Ducks Digest

Mario Cristobal Leaving Oregon to Become Next Head Coach at Miami

The Ducks will enter the coaching carousel in search for a new man to lead their program.

Max Torres

Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal is leaving Eugene to become the next head coach at Miami, the University of Oregon confirmed on Monday.

This comes after a weekend full of rumors and reports came out from the Miami media market saying the Hurricanes had been zeroing in on hiring Cristobal and working out contract details.

Cristobal was asked about his future with the Ducks and whether he planned to sign a contract extension with Oregon or accept the Miami job if offered following Oregon's blowout loss to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday.

"I don’t know what you mean when you say someone’s offered (a job). I haven’t talked to anybody," Cristobal told reporters. "Let’s not create narratives as we sit here in this press conference. Oregon is working on some stuff for me and that’s what I have right now. That’s the extent of the conversation."

Cristobal spent the last four seasons as the head coach in Eugene, going 35-13 (.7291) in that span. He was promoted from offensive line coach following the departure of Willie Taggart to Florida State, and resounding support from the Oregon players. While at the helm of the Duck program, Cristobal furthered his reputation as an elite recruiter and developer of offensive line talent.

The Ducks produced three first-round NFL draft picks during his tenure in quarterback Justin Herbert (No. 6), offensive tackle Penei Sewell (No. 7) and edge rusher Kayon Thibodeaux (TBD). The Ducks won two Pac-12 titles, a Rose Bowl, and signed the conference's top recruiting three years in a row between 2019 to 2021. The Ducks still hold the conference's top recruiting class in 2022, but one would expect there to be significant fallout with his departure. 

With the move to the Sunshine State, Cristobal returns to his native Miami where he won national championships as a player in 1989 and 1991. He also got his start in coaching at Miami, serving as a graduate assistant under Butch Davis for three seasons beginning in 1998. 

Oregon now has at least two major hires to make this offseason after Akron hired away offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead to become its next head coach, and there's potential for even more openings that need to be filled depending on who Cristobal retains from Oregon's current coaching staff in Miami.

The Ducks are scheduled to face the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. The Sooners announced the hire of Clemson Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables on Sunday night.

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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