Cristobal hiring shows Ducks are serious about the crystal football
Duck Sports Authority's Scott Reed and numerous other outlets have reported that Willie Taggart and the Ducks are close to hiring Alabama assistant head coach Mario Cristobal as their offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.
Cristobal's hiring would complete the recruiting dream team that Taggart has assembled in Eugene, and it will test forever the notion that Oregon's recruiting disadvantages are insurmountable.
If this staff can't bring top talent to Eugene, it can't be done. If any staff can crack the code and create recruiting success in a rainy college town in the Willamette Valley, it's this one.
Cristobal joins Jim Leavitt, Jimmie Dougherty, Keith Heyward, Charles Clark, Donte Pimpleton, David Reaves, Joe Salave'a and Taggart himself, all fired-up recruiters with the intent to attack the just-opened contact period with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
Keep your finger on the Duck Sports Authority app, because these last three weeks of the recruiting calendar are going to be fun.
Widely recognized as one of the top recruiters in the country, Cristobal's been a part of three national championship teams, two as a player at the University of Miami in 1989 and 1991, one as Alabama offensive assistant coach for tackles and tight ends in 2015.
The 46-year-old Miami native played under Jimmie Johnson and Dennis Erickson, a 4-year letterman at The U. who earned All-Big East honors at offensive tackle as a senior.
His playing career ended with a tryout with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent, followed by two seasons with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe.
In 2015 ESPN named Cristobal the top recruiter in America. In that season alone he landed three five-star recruits for the Tide, including All-American wide receiver Calvin Ridley and defensive back Shawn Burgess-Becker.
In the last three seasons five of his Alabama offensive linemen have been selected for the NFL draft:
2014 2nd round Cyrus Kouandjio
2015 4th round Arie Koundjio
2015 7th round Austin Shepherd
2016 1st round Ryan Kelly
This season, Alabama's Cam Robinson is projected to be the first offensive tackle taken in the 2017 NFL draft, and tight end O.J. Howard should also go early.
His 2017 class includes Alex Leatherwood, the nation’s No. 2 offensive tackle, an early enrollee, Kendall Randolph, a 4-star offensive guard from Bob Jones High School (Madison, Ala.), and Jedrick Wills, a 4-star offensive tackle from Lafayette High School.
As an assistant Cristobal has worked with top head coaches, including Al Golden (Miami), Greg Schiano (Rutgers) and Nick Saban.
Earlier this decade he was considered one of the NCAA's hot young head coaching prospects, the first Cuban-American to ever take over a program when he was hired to take over the Florida International program after they fired Don Strock after an 0-12 season.
Cristobal inherited a mess at FIU. The Miami Herald reported, "Under Strock, the football program committed various NCAA violations that resulted in 2005 wins being vacated and possessed a low enough Academic Progress Rate to get scholarship reductions."
The sanctions included the loss of 20-30 scholarships. In addition, the team had no weight room, no stadium and little academic support.
That first season in 2007 his team suffered through a 1-11 season, but they did break their losing string late in the year with a victory over North Texas.
In his third season the sanctions lifted, and Cristobal brought a full class of 23 student-athletes to Miami-Dade County.
The 2010 team climbed to 7-6, 6-2 in conference. They tied for the conference championship and won a bowl game. The 2011 rose to 8-5.
But 2012 was a rebuilding year that resulted in a 3-9 season. A simmering feud with athletic director Pete Garcia reached a crisis, and Cristobal was let go. Nick Saban snatched him up for four seasons in the football penthouse. His last contract paid him $515,000 a year.