Ducks Digest

Torres' Take: How Mario Cristobal Built a Strong Culture at Oregon

The head coach has taken what he's learned from previous stops and blended it with his personality to put his own unique stamp on the Ducks program.

Max Torres

If you look at Mario Cristobal's bio on GoDucks.com, you'll find words like relentless, dominant, and physicality, used to describe Oregon's head coach and team he leads into battle every fall Saturday.

In fact, this is exactly what you'll find. 

"In just three seasons leading Oregon football, Mario Cristobal has established a culture built on physicality and taken a relentless approach to re-establishing the Ducks as a dominant program in the Pac-12 Conference, on the recruiting trail and in future national championship races."

We all watch the Ducks on game day and read the headlines about the massive recruiting wins Cristobal keeps pulling off, but what really goes into building the culture that has players, coaches, and fans so fired up?

For starters, a lot of it begins with the basics. 

Any coach wants his players to have discipline both on and off the field. You also want to have players that are willing to lay it all on the line for their coach every game, because they feel supported and backed by the man that by and large holds their future in his hands.

One of the main pillars of the Oregon culture under Cristobal has been competition. Just listen to any one of his press conferences here in fall camp and he talks about it just about every day.

The idea that no one's job is ever safe. That you better be giving every ounce of your being whether you're a Heisman trophy candidate like Kayvon Thiboeaux or a walk-on fighting for every rep, because maybe one day a coach will see the work you've put in and offer you a full scholarship.

In Eugene, you can make a great play in a game or a practice, sure. Good for you. 

But blink once and the next thing you know it's signing day. And what's Cristobal doing?

More likely than not, he's signing the conference's best recruiting class, making program history, and bringing in more blue-chip prospects than last year to push you for snaps, and in some cases even take your job, whether you're a freshman or a fifth-year senior.

So far in fall camp, Cristobal feels that his team has responded well to the spirit of competition, which he's ensured is present at every position with his "iron sharpens iron" mentality.

"Emphasis on competition, making sure that competition is not just a tagline that you feel good about it when it's going your way," Cristobal said of what he saw in Monday's practice. "That competition is something that is real and that you keep bringing it every day and I think that has stuck."

He hasn't been shy about highlighting players that have thrived in the competitive atmosphere he and his fellow staffers have created. An atmosphere that keeps attracting more talent, elite All-American talent that craves competition with the hopes of one day making it to the NFL.

Just this past weekend following the scrimmage, the Ducks' head man put the spotlight on Bradyn Swinson, a second-year freshman from Georgia that has excelled as an edge defender early in fall camp. He went as far as saying he was the player that improved the most over the past week of practice. 

The defense already has a star pass rusher in Kayvon Thibodeaux, but developing a player like Swinson into a do-it-all defender could take this year's defense to new heights, and lay a strong foundation for a post-Thibodeaux defense in 2022.

Another strategy Cristobal has implemented to strengthen the culture in Eugene is bringing in guest speakers to share a message with his players and staff. These speakers range from former Ducks turned NFL first-round draft picks like Deforest Buckner and Arik Armstead, to Phil Beckner, the team's most recent guest speaker who works as a player development consultant and has extensive experience working with NBA players.

Following Monday's practice, Cristobal elaborated on what goes into his calculated process.

"We want to make sure it fits the culture. We don't just randomly pick a guy because we heard great things about him. You hear us say it a lot, we do things a certain way," he said. "We're very much about how you do anything is how you do everything. That means something. It means everything and we're not gonna come off of that."

This mentality now runs throughout his entire team, with a specific process put in place that emphasizes bringing in the right type of players with strong character that puts the team and its goals first, and young men that possess NFL-level potential that can help secure the program's first ever national championship.

"In order for a message to be impactful, it's gotta be genuine and authentic--and that was part of one of our speakers' messages," Cristobal said. "It's gotta hit you right between the eyes. It's gotta be real, it's gotta have substance, and it's something that you can carry with you." 

Some of his year's freshmen have only gotten a small taste of what the culture really entails, having enrolled just two months ago in June. But most of this year's freshmen, part of the historic 2021 recruiting class, have been in Eugene since January.

They're part of a steadily growing trend of high school recruits enrolling in college early, sacrificing the last of their high school days to make the jump to the next level.

Now, in the few short weeks remaining before the 2021 season, Cristobal sees an opportunity. An opportunity to drive home his message. An opportunity to ensure his players are focused on the task at hand, and that he has an entire roster full of players that can are dedicated to doing things "the right way."

"This is the one time of year where you have these guys all to yourself. There are no classes. There's always distractions, but you don't have major distractions that come with the hustle and bustle of daily life, we're in a bubble. 

"And this a great time to really--a barrage of the right stuff, and continually just stay on it and stay on it and stay on it, 'til it becomes part of our DNA."

On the heels of his fourth season with the Ducks in Eugene, with two Pac-12 championship trophies, a Rose Bowl Championship, and multiple conference recruiting titles to his name, three words still serve as a guiding force in his day-to-day grind.

Just. Getting. Started.

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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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