LAS VEGAS (NWN) — Oregon coach Mario Cristóbal said he fully expects other schools to be approached with job offers.
“It happens every single year,” Cristobal said after losing 38-10 to the 10th-ranked Ducks from Utah in the Pac-12 title game on Friday night. “Every year our entire staff, whether it’s behind the scenes, whether it’s in public or not, there are always different people coming to our office, myself included.”
There are reports that Cristobal will be a top candidate at his alma mater Miami if coach Manny Diaz is fired.
Miami native Cristobal, who won two national championships with the Hurricanes before serving as an assistant coach in various capacities, said he has yet to be offered anything from any school.
“Let’s not make up the narrative while sitting at this press conference,” said Cristobal, whose Ducks lost to Utah twice in three weeks in a 76-17 combined final. “Oregon is working on a few things for me, that’s what I do. The pass is now, and that’s the extent of that conversation.
“If I had a plan, if I had to make a decision or if I had something to report, I would. If I had something to report, I would report it. I always have.”
The Oregonian was the first to report that Cristobal had been offered a contract extension, with the 51-year-old expected to keep Eugene.
Cristobal, in his fourth season at Oregon, led the Ducks to two Pac 12 titles in 2019 and 2020, before scrambling on Friday night in Las Vegas.
Center Alex Forsyth dismissed the notion that any rumors of Cristóbal leaving school were a distraction to the team.
“I think we block out all the outside noise,” Forsythe said. “Our one hundred percent focus was on the game. They were the better team.”
Cristobal, who earns an annual salary of $5.5 million, has received extensions twice in the last three seasons. Last December, he received a new six-year, $27.3 million deal that runs through the 2025 season.
Cristobal, who will buy $9 million if he leaves Oregon for another school before January 14, declined to speculate on what he might do if offered a lateral move to Miami. .
“I’m not going to indulge in fanciful things,” said Cristóbal. “Just finished a game that (we) played a lot, (and) trained very poorly. I understand you have a job to do. I think we are all about the same answer.” Going in circles together. You’re going to get the same response.”
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