Coach Mario Cristobal, after Oregon's rise and fall, aims to lead Ducks back to the top

Lindsay Schnell | USA TODAY

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EUGENE, Ore. — When it came time to move on from Alabama, where he had been an assistant coach the previous four seasons, Mario Cristobal knew his toughest recruiting battle would take place in his own house.

When he arrived back in Tuscaloosa after a trip to Oregon, he told 7-year-old Mateo and 5-year-old Rocco that it was time to go to a new program and help make them great. His boys were not having it.

“No way,” Mateo said. “Two more championships, and then we can go somewhere.”

The Tide had lost the 2016 national championship to Clemson just days before, and Mateo understood that in Alabama, that is unacceptable. Back-to-back titles were the only way to ease the pain, the elementary school fan figured.

But then Cristobal, who might be the best recruiter in college football, made his pitch again. He explained that they had an opportunity to “go to a place, get it back on track, and win its first national title. That is awesome, to get with a group of people who want it that badly.” As he spoke, Mateo and Rocco’s eyes got wider and wider, and their jaws went slack. What their father described sounded better than Disney World.

Cristobal did such a good job convincing them that going somewhere new and downtrodden would be fun that they didn’t wait to hear he’d already picked a destination. Instead, they offered their own suggestions.

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“Yeah, Papa,” said Rocco, nodding at his father’s pitch. “Let’s go to Illinois!”

Then, from Mateo, “Or Wake Forest!”

Soon, the boys were “just spitting out college football teams” that had fallen on hard times, recalled Cristobal with a laugh. By the time he told them they’d be moving across the country to help the Ducks, they were completely on board.

Fast forward 15 months, and Cristobal’s role has increased substantially. In December he was named Oregon’s head coach when Willie Taggart bolted for Florida State after one season. Eager to keep their No. 16-ranked recruiting class intact, the Ducks promoted Cristobal, last season’s co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Oregon, once the toast of college football, finds itself in an unfamiliar position. Just eight seasons ago under first-year head coach Chip Kelly, the Ducks catapulted themselves into the upper echelon of college football, competing for Rose Bowl berths and national championships. Buoyed by what athletic director Rob Mullens calls “our unique relationship with Nike,” the Ducks became, as the song goes, “your favorite team’s favorite team.”

Oregon exploded as a national brand, and the Ducks’ tempo offense signaled a new shift. When Kelly left for the NFL, Oregon plugged in offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich and the machine kept humming. Oregon made another title game appearance, Marcus Mariota won the Heisman and everything seemed fine.

Then, a precarious dip: Oregon missed badly in recruiting quarterbacks, roster depth all but disappeared and the Ducks got slammed with injures in 2016, finishing the season 4-8. For the first time in 40 years the Ducks fired a coach, cutting ties with Helfrich.

Now, they’re on their third coach in three years, playing in what is arguably the toughest division in college football. Kelly is back in the conference at UCLA, and comparisons are sure to follow.

Given Oregon’s facilities and Nike connections it’s strange to think of the Ducks as an underdog. But they’re certainly not a favorite anymore.

“When you are rebuilding a program, especially what we went through (winning just four games in ’16), whether you like it or not, there are some painful steps that you cannot skip,” Cristobal told USA TODAY Sports.

Cristobal understands that fans in Eugene have become accustomed to winning Pac-12 championships and competing for playoff berths. Certainly he’s aware that outsiders doubt he can get the job done, pointing to his 27-47 record as head coach of Florida International from 2007-12. And while some have argued that Oregon’s opportunity for a national title vanished when Mariota left, Cristobal likes the pressure — if you can even call it that.

“First, these aren’t pressure situations, these are opportunities,” said Cristobal, who earned two national championship rings (1989, ’91) at Miami as an offensive lineman. “(Hall of Fame coach) Jimmy Johnson, he made it feel like it had to be the big stage, or nothing at all. And thank God for that ... it made us enjoy, embrace and go after big expectations.”

Now, it’s his job to build that same culture at Oregon.

Safeties coach Keith Heyward has been uniquely positioned to observe and understand Oregon’s rise — and fall.

A former All-Pac-12 player at Oregon State, Heyward has coached at his alma mater, Washington, USC and now Oregon. In between was a stint at Louisville. He saw Oregon climb from middling Pac-12 team to national championship contender, and believes the trip back to the top isn’t that far away.

“A lot of people were thinking and saying, ‘Oh my gosh Oregon sucks,’ ” Heyward told USA TODAY Sports. “Come on, they had one losing season. You look now and it’s us, Washington and USC — we’re in the fight for every top kid on the west coast.

“Consistency within a staff and scheme, that’s what Washington and USC are benefiting from … for us, even with the changes, we brought in a really good (2018) recruiting class. We’re going to have the pieces (too) — we’ve just gotta put them together.”

Cristobal is quick to correct anyone who refers to this as “Year 2.” Though he was around in 2017 and “there is carryover ... our processes are different.” It’s been a mostly seamless transition though, and there are reasons to be optimistic about this fall.

In 2018 the Ducks will bring back Eugene native Justin Herbert, one of the best young quarterbacks in the country who missed five games last season because of a broken collarbone. Before Herbert’s injury, Oregon ranked seventh in total offense. Oregon struggled without him, going 1-4.

In the spring game Saturday, behind Cristobal’s wonky scoring system, Herbert’s team won 59-34, and the rising junior completed 12 of 21 passes for 126 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Cristobal epitomizes someone who is detail oriented. He walks around the office with a legal pad, taking meticulous notes all day, then stores those notes in filing cabinets; he has every year of coaching on paper. It’s something he learned while getting his “football Ph.D. under Nick Saban.” Soon, he plans to implement the use of a sports psychologist, a move Saban made years ago. A former Secret Service recruit — he got a job offer, but loved coaching too much to walk away — he takes pride in noticing the smallest detail that could help his guys.

One person he knew would help: Jim Leavitt. The former defensive coordinator at Colorado, Leavitt was considered a steal when Taggart plucked him from Boulder last offseason. Keeping him in Eugene arguably has been Cristobal’s most impressive recruiting job. Leavitt’s Oregon debut last season was nothing short of impressive. In 2016 the Ducks ranked 126th in total defense; last year they jumped all the way up to No. 46. In 2016 Oregon gave up 41.4 points per game; in 2017, 29.

There are fixes to be made, of course. Oregon was the most penalized team last year (88.31 penalty yards a game), and had a bad habit of turning over the ball. The Ducks must squash both of those things to contend in 2018. And contend is something Cristobal plans to do.

“It’s well-known nationally that when Oregon is on, it’s on — and it’s really hard to stop,” Cristobal said.

And even after a dramatic drop, does he still believe Oregon has that mystique?

“Without a doubt,” he said. “Our guys feel it and know it, and the guys we’re recruiting, they feel it and know it, too.”

Mullens didn’t spend much time around spring practice this year but when he got out to the field, he was struck by the energy.

“I sense a new intensity and a new sense of purpose,” Mullens told USA TODAY Sports. “Everyone who came to this program came here to compete for Pac-12 championships and playoff (spots). They want to get back there. They want to be the group responsible for putting Oregon football back where it belongs.”

What everyone will learn in the coming months is if they have the right person leading them.