Oregon AD Rob Mullens details how Ducks' coaching search will take shape

Rob Mullens is in familiar territory.

For the second time in four years, Oregon’s athletic director had to call an impromptu December press conference to discuss his prized head coach leaving the program for a high-profile job in the state of Florida.

Mario Cristobal’s decision to become the next head coach at the University of Miami comes exactly four years and one day after Willie Taggart opted to leave Oregon for Florida State.

In many ways, Monday felt like deja vu. One thing is for sure: Mullens is, once again, in the position of desperately needing to nail his next hire. He met with reporters via Zoom Monday and was asked what he learned the last time around.

“I’ve learned that Oregon football is an outstanding program, no doubt,” Mullens said. “My phone is blowing up. There’s no shortage of interest.”

Mullens will have to wait a bit for the dust to settle before he decides exactly what happens next. Oregon needs to name an interim coach, and it won’t be easy to pinpoint who that is until Cristobal decides exactly which Oregon staffers are following him to Miami.

Cristobal met with Mullens and Oregon’s players Monday morning to inform them of his decision, but most of his assistants were out on the road recruiting.

“I’m trying to get an understanding of who is going with Mario immediately,” Mullens said. “Once I have that, we will have an interim coach in place. I shared that with both the student-athletes and the support staff.”

With that being said, there is no official timeline at the moment for when Oregon might decide on an interim coach to lead the Ducks in the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl showdown against Oklahoma.

Mullens said that during Cristobal’s team meeting with Oregon’s players Monday, Cristobal encouraged them to continue their playing careers for the Ducks.

“Mario said directly to those student-athletes today that they committed to the University of Oregon, that Oregon has everything that they need to fulfill their dreams,” Mullens said. “He encouraged them, in fact, to continue the path that they’re on.

“We’ll continue to provide that support — we just ask for their patience while we do this search until they understand who is going to be the next head coach and get a chance to visit with them.”

Mullens made an effort to point out the differences between Cristobal’s departure and Taggart’s and noted that Cristobal “had tremendous success” with the Ducks.

So, when Oregon is officially able to hire its permanent head coach, what traits will Mullens look for? He said ideally Oregon would like to maintain some continuity and not appoint somebody who is looking to move on quickly, but it also wants to find “a strong leader” that other programs would be interested in because that indicates the hire has been successful.

“Obviously, we want somebody who shares our value system and the student-athlete experience first,” Mullen said. “Because that’s the priority. That’s why we’re in this. is to support these student-athletes and provide them an exceptional (experience).

“Then, obviously someone who exhibits the leadership traits that can lead a top-10 football program.”