback Bo Nix in week one, Cristobal’s team may have had the final spot in the College Football Playoff instead of Oklahoma.
The entire Oregon program changed the day that Mario Cristobal was elevated from offensive line coach to head coach. He took principles that he learned while playing and coaching under championship level coaches like Dennis Erickson and Nick Saban. Cristobal changed the culture at Oregon from the days of Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich.