Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

In the aftermath of this coaching change ordeal, I've noticed a theme emerging that Cristobal is a higher character guy than Taggart. I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts on the extent to which that is actually true versus the extent to which those potential differences are still being exaggerated by the emotions associated with the tumultuous end to Taggart's brief tenure. I think self-awareness is important, and it's good to acknowledge that this situation is one where we are naturally prone to distorting reality, and one where we don't have a whole lot of evidence about Cristobal beyond a good press conference and the words of his friends. At the same time, though, I think we'd all be lacking honesty if we denied that there were a least a couple things that surfaced during Taggart's (almost) year at Oregon that were bothersome - things that we may have minimized in the rush of seeing the program revitalized so quickly, but realistically were not great to see, such as unnecessarily running up the score on Southern Utah or bothering the Sheldon coaches about playing time. Is there any sort of consensus on this? I'd be interested in seeing how others view this aspect of the change.

I don't think anyone really knows for sure. We get to see the facade that these public figures choose to show us. Nobody really knows what goes on in their private lives, which is more relevant in terms of "character" than supposedly running up the score in football games. If Mario decides to let the backups continue to play hard and try to score against some outmatched opponent, that is fine with me.

I think it is pretty obvious that Mario is an intelligent, hard working, charismatic dude. You can listen to him, look at his life story and those things are obvious. Anything beyond that is conjecture.

For me, a lot of it is simply perception. I liked Taggart from day one but he never came off particularly genuine or authentic where Cristobal seems to be both. Taggart's slogan and "have a great day..." sign off always felt canned. Obviously easier to say now but that is truly how I felt all year, like I kept waiting to see or hear something from him that made me felt like I actually knew him. I loved what he was doing and where the program was headed but never felt that connection as a fan with him like I did with past coaches like Chip or Bellotti. I already feel that with Cristobal.

As far as evidence of Cristobal's character goes, I look at his time at FIU. There's so much that went on there that proves his character but just the fact that he stayed with that mess of a program even when better programs like Rutgers and Pitt came calling speaks volumes about his loyalty and integrity. That's pretty much unheard of in modern college football.

Then there's the way the players have responded to him, especially his position group. The people that are around him the most are the ones most outspoken about his character. That means something, IMO.

Taggart was obviously fake from day one

That smile, those canned lines

But that doesn't necessarily indicate a charlatan and I'm still not sure if taggart is a moronic narcissist or just a misguided introvert

I think Cristobal probably wears his heart on his sleeve and he's a strong individual that can afford to do that. I think he comes off as more authentic because he can—but it doesn't say anything about his character

I think there are other indications the man has integrity

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I think the way WT reportedly lied about his status as coach, the way he treated Matt Mariota, and the way he confronted the Sheldon coach for not playing his son ahead of Johnson's son cast some question marks about his character.

What happened with matt mariota?


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skdragon1 wrote:What happened with matt mariota?



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There is a discussion about it on p. 4 of the Vegas Bowl thread.

Yeah I am even more excited and optimistic about the future of the team than a couple months ago. Thought WT would be coaching here for a few years at least, biggest fear was losing many of the assistants. Cristobal was the one I most wanted to keep. Now that he's HC and seems to want to be here for years he is going to sell belief in kids AND the program, not the slogans and gimmicks like Taggart...which did seemingly work however. Arroyo was one of the others so I am glad he's OC. Mario speaks with so much conviction, he's a guy you want to get behind. The more I hear stories about this last year...WTs lack of personability, how he blackballed Matt Mariota, his lies and deception to recruits, the rumored Sheldon incident...the more I believe it was his great assistants he assembled who should get most of the credit. And as we also heard, the players loved Cristobal more during the year and wanted him as the HC...think it speaks volumes. Stoked to watch him command this program!

We didn't run up southern Utah, Taylor Alie played the final 18 minutes of that game. And I'm not saying it's ok, but Chip was very bristly, urban is a self serving jerk and Brian Kelly is a total a-hole. Football coaches tend to be alpha male jerks. Cristobal seems like a fiery guy as well so I'm certain that he too will have his moments.

lukeyrid13 wrote:We didn't run up southern Utah, Taylor Alie played the final 18 minutes of that game. And I'm not saying it's ok, but Chip was very bristly, urban is a self serving jerk and Brian Kelly is a total a-hole. Football coaches tend to be aloha male jerks. Cristobal seems like a fiery guy as well so I'm certain that he too will have his moments.

I agree to much of what you said.
Having said that, where a man channels all of that energy and fiery passion makes all the difference...Mario seems to exert it in a very positive manner.

I'm not defending our former coach, and I have no idea how serious what Mariota did, but I could see a coach having the mentality that he was going to show his players that you can't cross a line no matter what your last name is. Players would always say after that, he killed Marcus's brother for being stupid, imagine what he would do to us.

That would be the most forgiving explanation for that behavior that I can come up with. But the former coach is an ass, so he could have just been doing it out of ego.

This is up there on the list of dumbest threads in Ducks Attack history. You guys sounds like the bitter and jealous ex. College football coaches are all salesmen, some are just better than others. Willie was a great salesman, had great charisma and knew how to speak to a room. Stop trying to make him leaving sound like a character flaw. None of you would turn down a chance at a pre-tax 66% raise and opportunity to go home.

Duck24 wrote:This is up there on the list of dumbest threads in Ducks Attack history. You guys sounds like the bitter and jealous ex. College football coaches are all salesmen, some are just better than others. Willie was a great salesman, had great charisma and knew how to speak to a room. Stop trying to make him leaving sound like a character flaw. None of you would turn down a chance at a pre-tax 66% raise and opportunity to go home.

This is true.

Duck24 wrote:This is up there on the list of dumbest threads in Ducks Attack history. You guys sounds like the bitter and jealous ex. College football coaches are all salesmen, some are just better than others. Willie was a great salesman, had great charisma and knew how to speak to a room. Stop trying to make him leaving sound like a character flaw. None of you would turn down a chance at a pre-tax 66% raise and opportunity to go home.

LOL. But it's how you do it that matters.

Duck24 wrote:This is up there on the list of dumbest threads in Ducks Attack history. You guys sounds like the bitter and jealous ex. College football coaches are all salesmen, some are just better than others. Willie was a great salesman, had great charisma and knew how to speak to a room. Stop trying to make him leaving sound like a character flaw. None of you would turn down a chance at a pre-tax 66% raise and opportunity to go home.

Come play or coach in New York or California and give half your money away! How much money will Giancarlo Stanton lose by leaving Miami for the Yankees? Probably more than were all likely to make in a lifetime combined and squared.