Mario Cristobal's Defensive Coordinator Disaster

[Charles Fischer]

My FishDuck Friends, when a new coach is building his staff--doesn't he first hire the Coordinators so that the input is given for the other assistant coaches hired since they need to be all versed in the same offense or defense?  Isn't that what Coach Lanning did?

 

Yet Mario has hired everyone but his coordinators, and we've already discussed extensively why anyone would pass on being his offensive coordinator, but what about his defensive coordinator?  It would appear that he has not had any luck there either, and that should have been one of his first hires? Now he looking for some NFL underling to fill the spot?

 

Mario Cristobal Considering NFL Coach to be Defensive Coordinator by Christopher Stock of InsidetheU

 

I was pondering this, and thought about how DeRuyter just left as soon as he could, and did not look back.  He did not have the year on defense that we thought he would have....and it makes me wonder..."did Mario meddle in the defense too?"  Is that why he can't hire a DC, as the word is out among coaches that you cannot execute your own plan?

 

You'll note that Andy Avalos left in much the same way--just gone, with little in the way of parting gestures like you saw with other assistant coaches.  Avalos had a terrific 2019, but not a good 2020...was there "Mario-Meddling" there as well?

 

I have NO proof,I am simply connecting some dots.  The media has made a BIG DEAL of the Cristobal hire at Miami, and yet he is becoming desperate to hire coordinators?  Maybe the word is out among all the coaches, and it would not take long.  Moorhead left in the same manner--just escaping.

 

But Cristobal is SMARTER Than ALL of Us

 

He has to be!  His butting-in behaviors has been rewarded with EIGHT MILLION a year.  So now that his MO has been reinforced, I cannot imagine that he will change since he was just told how good he is.  And potential OCs and DCs know that, and the good ones want nothing to do with him.  Moorhead went from a highly regarded national reputation to Akron?  Whew!

 

There is a lot more to this story than we'll ever know, but when you have repeated examples....  

 

[Jon Joseph]

Recruiting Champ, Coaching Chump. But the Benji's spend in the NW and in Miami. Besides the game at Ohio State, did any Miami boosters watch any Oregon games?

[1Funduck]

This doesn't look good at all. 

[1Ducker1]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:26 PM, 1Funduck said:

This doesn't look good at all. 

Depends on how you look at it

[Duck 1972]

I posted my thoughts on the post MC loses another OC candidate just now. To long to retype here especially when I'm a hunt and pecker.

 

if anyone is interested go take a look thanks. 1972

[Jon Joseph]

On 1/20/2022 at 4:39 PM, Duck 1972 said:

I posted my thoughts on the post MC loses another OC candidate just now. To long to retype here especially when I'm a hunt and pecker.

 

if anyone is interested go take a look thanks. 1972

 

Cheer Up! I'm a pecker who can't hunt.

[MaiTaiDuck]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:02 PM, Charles Fischer said:

My FishDuck Friends, when a new coach is building his staff--doesn't he first hire the Coordinators so that the input is given for the other assistant coaches hired since they need to be all versed in the same offense or defense?  Isn't that what Coach Lanning did?

 

Yet Mario has hired everyone but his coordinators, and we've already discussed extensively why anyone would pass on being his offensive coordinator, but what about his defensive coordinator?  It would appear that he has not had any luck there either, and that should have been one of his first hires? Now he looking for some NFL underling to fill the spot?

 

Mario Cristobal Considering NFL Coach to be Defensive Coordinator by Christopher Stock of InsidetheU

 

I was pondering this, and thought about how DeRuyter just left as soon as he could, and did not look back.  He did not have the year on defense that we thought he would have....and it makes me wonder..."did Mario meddle in the defense too?"  Is that why he can't hire a DC, as the word is out among coaches that you cannot execute your own plan?

 

You'll note that Andy Avalos left in much the same way--just gone, with little in the way of parting gestures like you saw with other assistant coaches.  Avalos had a terrific 2019, but not a good 2020...was there "Mario-Meddling" there as well?

 

I have NO proof,I am simply connecting some dots.  The media has made a BIG DEAL of the Cristobal hire at Miami, and yet he is becoming desperate to hire coordinators?  Maybe the word is out among all the coaches, and it would not take long.  Moorhead left in the same manner--just escaping.

 

But Cristobal is SMARTER Than ALL of Us

 

He has to be!  His butting-in behaviors has been rewarded with EIGHT MILLION a year.  So now that his MO has been reinforced, I cannot imagine that he will change since he was just told how good he is.  And potential OCs and DCs know that, and the good ones want nothing to do with him.  Moorhead went from a highly regarded national reputation to Akron?  Whew!

 

There is a lot more to this story than we'll ever know, but when you have repeated examples....  

 

Yeah well he thinks he's all that but we endured 4 years of his meddling and believe me he was on both sides. Usually coach's follow the HC and I don't think anyone did except maybe a couple and Minnie me doesn't count.

[kirklandduck]

Mario indirectly meddled with DeRuyter's defense by implementing a slow, inconsistent, low-scoring offense.  That bend-don't-break defense only works if you score lots of points, allowing the defense elbow-room to take risks on creating turnovers.  The 2019 defense led by Avalos was more aggressive in creating pressure in the pocket, forcing turnovers rather than waiting on the other team to make a mistake.  We saw some pressure from DeRuyter but in my opinion not nearly as much as Avalos called for.

[anyotherduck]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:28 PM, 1Ducker1 said:

Depends on how you look at it

Starting to look much better now that it's a reflection in the rear view mirror!

[Charles Fischer]

Omigosh!  A new article where it states, "Does Cristobal take a long time to hire his coordinators? Yes, but he has a track record of getting the hire right—which is what matters most at the end of the day."

 

Understanding Mario Cristobal’s Thorough and Meticulous Process with Putting Together a Coaching Staff by David Lake of InsidetheU   (Try not to hurl)

 

He KNOWS what he is doing!

 

[David Marsh]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:02 PM, Charles Fischer said:

I was pondering this, and thought about how DeRuyter just left as soon as he could, and did not look back.  He did not have the year on defense that we thought he would have....and it makes me wonder..."did Mario meddle in the defense too?"  Is that why he can't hire a DC, as the word is out among coaches that you cannot execute your own plan?

 

You'll note that Andy Avalos left in much the same way--just gone, with little in the way of parting gestures like you saw with other assistant coaches.  Avalos had a terrific 2019, but not a good 2020...was there "Mario-Meddling" there as well?

The defense in 2018 with Leavitt was meh... but Oregon was still rebuilding from the bottoming out in 2016 with the Hoke debacle.

 

The 2019 defense was loaded with some quality vets and it was really good. So good that Oregon was projected to have a top five defense in 2020, that was before covid and opt outs and what not.

 

2020 was bad but as mentioned the opt outs gutted the defense. So we gave Avalos and Cristobal a bit of a bye on that one without having a full offseason to get that young talent up.

 

But 2021... why was our defense so bad? Early on in the year youth could have played a factor and injuries were horrific which didn't help matters... but Oregon never really found its footing. By the Utah games and the bowl game there just wasn't anyone left to play and it was just so sloppy.

 

So what was going on in 2021. DeRuyter found himself a new job pretty quick and didn't even seem to consider taking a job in Miami.

[EzDucksIt]

Charles,

 

I always felt that the DC Leavitt before Avalos was the guy who got the defense back in shape and Avalos had it easier because of Leavitts mentoring the defense.  Leavitts, attempts at leaving Oregon for another HC position is what angered Mario who finally parted ways, fired, him.  Not to long, less than two years, Avalos had an opportunity to leave and he took it.  Joe Moorhead and DeRuyter bailing, should be red flags too.  The fact that DeRuyter got another DC position so fast after the Conference Championship game, should tell you things were not so good at Oregon with Cristobals leadership, IMHO.

 

And I agree with kirklandduck, having a more aggressive offense, helps the defense to take chances.  When I saw DL defense, a 4-2-5, I thought, here we go again.  I am not a fan but if the do not set two safeties back and have a Rover/LB like Bassa you can do alot more to cover the middle that killed us all year.  We had some highly rated four star corners that did a lot of zones and soft coverage.  We did not challenge like the year we won the Rose Bowl, Brady Breeze was the perfect example of getting physical with receivers in their routes prior to the ball being passed.

[David Marsh]

On 1/20/2022 at 2:56 PM, Charles Fischer said:

Omigosh!  A new article where it states, "Does Cristobal take a long time to hire his coordinators? Yes, but he has a track record of getting the hire right—which is what matters most at the end of the day."

 

Understanding Mario Cristobal’s Thorough and Meticulous Process with Putting Together a Coaching Staff by David Lake of InsidetheU   (Try not to hurl)

We were saying the same things a year ago more or less... just glad we are on the other side of it now and able to see it for what it is...

[Haywarduck]

It is interesting coach's would come to Oregon under slick, Mario and Dan Lanning, but not for Mario at Miami. Something has shifted, and it doesn't smell right. The odor coming out of that $80 million dollar package is starting to make one wonder.

[David Marsh]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:04 PM, EzDucksIt said:

And I agree with kirklandduck, having a more aggressive offense, helps the defense to take chances.  When I saw DL defense, a 4-2-5, I thought, here we go again.  I am not a fan but if the do not set two safeties back and have a Rover/LB like Bassa you can do alot more to cover the middle that killed us all year.  We had some highly rated four star corners that did a lot of zones and soft coverage.  We did not challenge like the year we won the Rose Bowl, Brady Breeze was the perfect example of getting physical with receivers in their routes prior to the ball being passed.

The thing is DeRuyter's defense was solid at Cal and yes it was influenced by Wilcox as well. However, Cal under Wilcox has not had a consistently good offense, let alone having a great offense. DeRuyter could have and should have managed to get the job done... but the bigger question is why couldn't he? He was able to do a better job at Cal with less talent.

[EzDucksIt]

David,

 

I was thinking the same thing, especially after he BOLTED!  Leavitt, Avalos and DeRuyter leaving so quickly, something was wrong with the leadership at the top.  Did he have these same issues at FIU?  The way it went this year with the thin wins and the booing at the game, Mario's demeanor changed alot.

[David Marsh]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:29 PM, EzDucksIt said:

The way it went this year with the thin wins and the booing at the game, Mario's demeanor changed alot.

I think the booing was perhaps the central reason (outside of MC's mom being ill) why Cristobal left. The honeymoon was over and we as fans wanted results. Now, I wasn't there and didn't boo but I completely understood why people booed.

[Jon Joseph]

On 1/20/2022 at 4:28 PM, 1Ducker1 said:

Depends on how you look at it

What doesn't?  Nothing exists before it is observed. And the observed 'thing' exists as we see it. The AII is in All and All is in The All. Nils Bohr et al tell us 'this.' One of the beauty's of this forum, we can with proper decorum tell one another how we see the 'same thing." I for one have learned so much from the POV of others.