Oregon completed the third spring practice of the Cristobal era on Saturday, their first day in full pads after being in helmets Wednesday and Friday. Overall the first three session have been impressively efficient, appearing like an operation that has been together a lot longer than a few months. Here are my observations.

· Cristobal is the exact type of head coach I like in terms of practice. He is heard but is not overly vocal. He has guys on his staff that are the “drill sergeants” which is very important to have on every staff. That is how discipline is instilled. He also is more hands on than the other head coaches I have covered. He works directly with the OL along with Coach Mirabal and GA Coach Woodiel.

· In terms of off field demeanor, you can’t be more professional or gentlemanly than Cristobal. He answers questions of the media with patience and thoroughness, very little “coach speak”.

· Energy levels are quite good for early spring. The biggest pop of juice comes from the new strength Coach Feld. He is a loud guy, but in a good way. He runs the conditioning before the first drill and his energy is infectious. He also prowls amongst the drills and has a role in some, like one drill, when he dons boxing gloves and punches at the ball as the RB’s run by. We’ll have to keep our eye on him.

· Overall lots of compliments from players and coaches alike for the off-season conditioning program by Feld.

· New RB coach Mastro seems like a good technician though you can tell the guys are just getting to know him.

· New OL coach Alex Mirabal surprised me with his stature in that he is a smaller man. The OL tower over him. He knows his stuff, I like the coaching points I’ve seen him make. That is what matters. I look forward to getting to know him.

· I listened in on new CB coach Donte Williams for awhile and really like him. He’s a younger guy maybe 32 years old but clearly played the position based on the details he was demanding of his guys. I walked away from watching those drills thinking he was an upgrade over last year.

· The running backs looked thicker than they did last year, lots of beefy arms and legs out there. Last year Royce and his physique overshadowed them but they would stack up better now.

· The offensive line passes the eyeball test. They are not fat but are big. All of them are tall obviously. I expect big things from them this year.

· I’ll do a newcomer report on Sunday but lots of good looking true freshmen out there enrolled early.

· Here are Photos Day 1 and Photos Day 2. Some great shots in there of lots of different guys. Photos Day 3 on Sunday.

All for now