Rob Mullens: Time to Get to Work

As the news of Mario Cristobal’s departure catches the Oregon faithful by storm Monday morning, Rob Mullens gets right to work.

There are a million things to get done, of massive importance and the clock is working against him.

Of course he needs to hire a head coach. We all know that. But even as he digs into that he’s got several other matters of equal importance at the moment.

In the past Mullens has been a little slower and more methodical with his hires. I’m not sure that he has that type of time this year. But I suppose we’ll see.

Since we are all hitting ground zero with this search, I’ll start with Rob Mullens top priorities starting today. Don’t worry a hot board is also coming.

Interim Head Coach

Well that has to be number one. And likely crucial at this juncture. Who will lead this team? Who can hold it together? Who can keep them all from jumping directly into the portal while we wait to hear about the next head coach?

All of the questions Rob Mullens has to answer.

Although I appreciate him, I think we all have to assume Alex Mirabal is Miami-bound at some point. I wouldn’t pick him simply because of this element alone. Great guy, but let’s be realistic.

You typically put a coordinator in charge in most cases. However Oregon only has one of those in Tim DeRuyter. He’s also been a head coach before so there is experience. Even though he’s only been on staff for a year, he might be the guy.

Big Joe carries the title of associate head coach but I’d have a tough time believing he’s capable of handling the duties of interim head coach. No slight to him in the least. I couldn’t do them either.

If not either of these two perhaps you go with the long-time staffers in Joe Mastro or Ken Wilson. Both have been a key part of this run at Oregon under Mario Cristobal.

Rally the Troops

There are simply some guys you won’t be able to stop from hitting the transfer portal. I’m sure a number of players have already been contacted from other schools (via backchannels) about interest and openings.

It is paramount to calm them down as best as possible. Convince them to give you some time to hire a good coach. Let them make an informed decision after that.

That’s the best you can hope for in my opinion. These coaches are smooth talkers, your next head coach will likely be able to convince many of them to stay. He just has to be given the chance to do so.

Interview and Hire

Get after it. Like yesterday. And I know this sounds easier than it is. Nailing this hire will be a critical point for Oregon football and to try and continue the trajectory they were on.

I feel confident Mullens has a strong list put together already. I doubt he was in his office just praying Mario stays.

Timing is not on his side so working through your list as quickly as possible becomes paramount.

Get Back to Practice

Try and get these guys back on the field. Under Mario Cristobal they were given this week off. Which you can still grant them. But the sooner they get back on the field working together, the sooner they can bond and you can work with them to put some of this behind them.