Chalupacabra

I’m going to push back hard on a few points from this article. While there is always a place for valid, reasoned criticism of coaches, I think that some of the examples and requests in this article are not entirely fair and give Cristobal too little credit. I think it is unfair to simply pin the results of the season on the staff for a couple reasons. First, this is an incredibly young team (something in the range of 125th of returning production in the FBS). Young players (Fr/So) have a much greater need of spring/summer/fall offseason training and most of this team falls into that category, but we’re not able to adequately train, prepare and benefit from a full playbook install. The best play-calling still requires execution and preparation. This isn’t last years team of vets, it’s one of the youngest in the country. Second, it’s pretty clear that Moorhead is not like Arroyo. It’s not a small thing to change offensive style, and it’s even harder with the aforementioned short prep time and young roster. I this article also takes the stance that Cristobal is somehow OK with the losses and mistakes, which I think is completely unfair. He didn’t hire Arroyo. He picked Moorhead as his first OC hire, which I believe suggests that he is committed to offensive innovation and finding ways to score more points. This article gives Cristobal too little credit and too much blame while citing games that were played in highly unusual circumstances. I think Cristobal is committed to improving Oregon football and has proven that he can get results under reasonable circumstances. The Moorhead hire and efforts to ramp up the offensive talent on the roster this year are evidence that Cristobal is working towards offensive excellence.