This is not a “Mario Cristobal Hit Piece,” as some of my articles questioning Oregon’s coaching may have appeared to be. In fact, there are many elements of the Civil War victory that point to superb coaching by this staff. I wish to point those out, along with some items to ponder as we wait for our upcoming bowl game. For …
Mario Cristobal is not Chip Kelly. Kelly is an offensive mastermind, whose fast-paced, spread-option system took the country by storm. His innovations, matched with some of the most dynamic athletes in the game, led the Ducks to their most successful period in team history. But for all of his acclaim, Kelly couldn’t get over the hump. Although his offensive brilliance …
Coach Mario Cristobal had a chance to see what his offense should always look like, scoring 28 points in the first half of their win over Arizona State. In the second half, the offense and their coaching staff were strangely absent. The freewheeling game plan, so successful in the first two quarters, was put away, or forgotten, in the vault. …
As Charles Fischer pointed out in yesterday’s article, the Oregon offense did take steps forward in the first half against ASU. This was encouraging to see and showed that the coaching staff was willing to open up the playbook to things that have WORKED at Oregon, and weren’t absolutely hell-bent on the conservative power-game that wasn’t working. Having said that, …
I could not believe my eyes. I have written extensively about how this staff could not win a National Championship someday unless there were massive changes and Coach Mario Cristobal became more flexible on offense. I felt there was a very low chance of that happening, as it appeared that he was going to be stubborn about “establishing the run,” and …
Last Monday felt like the earth moving in Oregon, as my article sent shock waves among Ducks fans on both sides of the conundrum. My objective was to declare my thoughts about what I was seeing, and it gave permission for others to voice their concerns about the future of the team as well. We had spirited debate all last …
Coach Mario Cristobal had to be thankful that UCLA made a ton of mistakes in Chip Kelly’s return trip to Autzen Stadium. The Bruins are very young, with fewer senior starters than Oregon: one on offense and two on defense — which might account for the five turnovers and 11 penalties, not to mention a flurry of dropped passes. Cristobal …
Hopefully, Oregon isn’t there already. The Ducks went 7-5 in Willie Taggart’s first season. We all felt a little better about that because we knew with a healthy Justin Herbert the Ducks would have cruised to a 9-3 record. Coming into this season with “Slick” gone, a new coach who we trust, recruiting up, an improving defense, and a healthy …
I am a mess right now. Completely confused, conflicted, frustrated. Happy, and yet sad. I am so happy the Ducks won, but very sad about what my gut is telling me and what I have begun to express in the comments. “I do not believe this coaching staff can deliver on their long term goals for Oregon Football.” I am …
The question on everyone’s mind is “what happened to the Oregon Ducks?” after they were pasted by a mediocre Arizona team in Tucson. The Duck offense was somnolent and quarterback Justin Herbert sank into a fog, without getting any help from his offensive line, receivers or coaches. For the second week in a row, coach Mario Cristobal‘s physical running offense …
When the Ducks win, I am hard to be around. The only time it is worse is when I am the first to publicly state a major issue–and to be right about it. I began voicing concerns about the Oregon offense after the San Jose State game, and last week declared that this was a warning sign. Of course, I …
We’re already half-way through Oregon’s football season. This would be good time to take a closer look at our head football coach. What motivates Mario Cristobal and how are his leadership skills translating on and off the gridiron? Wins and loses are readily quantifiable — an easy metric to gauge. Oregon’s record to date is 5-2, a pleasant surprise for …