On This Day: Mario Cristobal left Ducks for Miami a year ago today
365 days ago, former Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal announced that he would be leaving Eugene and taking over as the new head coach for the Miami Hurricanes, his alma mater.
What a wild 365 days it’s been.
On December 6th, Oregon fans got the dreaded news that they had seen coming for a couple of days. It was an overcast and cold Monday morning in Eugene. The Ducks had just gotten back from their disastrous trip to Las Vegas a couple of days earlier, where they lost to the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship game, 38-10. Rumors of Cristobal leaving the Ducks had started to swirl in the hours before the game on Friday afternoon, and distractions certainly didn’t help Oregon perform.
So it didn’t exactly come as a shock when, at 8:27 AM in Eugene, the news broke that Cristobal officially accepted the position in Coral Gables.
Do you think Cristobal regrets the decision? He would never admit it publicly, or maybe even privately, but after all that has transpired during his short time at Miami, and all of the hardships he has gone through, is there any part of him that wonders what would have happened had he stayed at Oregon?
It’s fair to wonder, for certain.
To celebrate this anniversary, we wanted to take a look back at the last year and mark some important dates and milestones along the way. Here is the year-in-review for Cristobal and the Hurricanes:
December 6, 2021 — Cristobal Returns Home
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
“It’s time to go to work.”
Everything was roses for Cristobal at his introductory press conference down in Miami. He was back in his home state, coaching his alma mater, and the future was bright. When ‘The U’ was rocking, there was little that can get in the way. Many projected Cristobal to get things back on the right track for the Hurricanes. Let the Mario era in Miami begin.
February 2, 2022 — National Signing Day
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Say what you will about Cristobal, but he can recruit if nothing else. On National Signing Day in February of 2022, Cristobal put the finishing touches on what was an impressive recruiting class for the Hurricanes, ranked No. 13 in the nation, according to 247Sports. It was a class that included guys like 4-star DL Cyrus Moss, 4-star TE Jaleel Skinner, and 4-star RB TreVonte’ Citizen.
Cristobal has topped that in the 2023 cycle, adding 5-star CB Cormani McClain, 5-star OT Francis Mauigoa, and 4-star DE Jayden Wayne. While the early signing period is still a couple of weeks away, the early return on recruiting is certainly positive for Cristobal.
September 3, 2022 — Hurricanes are Rolling
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In Cristobal’s return to action, the Hurricanes trounced the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, winning 70-13. Miami would go on to beat Southern Miss by a score of 30-7 the next week to start at 2-0 and have everything looking like it was on the up and up under the new coaching staff. QB Tyler Van Dyke was considered a Heisman contender, and the Hurricanes couldn’t be stopped.
September 24, 2022 — Things Start to Unravel
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In Week 3, the No. 13 Hurricanes lost a tough game on the road to the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies. That’s excusable, for sure, as Miami is a young team and College Station is a tough place to play. However, a week later against Middle Tennessee, the wheels started to fall off.
Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke was eventually benched after throwing a pair of interceptions in the Hurricanes’ embarrassing 45-31 loss to the Blue Raiders, a Conference USA team. It provided a peak of emotions for Oregon Duck fans, who watched their team mount a big comeback against Washington State in Pullman to pull out the victory while the coach who spurned them floundered in South Beach.
Miami fell out of the top 25 and would never crack the rankings again in 2022.
November 5, 2022 — The Snowball Continues
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Bad turned to worst, and worst turned into an abomination in Miami.
After the loss to Middle Tennessee, Cristobal was unable to right the ship. The next 8 weeks saw the following results:
27-24 loss to North Carolina
45-21 loss to Duke
45-3 loss to Florida State
40-10 loss to Clemson
42-16 loss to Pittsburgh
Fast forward to the end of the season, and the Hurricanes are 5-7 (3-5 ACC) and ineligible for a bowl game. Probably not what Cristobal anticipated in his first season.
November 7, 2022 — The Trey Benson Comments
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When things are going bad, you have to look for any sort of positives to grab onto, right? That’s what Cristobal did, but in a very strange fashion.
Coming off of a 45-3 blowout loss to Florida State, Cristobal looked at a familiar face on the opposite sideline — RB Trey Benson, who rode the bench under Cristobal in Eugene but rushed for 128 yards and 2 TD vs. Miami — and decided to take some semblance of credit for his success.
“I’m very familiar with that running back,” Cristobal said. “That is one of our running backs at Oregon, to put it in perspective of the caliber of teams we are used to building. You know what I mean? Tackling and physicality is a mentality.”
So Benson, a player who rushed 6 times for 22 yards and a touchdown in two seasons under Cristobal’s coaching in Eugene, is a sign of what’s to come in Miami?
I’m not sure I follow.
November 17, 2022 — Cristobal Feuds With Parents
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Unsurprisingly, with the turmoil that was being experienced in Coral Gables, some unhappiness came to the forefront. A lot of that was voiced by the parents of players, who often took to social media to bash Cristobal and the Miami coaching staff for their shortcomings.
Cristobal had a response, and it was nothing short of spicy.
“I’m a parent myself and I think it’s important to teach our own children to handle stuff like adults in a face-to-face manner, and as it relates to posting on social media, I was raised very different,” Cristobal said. “But a parent is very free and welcome to come and pick up their son if they are not happy with their playing time here at the University of Miami.”
You gotta hand it to Cristobal. He’s honest if nothing else.
December 5, 2022 — Transfer Portal Opens
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As the first year of Cristobal’s tenure at Miami comes to a close, the transfer portal is opening. At the moment, Miami has 9 players already expected to enter the portal, and there will certainly be more to come. While that is just part of the game of college football in today’s day and age, it’s been interesting to see how things have changed in Miami over the past year.
