EUGENE, Ore. — In the end, the writing was on the wall from the beginning.



Even as word began to leak from the start that the arranged marriage of Mario Cristobal and Jim Leavitt wasn’t built to last, we should have seen this coming.



Jim Leavitt was once a head coach — and a good one at that. Then he was fired. Then he began to rebuild his reputation at Colorado as one of the best defensive minds in the sport before taking another step at Oregon.



It was always front and center that Leavitt, who turned 62 in December, wanted to be a head coach again. It was baked right into his contract, with a clause that would waive any sort of buyout if he became coach at Kansas State.



When Willie Taggart abruptly left Oregon for Florida State in December 2017, that opportunity seemed closer than ever for Leavitt. But he was passed over for Cristobal. Despite Leavitt’s quick, one-year overhaul of Oregon’s defense, Ducks players...