University of Alabama offensive tackles/tight ends coach Mario Cristobal is on the move, leaving the program after four seasons working largely with the offensive line. Cristobal has accepted a co-offensive coordinator position with Oregon, he told The Tuscaloosa News on Friday.
Cristobal was an ace recruiter for the Crimson Tide, helping bring in several highly-rated prospects during his time in Tuscaloosa. Cristobal also led the 2015 Alabama offensive line to win the Joe Moore Award as the nation’s top offensive line.
Speaking exclusively to The Tuscaloosa News, Cristobal tried to put his four years at Alabama into perspective.
“(I’m) indebted forever for the most incredible coaching experience anyone can ever imagine,” Cristobal said. “I mean, the Crimson Tide family took me in and never did a day go by when I didn’t pour my entire heart and soul into it. It’s difficult to say goodbye. (It was) the most amazing group of young men you could ever have in one locker room and one program. I mean, where do you start? Seriously. I don’t know where to start.
“It’s bittersweet. It really is. I wish we could’ve delivered one more there at the very end. But I know those guys, I know what they’re about to do next year and in the coming years. It’s the love and the appreciation I have for the guys in that locker room, the coaching staff, someone who doesn’t get enough credit Miss Terry (Saban), they really make you family and they provided us with an experience and a ride that you can only dream of in the profession. (I’m) thankful and grateful beyond words.
“I did everything possible to make sure I left Alabama as good or better a place as when I arrived. (It will) forever will feel like a part of my family. I know my family, my children, enjoyed those Saturdays at Bryant-Denny (Stadium) as well as those practices over on Paul Bryant Drive as much as you can enjoy it as a young kid. It’s a city, the people, the fans, the families of the players, just a huge, enormous, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart thank you for the trust and belief and for caring and just being there and providing an incredible experience.”
Reliving his time with UA, Cristobal remember vividly traveling to Texas A&M his first season in 2013 and getting to watch the Aggies’ Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel. He also fondly remembers his first Alabama-LSU game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2013.
Then there is the memory he’d like to forget.
“The first Iron Bowl was probably the most painful coaching moment of my life with the Kick Six,” he said.
Most of all, though, he remembers the relationships he built with his players.
“Guys like Ryan Kelly, it doesn’t get better than a guy like that, a guy that vowed that if we did things the right way the way (head coach Nick Saban) said it would be done, that he promised the entire offensive line, the other guys like Cam (Robinson) and all the other guys, that they would be playing and sitting under confetti in a couple of months,” Cristobal said. “He held true to his word. We got that Joe Moore Award as well as the All-American status. I mean, every guy. Austin Shepherd, I’d hate to not mention any of them. Cyrus and Arie Kouandjio. (Anthony) Steen. The list goes on and on and on. Dominick Jackson. Current guys that are there now, Cam and a young buck by the name of Jonah Williams, who started this year. You really can’t start to because you’re going to leave somebody out.
“The first SEC title, the experience of being in the SEC Championship Game. The knowledge I gained by sitting in that think tank of a coaching room with all those other assistant coaches. How do you say thank you for that type of experience? I’ve said it so many times. It’s like getting a Ph.D. in coaching. I’m so thankful.
“At the same time you feel it. It’s painful to the heart because I’m attached to those guys and very close with them. I know they know that with this profession comes growth and sometimes it is time to continue growing. So it’s been awesome. I can’t say it enough.”
Cristobal has had opportunities to go elsewhere at the end of every season he coached at Alabama. He chose to go to Oregon because he believes in the new head coach, Willie Taggart, and the vision of the what he wants to build.
“It’s been a great four years and along these four years there’s always been opportunities that came every year at all levels,” Cristobal said, “whether it be head-coaching opportunities, coordinator opportunities, assistant-coaching opportunities. This is one I felt really strongly about because of the head football coach, Coach Taggart, and the other assistant coaches who I’ve known from competing against them back when I was a head coach myself. My familiarity with them, the way that they want to run a program and the ability to help a university in a capacity that’s different: one that that gives me an opportunity to show growth and develop men. Those are things I learned here under Coach Saban. It’s an opportunity that’s exciting for a lot of reasons. I’m certainly grateful for that opportunity.”
Cristobal said he leaves with a lot of appreciation for what Alabama, his players, the support staff, the fans and, mainly, for what Saban did for him during those four years.
“Coach Saban has been tremendous as a mentor,” Cristobal said. “He’s done this 42 years now and he kind of knows that the industry moves fast and that livelihoods and families and futures are at stake. At the end of the day, he is very supportive anytime a staff member has an opportunity to improve anything for their family and their careers. He really is.”
During his four years as an assistant coach, several of his former players went on to NFL careers, including Cyrus and Arie Kouandjio, Anthony Steen, Austin Shepherd, Ryan Kelly. His current pupil, left tackle Robinson, won the Outland Trophy this season and was selected as a first-team All-American. Robinson is projected to be a first-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft.
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.
