Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal is entering his fourth year at the helm in Eugene. He has won two Pac-12 conference titles, signed multiple top-10 recruiting classes, and rescued the program from certain obscurity after the Mark Helfrich era. With a resume like that, it would be easy to declare Cristobal the conference’s best coach. Maybe not the best coach in the country, but surely the best coach in the Pac-12. Well, that’s not the case for some pundits and fans…
Some believe he’s not even worthy of nomination.
The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation released their preseason watch list for “Coach of the Year” nominees. There was one Pac-12 coach that made an appearance, and it wasn’t Mario Cristobal. It was Washington Huskies HC Jimmy Lake. The same Jimmy Lake who has coached only one season affected by the corona virus.
Call it a snub, but Stewart Mandel of The Athletic points out in his latest article that even some Duck fans end up second guessing some of Cristobal’s on-field coaching decisions, but love his recruiting acumen:
Whatever frustrations Ducks fans may have had with the on-field product, however, were offset by Oregon’s unprecedented recruiting success. True to Cristobal’s word about emphasizing physicality, his first big recruit as an assistant was an offensive lineman, recent top-10 NFL draft pick Penei Sewell.
This next season will be a great barometer for Cristobal ability to use top level talent on the biggest stage (Ohio State week 2), and show fans and pundits alike that he’s more than just a great recruiter.
