Miami snags Mario Cristobal; What’s next for Oregon?

Yahoo Sports College Insider Pete Thamel explains how Miami was able to draw Mario Cristobal away from Oregon, how Manny Diaz was caught in the crossfire, and who will be on the short list of candidates for the open Ducks job.

Video Transcript

PETE THAMEL: Only in college football can drama in Coral Gables, Florida hover over Eugene, Oregon. This is Pete Thamel for Yahoo Sports. After another wild weekend on the coaching carousel, Oregon's Mario Cristobal returns to his alma mater, the University of Miami, the place where he played, the city where he grew up, and he will be the next coach of the Hurricanes.

It did not come without some consternation, as a multi-day courtship of Cristobal went public and left Miami coach Manny Diaz hanging in the lurch for an entire weekend. It was known, reported, and obvious that Miami was making a charge at Cristobal. And over that time, Diaz was left with no direction, waiting to see if his replacement would be hired before he was fired.

Well, around 10:30 on Monday morning, Diaz got fired. There's a new direction at the U, and also there's an opening at Oregon. Oregon's an interesting case. Three of the last four Oregon coaches have left for greener pastures. Willie Taggart went to his dream job at Florida State. Cristobal obviously just bounced to Miami. Chip Kelly went off to chase NFL dreams, and the Ducks, who built great infrastructure and continued to be relevant in the National title thread, find themselves in a search again.

Look for Oregon to find someone who really wants Oregon and plans to stay for the long haul. That's not something the Ducks have been able to do, despite identifying a series of solid coaches. Look for Iowa State's Matt Campbell, Cal coach Justin Wilcox, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, BYU's Kalani Sitake, and of course, old friend Chip Kelly. The UCLA coach now could potentially return to the Ducks. That's an early list of what will be an intriguing hire in Eugene as they look for someone who'll finally have staying power.