Bruce Feldman adds insight on Mario Cristobal, openings at Florida, Miami

While Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal has vehemently denied he will be departing Eugene for an open head coaching job, circumstances may have changed after the Ducks were effectively eliminated from the playoff last weekend. 

Florida is looking for a new head coach, and Miami could be doing the same thing soon.

Fox analyst and writer for The Athletic Bruce Feldman joined Ralph Russo on the “AP Top 25 College Football Podcast” to discuss the former Miami offensive lineman and Florida native’s options. 

“I know how excited he is about the 2022 and 2023 Duck teams that he thinks he’s got in the pipeline because of how he’s recruiting,” Feldman said of the current situation at Oregon. “I know he really likes it out there, and his family really likes it out there.”

Oregon’s 2022 class is currently ranked No. 11 by On3, and Cristobal’s 2021 class, which has gotten a lot of playing time due to injuries and done well, was the No. 6 class in the country. 

“Oregon has done a lot for him,” Feldman added. “He is not necessarily an easy guy to manage, and I think they have signed on to a lot of his vision. And it’s worked. He’s put together a really, really good staff.”

Excluding a COVID-19 season in which the Ducks only played seven games, Oregon has won at least nine games in every season Cristobal has been in charge.

Cristobal’s Miami connection is ‘different’

If Cristobal were to leave Oregon, Feldman has a hard time picturing him anywhere outside of Miami, assuming the job opens. Current head coach Manny Diaz has not yet been fired, but there is wide speculation that the school will part ways with him after an underwhelming 6-5 season.

“I would be surprised if he was going to leave there, if he was going to go back to the state of Florida, and he would go any place other than Miami,” the college football analyst said. “He doesn’t have any connection to Gainesville.”

Following playing college football at Miami for famed head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson from 1988-1992, Cristobal served as a graduate assistant for the Hurricanes from 1998-2000. He returned to Miami as an assistant from 2004-2006 before getting his first head coaching job at FIU the following season. 

In addition to his individual connections, Cristobal’s family remains connected to Miami. His brother, who also played football at Miami, is a police officer in the area.

“He has a feeling about the University of Miami that is almost different than anybody I know in coaching,” Feldman added. “That is where he came from, that is where he was an assistant.”

From the Miami side, Feldman has heard there is certainly interest from the area.

“There’s people from his old high school, Columbus High, who I think would love to get Mario back there,” Feldman added. “There’s a lot of people who would like to move money around to make it happen. We’ll see.”

Feldman concluded his commentary on the situation acknowledging there are challenges at Miami, challenges of which Cristobal is acutely aware. The Hurricanes have won 10 games just once since 2003, and many of their position groups have been decimated by injuries and transfers.

Before any decisions are made in Eugene, Cristobal has at least one final regular season game at Oregon. The Ducks welcome a formidable 7-4 Oregon State team on Saturday, a matchup which has Pac-12 title game implications.