After Willie Taggart abruptly left his position as the head coach of Oregon football back in December, it slowed the positive momentum that the team had been building for the past year. This was especially true in terms of recruiting. At the time of Taggart’s departure, Oregon had the sixth best-recruiting class in the nation for 2018 according to 247sports. A slew of decommitments and a lack of full recovery dropped the Ducks ten spots by the time National Signing Day rolled around.

Unfortunately for Oregon, the hiring of Mario Cristobal did little to immediately quell the concerns that many had about the program. Although he was one of the top assistants in the country during his time at Alabama, his only previous head coaching gig had its set of troubles.

Over a six-season span, he led a lowly FIU squad to its first two winning seasons, but a regression in his final year led to his dismissal. Aside from his time with FIU, he is an unproven head coach, and that showed with a depleted 2018 recruiting class for Oregon.

But, it hasn’t taken long for Cristobal to shift perception in his favor. In just over six months after his promotion, Cristobal has brought Oregon back to the top of the recruiting world. As of Sunday, Oregon’s 2019 class ranks fourth in the country and is leading the PAC-12 by far.

The latest additions to next year’s class came on Sunday with two commitments within hours of each other. The first came from offensive tackle Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, the top junior college prospect in the country. Later in the day, Oregon added its second wide-receiver to the class when Josh Delgado announced his commitment. According to the 247sports composite rating, Delgado and Aumavae-Laulu are Oregon’s fifth and sixth top prospects in the 2019 class, respectively. Oregon has now had five commitments in the month of June, and the team is showing no sign of cooling down any time soon.

After briefly losing its footing, Oregon is back on track to be a recruiting powerhouse. The program is on a trajectory to where it will finish the 2019 recruiting season with its first-ever top ten class. This success can be attributed to the top. Cristobal’s reputation over the years has been as a top recruiter, and his head coaching position allows the team to focus on capitalizing on his talents.

He also has an incredibly talented staff at his disposal as well. Although he did not put the majority of it together, he managed to keep everyone on board and has definitely played a role in the strategy the team is utilizing in recruiting and overall vision. It appears he has the respect of both the locker room and his staff, which is important when trying to silence any doubters.

Of course, any success that Cristobal has had so far in recruiting means little if it doesn’t translate onto the field. Although 2018 won’t be Cristobal’s first true recruiting class, he’ll need to meet some high expectations. A healthier team means that the fans are expecting him to improve upon 2017’s 7-6 record, and to win any bowl game that Oregon ends up playing in. Cristobal will get the true bulk of criticism once the season starts.

Mario Cristobal has had some big shoes to fill, but he has exceeded expectations so far. He has used his talents as an elite recruiter to bring the Ducks within reach of even finishing among the top five recruiting classes of 2019. It won’t be until the season starts that everyone can get a true evaluation of his skills as a head coach, but if they are anything like how this recruiting season has gone, Oregon will be back contending for the PAC-12 crown in no time at all.