Oregon Mailbag: Let’s talk Mario Cristobal’s longevity, a dominant defense and Joe Moorhead’s recruiting (2024)

Mario Cristobal took a victory lap Wednesday. Oregon’s third-year coach began the day with a National Signing Day news conference to talk more about his No. 12 recruiting class, then he added a four-star defensive tackle at lunch, introduced highly touted new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and made it up to Beaverton for an all-out celebration at Nike. So far, it’s been good being Mario Cristobal in 2020.

With NSD out of the way and the Ducks’ staff finally getting a bit of a breather, let’s dive into the mailbag to talk Moorhead, near-misses and just how much longer Oregon fans will get to call Cristobal “Coach.”

Is Mario still the coach in five years? Ten years? — Joe S.

If Cristobal still is coach five years from now, that would give him seven years total. If he’s here 10 years from now, it would be 12.

Some stats:

• The number of FBS coaches who currently have been at their program for at least seven years: 26
• The number of FBS coaches who currently have been at their program for at least 12 years: 11

In other words, if Cristobal were to reach those numbers, it would put him in rarefied territory.

I think we’re at a point where there’s no doubting Oregon’s interest in Cristobal. He’s made AD Rob Mullens look awfully smart over the past two seasons, and there’s little to suggest he’s close to slowing down.

As for whether Cristobal will be pulled in another direction, that’s hard to say. I do believe he likes Eugene and has embraced the community, and that has been matched in the other direction by the fan base. But five years is a long time in college football, and 10 years is a lifetime. If he keeps Oregon at this level — or gets even higher — other programs are going to come sniffing around.

I’ll tell you this: If Cristobal is the coach 10 years from now, Oregon will be paying him a pretty penny. And at that point, he’d be an Oregon legend; only Mike Bellotti, Rich Brooks and Len Casanova have coached double-digit seasons in Eugene.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s here in five years. But I would be if it’s 10.

If you could pick only one, who’s the “recruit who got away” in the 2020 class — someone who signed elsewhere that you think Cristobal and company would love to turn back the clocks and recruit even harder. — Andrew D.

There are a few.

I really think the Ducks could have used Johnny Wilson’s big frame at wide receiver. At the same time, if some of Oregon’s young talent can blossom — Mycah Pittman, Devon Williams, Josh Delgado, Bryan Addison and a few others who are redshirt sophom*ores — the Ducks should be able to survive a wide receiver “miss” in this class.

Nobody really wants to lose a player of Avantae Williams’ caliber in the secondary (he’s the No. 2 safety nationally), but the Ducks countered with the addition of Dontae Manning (the No. 3 CB) to a class that already included four-star corner Luke Hill and three-star safeties Jarden Greenfield and Bennett Williams (the No. 2 JUCO safety). It’s also fair if Oregon fans want to play the “what if?” game around near-miss Kelee Ringo (the No. 1 CB) pairing with Manning in the future.

Still, my answer is five-star quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei. Oregon finished a close second for a player who would have been the most talented high school quarterback to ever sign with the Ducks. And Oregon knew it. Go back to the spring game. Remember the procession of former Oregon greats the Ducks pulled out of their bag to put on a show for him? Heck, Oregon brought Jeremiah Masoli back to campus for the first time in about a decade.

And the Ducks missed out. Again, no quarterback is a sure thing. Maybe he ends up being a bust and Butterfield goes on to win the Heisman. Or …

Will Cristobal (and/or the rest of the football staff) be attending any softball games at The Jane? — Scott B.

I would imagine so. I can’t say whether he’s attended softball games in the past, but he makes regular visits to the men’s and women’s basketball games and is passionate about supporting the other sports.

He certainly shows his support on Twitter.

Will any football players be competing for the track team this season? — Scott B.

Not as right now, though I bet Penei Sewell could chuck a shot put pretty far.

With Jayson Jones signing, Oregon adds a 6-foot-6, 340-pound defensive tackle to that front seven. How close is this defense to being old-school, SEC-level dominant? — Steven W.

I don’t know how much of an immediate impact Jones will have, but he’s another big-bodied, high-ceiling type of player. He’s also from the Southeast. I wrote a story about how Cristobal and his staff have been targeting — and signing — defensive linemen from that region at a higher rate than any previous Oregon staff prior.

Cristobal likes what big-bodied guys bring to the table, and he really likes it when he can pair them with explosive players on the edge and at linebacker, which the Ducks have over the next few years with Kayvon Thibodeaux, Mase Funa, Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell.

I don’t know if that turns Oregon’s into an old-school SEC defense, but it should be a pretty darn good defense. The thing you have to remember: On some of those SEC teams, they basically have Justin Flowes at every position. The Ducks aren’t there yet, but they’re closing the gap.

What have you learned about spring practice in addition to what we know about the date of the spring game? Will it be split in two like last spring? Will there be another scrimmage in the Portland area again? — Richard F.

This will be Cristobal’s third spring as coach, and it will be the third consecutive spring in which the Ducks are planning a scrimmage/practice in the Portland area. Right now, it appears the Ducks have a scrimmage scheduled for April 4 at Hillsboro Stadium. The spring game in Eugene is set for April 18 at 2 p.m.

As with the past two years, spring practice will be split. There will be several practices before spring break; practice will conclude after the break, which will allow several 2020 freshman to join for the start of spring term.

What impact do you think Joe Moorhead will have on recruiting? Will his time in the South translate into the Ducks focusing more effort down there? — Andrew B.

Moorhead had an early introduction to the type of recruiting expected of him at Oregon. During his introductory news conference Wednesday, when asked how many players on Oregon’s roster he had run into during his recruiting trips at Mississippi State, Moorhead joked about how defensive back D.J. James once was a Mississippi State commitment — until the Ducks swooped in and took him.

Moorhead’s three classes in Starkville (2018-20) ranked between 24th and 27th nationally, and Mississippi State signed 14 blue-chippers in that span. He has obvious connections in the Southeast, and Oregon has been expanding its reach into that area the past few years. (Moorhead also has extensive connections in the Northeast.)

Moorhead was quite familiar with 2020 quarterback signee Robby Ashford, who is from Hoover (Ala.) High. Moorhead said he had offered Ashford when he was a “ninth or 10th-grader; it was early.” And 2020 signee Trey Benson, a three-star running back from Greenville, Miss., was pursued by Moorhead at Mississippi State. There certainly is overlap between some of the areas the Ducks have been scouting and where Moorhead has been.

How many recruiting classes like 2019 and ’20 is Cristobal away from having the type of team that reloads instead of rebuilds? Two classes is strong, but I still feel like they need at least one more top-12ish class to handle any depth concerns over a season and stay in the playoff hunt.

Oregon just won the Rose Bowl and is losing its starting quarterback and nearly its entire offensive line, yet the Ducks still are expected to be the Pac-12 front-runners this fall season. So, they’re close as it is. Since 2017, the Ducks have been stacking solid class after solid class. And the Ducks have a talented roster.

If you’re talking about being able to just truly reload every year, you could look at Oregon’s current roster and wish for a few things — maybe some staggered depth between the seniors and unproven younger players at receiver — but the Ducks already are at a point where they’re able to replace guys. An example: Oregon is losing its leading tackler for the past four seasons in linebacker Troy Dye but that position group might be even better in 2020 because of the depth of talent.

These aren’t the type of recruiting hauls that will let you reload with the likes of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State, but Oregon’s certainly at the point where it can do it in the Pac-12.

(Top photo of Mario Cristobal: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)