Mario Cristobal is headed home to Miami.
Cristobal will be introduced as the next head football coach at the University of Miami in the very near future. After days of negotiating with Cristobal, Miami fired head coach Manny Diaz on Monday morning. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reports that Cristobal held a players-only meeting at around the same time to inform his Oregon team he is leaving. Several of Cristobal’s staff members were on the road and learned of the official decision shortly thereafter.
The news is hardly a surprise. Cristobal has deep ties to Miami and has been viewed as almost too perfect of a fit. He a Miami native and was an all-conference player for the Hurricanes from 1989-1992. The 51-year-old was a graduate assistant at Miami from 1998-2000 and an offensive position coach from 2004-2006.
Cristobal will reportedly be getting a significant raise with Miami, though it’s unclear if he gave Oregon a chance to match the offer. He may have simply been set on coaching at his alma mater in the city where he grew up.
Oregon will now have to find a replacement for Cristobal, and one report claims they could reach out to someone very familiar.
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