EUGENE -- As first impressions go, Mario Cristobal's first eight days as Oregon's coach were chaotic.



In those eight days between his first press conference and first game, Cristobal scouted the Ducks' Las Vegas Bowl opponent, Boise State; hastily rescheduled a key recruiting weekend to Eugene on the eve of the early signing period; ran bowl practices by day and flew to visit recruits in their homes at night; and learned which assistants were following Willie Taggart to Florida State, and which UO could persuade to stay with hefty raises. At the same time, Cristobal also was planting roots. He signed a five-year contract with sharp penalties for leaving town quickly. After renting a house from former Ducks assistant Erik Chinander during the 2017 season, it was now time to buy.

All that activity caught up to the Ducks in the form of an uninspired performance in a 10-point bowl loss.



Compared with that breakneck beginning, the months since have proceeded at an almost glacial pace. And that has been a welcome change, the Ducks say. Some 231 days after that bitter end to the 2017 season, the Ducks emerged from their Alabama-inspired offseason program to open preseason camp Friday in a much different place.



"Comfortable and fired up and in a groove, that probably describes it best," Cristobal said. "We're in a rhythm."

A vote of conference media picked the Ducks to finish third in the Pac-12 North, a prediction that echoes many expectations for Cristobal's first season as a head coach since 2012, at the end of the Miami native's six seasons at Florida International. The Ducks have been on the fringes of most top-25 preseason polls and with a schedule that begins against three nonconference opponents with a combined record of 4-32 last season, they are expected to enter their Pac-12 opener against Stanford riding high.

Whether they can use the expected fast start to crack the conference's upper echelon remains to be seen, but the schedule holds other advantages there, as well. UO will host Washington, the media's pick to win the Pac-12, and Stanford, which was selected second in the North.



Cristobal was known as a elite recruiter upon his hiring as co-offensive coordinator in 2017 and has lived up to his reputation as head coach. The current class, still in progress, ranks in the top five and comes on the heels of a 2018 class ranked 13th, the program's highest finish in 247Sports' composite ranking in seven years. There is a good chance fans will see many of those recruits immediately this fall through a new NCAA rule allowing redshirting players to play in up to four games without losing a season of eligibility.



"It's a great idea," Cristobal said. "It allows your team to remain incentivized throughout the course of the season. ... But at the same time it doesn't mean that we don't believe, at least, that because now you have a redshirt you just give away playing time. We think that would create the wrong kind of dynamic within the walls of our locker room."



Yet for all that star power, the fortunes of those currently on the roster will hinge greatly on the health and performance of just one player for the second consecutive season -- junior quarterback Justin Herbert. A Heisman Trophy candidate with first-round NFL draft potential, Herbert has added nearly 40 pounds and a comfort of being the face of the program since his quiet freshman season.



"He's done an awesome job," offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. "It's going to continue to be a thing that we're all going to see and that we all know, it's just when it's right in front of you it's a lot easier to see. It's when the quarterback gets to that third year -- that second, third year, you really start to see a maturity and confidence both mentally and physically."





UO went 1-4 after Herbert injured a collarbone last season but Cristobal sounded more comfortable with the options behind him in sophomore Braxton Burmeister and freshman Tyler Shough.



"I don't know how many of us could have survived the situation that Braxton was thrust into last year. That's hard," Cristobal said. "Both these guys have placed themselves in a situation where it's not just well, if Justin gets hurt, these guys, can they help manage a game? No, it's these guys can win football games here at Oregon."



He was quick to add that the Ducks aren't as deep as he would prefer at other positions, notably wide receiver, the defensive line and secondary. UO failed to sign several receiving recruits and lost two reserves to transfer in the winter and star signee Jalen Hall won't be with the team to start fall camp and there is a dim outlook of his potential to join UO at all. Tight end Kano Dillon, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound graduate transfer from South Florida and receiver Tabari Hines, a Wake Forest grad transfer, will shore up some of that experience void, though Hines won't practice to start camp while recovering from knee surgery.



The NCAA hit the defense with bad news by ruling Miami transfer D.J. Johnson, a linebacker with the size to drop down to rush end at times, ineligible to play this fall while he sits out due to transfer rules. Lineman Malik Young also was not granted a sixth year of eligibility. But junior college defensive lineman Sione Vea Kava, who did not appear on the roster Thursday, was at practice one day later. (Freshman linebacker Andrew Johnson will miss the 2018 season while rehabbing a knee injury suffered during his senior season.)



"You'd like more depth at the defensive line position," Cristobal said. "I feel good about our front seven and the guys we'll roll out there when the ball is down but certainly would like more. I don't think you can ever have enough great defensive linemen."



But perhaps the most important returner on defense is coordinator Jim Leavitt. His $1.7 million salary signifies both the value of his accomplishments last season, improving UO's defensive scoring average from 126th to 81st, and the promise of what he could pull off in Year Two with help from two returning assistants and seven starters. His defense is experienced -- 66 percent of all tackles return, putting UO in the top half nationally -- but has voids it will trust to be filled by young players, such as cornerback, where sophomores Thomas Graham Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir will roam. One intriguing candidate in the secondary is Bryan Addison, the nation's third-ranked athlete in 2018 who arrived just days before the opening of camp after being released from scholarship at UCLA. Cristobal said Addison made a good first impression at safety on Friday but could also play receiver, as well. Maybe in the same game, too.



Addison "brings too much to the table to lock him into one side" yet, Cristobal said.



Across all positions, UO says it enters preseason camp stronger. Cristobal tailored the offseason to mimic that of Alabama, where he worked under Nick Saban, and hired a strength coach with Crimson Tide ties to implement it. Running back Tony Brooks-James, one of few sure things in a young backfield, gained almost 13 pounds, Cristobal said. The progress of others was noted weekly during videos, dubbed "Flex Fridays," released throughout the offseason that featured Ducks bouncing around a weight room patrolled by the mustachioed, oft-hoarse strength coach, Aaron Feld.



Cristobal called the changes to the strength program "the secret sauce of the program."



"The bodies have changed and not so much the cosmetic beach muscles," he said. "More than anything, the amount of functional strength that has been developed, increasing our mobility, our flexibility, our ability to redirect, to make sure that we play with balance and body control."



So the Ducks look the part of a contender. They're talking like one, too.

"You certainly set the goals, you don't shy away from them. God forbid the fact that you should ever shy away from wanting to play for championships," Cristobal said. "If you do, you're at the wrong place."



Will they play like one?



Cristobal has nearly one month of preparation before the Sept. 1 season opener, in Autzen Stadium against Bowling Green, to leave a better impression than his first.



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif