What Rob Mullens Said Following Mario Cristobal's Departure to Miami
On when negotiations began with Cristobal's representatives; when interest from Miami became evident
"We've been talking to Mario's representatives for the past couple of weeks. I don't know the exact day but it's been at least a couple of weeks, maybe a few weeks. Obviously, those intensified leading up to the final game, final home game and then into the champ game. And then, obviously we got to the details of an offer before the champ game. Obviously, I've been communicating with Mario really around the clock since the conclusion of the champ game and long before that about our desire to continue the momentum that we had."
On who's in charge of the football team with signing day next week:
"The priority is absolutely the student athletes, and that's what I've been spending my morning doing. I met with Mario early this morning to hear his final decision — we spoke throughout the night, actually — but to hear the final decision and then we had the team meeting. I've met with the staff. I've reached out to the coaches that are on the road and either talked to them directly or left a voicemail. That is the priority is putting a support structure, or maintain the support structure, around these student athletes. They've done everything requested of them to have a great season — win 10 wins, win the North division and have a tremendous opportunity to go to the Alamo Bowl and play Oklahoma. So that is our absolute priority today is to make sure that we set that up. I'm trying to get an understanding of who's going with Mario immediately, and once I have that, then we will have an interim coach in place, and I shared that with both the student athletes and the support staff."
On what is being prioritized in the coaching search:
"Obviously we want somebody who shares our value system in the student athlete experience first. Absolutely. Because that's the priority. That's why we're in this is to support the student athletes and provide them an exceptional student athlete experience. Obviously someone who exhibits the leadership traits that can lead a top 10 football program."
On preventing coaches from leaving for another school, finding a long-term coach after Willie Taggart and Cristobal departures:
"Obviously, we will consider those. The two situations are very, very different in my mind. Obviously, Mario here in four years as a head coach had tremendous success and obviously created a culture, recruited at a high level and produced results on the field. That was a success. Would you like to maintain some continuity? Sure, but our priority is to find a strong leader that others absolutely would be interested in because that means you're having success and you're doing it the right way."
On what the program is doing to keep players that Mario Cristobal recruiting from following him to Miami:
"We have an outstanding staff. Mario said directly to those student athletes today, they committed to the University of Oregon, that Oregon has everything they need to fulfill their dreams and that he in fact encouraged them to continue the path that they're on. So we'll continue to provide that support. We just asked for their patience while we do this search until they understand who's going to be the new head coach and get a chance to visit with them and their vision, and to focus on this bowl game. They have an incredible opportunity. If you have a very, very successful college football career, you only get four of these chances, and most of these young people missed that chance last year to have a bowl experience because of the pandemic. Derrick Fox and the folks at the Alamo Bowl do an outstanding job. It really is almost like a New Year's Six experience. Our focus is on putting the support around these young people, having them finish up strong academically this term and helping them prepare for a bowl game."
On what previous coaching searches have taught him:
"I've learned that Oregon football is an outstanding program. No doubt in that. My phone is blowing up. There's no shortage of interest. For us, it's about finding the right leader. We've got incredible support inside the program, outside the program, and we'll lean on those folks as well. So Oregon football is going to be better than ever. We're going to crank up the search this afternoon. We will find the next great leader of Oregon football. I mean just look back at the last 10-12 years. The results speak for themselves. And we have had some turnover, but the success of the program continues.
On if the figures of reported contract offer to Mario Cristobal would be offered to an outside candidate:
"Again, I'm looking for an outstanding leader and who has the same priorities that we do, and that is student athlete experience first and foremost. Obviously, we want to compete for Pac-12 championships. We want to compete for CFP spots. That's what this program is built on. So that will continue, and we want somebody who is committed to supporting that student athlete experience without a doubt. We're very fortunate here. We have an incredible amount of resources from a facility infrastructure to a great institution to an incredibly supportive donor base, fan base. We have the best homefield advantage in the Pac-12, one of the best in the country. The coaching world understands what a great opportunity this is. We will use all of those tools and share all of that information with the candidates that we visit with."
On if Alex Mirabal, Bobby Williams, Bryan McClendon, among others may follow Cristobal to Miami:
"Some of those folks that you mentioned are still on flights and traveling, so I haven't been able to talk directly with all of them. But that will be up to them to announce."
On importance of getting a head coach with signing day soon and timeline of search:
"Our priority is finding the right person. With signing day right around the corner, that does add an element to it. But at the end of the day, this is about a long-term relationship. We are going to find the right person. We'll move as expeditiously as possible but be centered on finding the right person."
On qualities preferred in new coach:
"Experience does matter. Performance is critically important, no doubt. We're going to have a diverse, broad, talented pool. We're not putting any limits on it. This is going to be a national search. Again, the phone's already blowing up with the level of interest. I'm confident we're going to find the next great leader for Oregon football."
On if he was expecting this to happen:
"Obviously, the University of Miami made it clear... I won't comment on the ways... that Mario was a person of interest. Obviously, we've been well aware of it. We've started these conversations because of the success, understand that's the alma mater, that's home and all the elements that go into it. So yes, we were well aware and managed it day to day."
On if Miami had reached to Cristobal weeks ago:
"No, I'm not aware of that. In fact, two things. One: Miami never reached out to me. So the courtesy that typically extends in this business is that the institution interested in talking to your coach just provides the courtesy, so that never happened. It was not directly to me. I talked to Mario and his representatives multiple times, and what was shared with me is that the official contact came on Saturday morning. That's what's been shared with me."
On if reports coming out of Miami complicated things with managing negotiations with Cristobal:
"It wasn't a complication. Obviously, our focus was on winning the rivalry game against Oregon State to win the North division, then trying to win a third consecutive Pac-12 Championship. I think the coaches and staff did a good job of that. Our job was to engage with Mario's representation, which is the way he wants to do it, and we engaged in that for a couple of weeks and really reached an agreement on terms but knew that he was going to consider that Miami offer as well."
On Miami's handling of the situation made things challenging and how things were left with Cristobal:
"Mario and I, we talked several times. We met for an hour this morning. All I did was express my full gratitude. He put every ounce into this program. He's one of the hardest workers in college football. I appreciated everything he did. I expressed my appreciation. He expressed his appreciation. It was very professional. I totally understand the conflict that he was going through because that's where he played. That's where he grew up. I'm sure when he was a GA or an assistant there, I'm sure he dreamed of being the head coach there one day, and here he is several years later with that dream in his lap. I also know that he struggled and he was torn because he understands the incredible support, the opportunity that was presented here. So, I get it. I totally get it. We were in the team meeting together. My focus is on Oregon doing business the right way. That's my focus. That's our DNA. That's who we are. Again, I totally understand it. That that's why we had the open lines of communication. That's why we sat down early this morning together. I wished him well."
On having a firm or boosters to help with hiring process:
"We'll be leaning on a lot of folks internally, inside as well as a number of folks who support the program, no doubt. There's just a lot of folks with incredible passion, incredible business experience that bring a lot of value. I appreciate their perspective. I appreciate their passion. And absolutely I will be speaking with a lot of folks. We will use Parker Executive Search to help us with the logistics and a number of things that go into the search. We will give them the list of candidates that we're interested in talking to, and they'll help us with the logistics."
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