Next Oregon football coach odds: Chip Kelly clear favorite over Kalani Sitake, Justin Wilcox, Bryan Harsin, Chris Petersen to replace Mario Cristobal
Oregon is looking for a football coach after losing Mario Cristobal to Miami.
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As expected Monday, Oregon football coach Mario Cristobal has accepted the same job at the University of Miami, where he played on the offensive line between 1988-92 and won two national championships. The Miami native also got his coaching career started there as a graduate assistant. Few jobs likely would have lured Cristobal from a great gig at Oregon, but going home clearly was one. SportsLine offers odds on the next Oregon coach, and that list starts with UCLA's Chip Kelly.
Cristobal leaves Oregon with a 35-13 record in four seasons and is the second straight coach to leave that school for one in Florida: Willie Taggart went to Florida State after one season in 2017.
Kelly of course had massive success as head coach at Oregon from 2009-12 when his quick-tempo offense was revolutionary. Kelly's time in the NFL didn't work out very well, and he's 18-25 at UCLA but did lead the Bruins to eight wins this season and a spot in the Holiday Bowl against NC State on Dec. 28.
With all due respect to UCLA, that program is always going to be a Little Brother to USC in Los Angeles and Oregon absolutely can pay Kelly more because of the deep pockets of mega-booster and Nike boss Phil Knight. Oregon is the best program in the Pac-12 right now without question. In fact, Oregon next season likely will have its most talented team since the national runner-up squad of 2014.
Kelly has a $9 million buyout at UCLA through Jan. 15 but after that it's zero. Oregonian columnist John Canzano tweeted over the weekend that he expected Oregon to target Kelly. He also had been linked to Washington but said he did not talk to anybody with the Huskies. Rob Mullens, who was the Oregon athletic director during most of Kelly's coaching tenure there, remains in that role. UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond did not hire Kelly, for what that's worth.
Speaking of Washington: Could Oregon go after former Huskies coach Chris Petersen? He's a Pacific Northwest guy but hasn't shown any inclination to come out of retirement.
Cal coach Justin Wilcox is from Eugene and played at Oregon from 1996-99. There are reports he's a bit fed up with the administration at Cal.
BYU's Kalani Sitake is a rising star in the coaching ranks in leading the Cougars to a 21-3 mark the past two seasons combined – BYU was 5-0 vs. the Pac-12 this season. Sitake was Oregon State's defensive coordinator in 2015. Oregon has a history of decorated Polynesian players (Heisman winner Marcus Mariota for one) but has yet to have a coach of Polynesian descent.
We have to mention Iowa State's Matt Campbell because he's linked with pretty much every job. Campbell's Cyclones beat Oregon in last season's Fiesta Bowl.
Would Bryan Harsin leave Auburn after one disappointing season for Oregon? Rumors from up there are that there are two jobs Harsin covets: Washington and Oregon. Harsin got his coaching start in 2000 at Eastern Oregon.
Dave Aranda is on every Oregon list out there but has said he's staying at Baylor. It's a bit surprising that Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien didn't land any of the major openings. Yet. Andy Avalos is a former Oregon DC in his first season at his alma mater Boise State.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Who will be the next full-time Oregon football coach?
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