OREGON BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEXT FOOTBALL COACH
12/05/17 | Football
UO athletic director Rob Mullens announced Tuesday that Mario Cristobal will serve as interim head coach while the Ducks begin their search to replace Willie Taggart.
EUGENE -- The Oregon football team will face Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 16 with co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal serving as interim head coach, after the departure Tuesday of first-year coach Willie Taggart.
UO athletic director Rob Mullens said Tuesday afternoon that administration's search for Taggart's full-time replacement has "already started; we'll be very thorough and we'll make sure that we find the next great leader for Oregon football."
Mullens said Cristobal and the rest of Taggart's assistants are committed to seeing the season through the bowl game, including a major weekend for recruiting visits this weekend. And administration will do its part to communicate to recruits the intent to build on the momentum the program established this year.
"These are hard jobs," Mullens said. "And what we've seen is, the energy of this staff and what it means on the recruiting trail, what it means inside this building and what it means in the community, we want someone who can replicate that."
Taggart left Oregon to take over at Florida State. Cristobal, who spent six years as head coach at Florida International from 2007-12, will coach the Ducks through their bowl game while the search for a permanent replacement continues.
"This is a place that, people understand it's a special place," Mullens said. "It's a special place because of the people, because of the fans, because of the success. It's very attractive. I'm very confident we'll find someone who wants to be here long-term and build on the foundation that's here."
Mullens said administration will consider a "diverse" and "broad" pool of candidates, and that, "if in the end there's someone with ties (to Oregon), that's a bonus. But it's not at the top of the list."
One goal, obviously, will be to hire a coach who follows through on a long-term commitment to the program. Mullens said administration "might have to take a little deeper assessment" of future candidates' long-term interests, after losing Taggart following just one season.
"I was disappointed," Mullens said Tuesday. "We sat down a year ago and we made a commitment to him, and he made a commitment to us. We've done everything to support our commitment, to get here today."
Mullens said Florida State contacted him Thursday to express its interest in Taggart – a Florida native who came to the Ducks after coaching at South Florida. Taggart disclosed the interest to Mullens on Thursday as well, leading to a process over the long weekend Mullens acknowledged was "clumsy at the end," as the Ducks awaited a decision.
Finally, around lunch time Tuesday, Mullens said Taggart informed him he was leaving for Florida State. That was despite being offered a new contract by Oregon prior to the Civil War, a deal that was being negotiated up to and including this Monday.
"We wanted to do everything that we could to provide coach Taggart the opportunity to remain here," Mullens said, adding that the negotiations included contract length, compensation and staff retention. "And then, when that went away, we turned the page."
Taggart departed after coaching the Ducks to a 7-5 record in the 2017 regular season, including 6-1 in games started by quarterback Justin Herbert, who missed nearly half the season with a collarbone injury. The new staff helped Oregon rebound from a 4-8 record in 2016, and was in the process of assembling a top-rated recruiting class the Ducks hope to retain.
