Eugene, OR – Last Friday afternoon, Mario Cristobal was announced as Oregon’s head football coach, taking over for Willie Taggart who left for a $30 million, 6-year contract as Florida State’s head coach. Cristobal joined the Oregon squad January 2017 when Taggart took the head coach position.
Cristobal encourages his players to be both champions on and off the field 24/7. With the Las Vegas bowl on deck this weekend versus Boise State, he will take over and motivate his players to continue to be relentless, physical and explosive. “There is no rest, if you rest you’re going to be left behind”, says Cristobal. Speaking to the momentum of the team, Cristobal stresses the excitement of the energy in the locker room. With Cristobal’s simple philosophy, “do it every single day as if you’re coaching your own son”, Oregon will put up a tough fight versus the Broncos.
The Oregon duck players collectively put together a petition to promote Cristobal to head coach and hand delivered it to Rob Mullens, Oregon’s athletic director. When the news was announced, the players welcomed Cristobal with a standing ovation.
“He loves us and we love him and we have a lot of respect for him,” offensive line Shane Lemieux said. “The last couple days we’ve all been kind of car salesman like, ‘Man this guy is crazy! He’s the best guy I’ve ever met!’ Everything he does is great.”
Cristobal was previously Oregon’s co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Cristobal is a former Miami player who won two national championships and played in the NFL European league. He spent the last four years under Nick Saban as assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Alabama. From 2007-2012, Cristobal head coached at Florida International.
Tune in this Saturday, December 16 at 12:30PM PST to watch the Boise State Broncos go head-to-head versus the Oregon Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl on ABC.