College football world reacts to Mario Cristobal reports

Is Mario Cristobal leaving the Oregon Ducks to take the head coaching job with the Miami Hurricanes?

That’s the question of the hour in both Eugene, Oregon, and Coral Gables, Florida and the answer appears to be…no one knows.

It’s been no secret that Miami has been putting on the full-court press to get Cristobal to come to Florida despite the fact that they still have a head coach in Manny Diaz. Meanwhile, Oregon has reportedly been offered an extension to remain at Oregon, where he is 35-13 in a little over four seasons, including a 12-2 record and Rose Bowl win in 2019. The Ducks lost the Pac-12 Championship Game last weekend but are 10-3 and will play in a bowl game in a few weeks.

While Miami is doing everything they can and apparently throwing everything at Cristobal to get him, all reports so far are that he remains undecided about what to do.

It continues to be a strange situation where Diaz is still employed as the head coach and is out recruiting for Miami, but Cristobal clearly has interest and, as soon as he signs, Diaz will be fired. What a weird business. No wonder guys like Brian Kelly just up and leave while they can.

Meanwhile, the news and rumors surrounding the reports have a lot of people in the college football world talking, wondering how it’s all going to play out.

The coaching carousel is a truly wild one this season and we’re just barely into December. If Cristobal does leave Oregon for Miami, that will create another massive opportunity, which itself will likely be filled by a coach who leaves a huge gap behind as well. It just keeps spinning and spinning.

[Dennis Dodd]