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3 best fits for the Oregon Ducks coaching job

By Christopher Novak

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A&M Aggies walks on the field prior to a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A&M Aggies walks on the field prior to a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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Jim Leavitt

Continuity is important. So is playing defense. When Willie Taggart brought Jim Leavitt with him to Oregon as his defensive coordinator, Duck fans were hoping to see improvements on that end. The Ducks had struggled for quite a few years on the defensive side of the ball. You can see that in their stats, how they played, and how many players they sent to the NFL. The most notable were Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner, but beyond that, there weren’t many high-caliber players.

Well, Leavitt helped fix a defense in a year that was in the gutter in 2016. They went from allowing 41.4 points per game to just 28.3. Granted, that still had them 73rd in the country. But they were hanging in the cellar a year ago.  That kind of turnaround, with basically the same roster, was astounding. And it could behoove the Ducks to keep Leavitt around and promote him, so long as he doesn’t go to FSU with Taggart.

Leavitt has previous head coaching experience. Although it was nearly 10 years, ago, he was the coach of USF from 1997-2009. He, of course was responsible for the huge turnaround that they went under during that time period. His tenure included four-straight winning seasons from 2006-2009. That, of course, includes the time they ranked 2nd in the nation.

Those aforementioned Florida ties could help Oregon out in the recruiting game. Florida is obviously rich with talent, and it would be smart for the Ducks to target the Sunshine State. Having someone with those ties to the state could be very useful for them. Although he hasn’t been a head coach in nearly 10 years, he’s still been around the game. And he has succeeded.

Mario Cristobal

If Oregon strikes out with Leavitt, but wants to keep continuity, look no further than Mario Cristobal. Like Leavitt, he has not been a head coach for a little while. He last was a head coach in 2012 down at FIU. After four seasons at Alabama, coaching up offensive lines, Taggart anointed him as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator.

With Cristobal, Oregon was in the Top 25 in scoring, averaging 36.7 points per game. He helped guide the aforementioned Herbert along, and also paved the way for another strong season from Royce Freeman and the Duck tailbacks. His offensive cred is still quite strong.

Much like Leavitt, Cristobal has lots of ties to the state of Florida. He spent six years with FIU, and is an alum of Miami. He spent time coaching with the Canes in two different tenures from 1998-2000 and 2004-2006. Keeping those Florida ties would be best for the Ducks. Not only for the future, but perhaps in the interim. So that they can keep some recruits that Taggart may flip to FSU when he officially heads down there.

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While he hasn’t been a head coach at the FBS level since 2012, Cristobal certainly has enough credibility to land the job. Like we said, if continuity is Oregon’s MO here, then they’d be wise to try and promote one of the current assistants. They may look elsewhere, but Mario is definitely as good an option as they can find, given this situation.

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