Reports: Oregon will hire Alabama assistant, ex-FIU coach Mario Cristobal as OC
Oregon is reportedly getting its offensive coordinator from Alabama.
According to Rivals’ DuckSportsAuthority.com and other outlets, Alabama assistant coach Mario Cristobal will be hired as Willie Taggart’s offensive coordinator and run game coordinator. Taggart was hired as Oregon’s head coach from South Florida after the school fired Mark Helfrich.
Cristobal is Alabama’s assistant head coach and offensive line coach. He’s been one of the Tide’s primary recruiters in his four seasons at the school. He’ll presumably be one of Oregon’s key figures on the recruiting trail under Taggart.
Cristobal came to Alabama after he was fired from Florida International following the 2012 season. In six years at FIU, Cristobal had a 27-47 record but took the Panthers to bowl games in 2010 and 2011. Those games are the only bowl games in FIU history — the school hasn’t had a winning season since. The team was 3-9 in Cristobal’s final season and athletic director Pete Garcia said at the time of Cristobal’s firing that the program had “gone backwards.”
The addition of Cristobal is another coup for Taggart, who hired defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt away from Colorado. The Buffaloes had one of the best defenses in the country in 2016.
For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
