Miami is making a strong push to hire Mario Cristobal away from Oregon, and it sounds like they are trying to put together an offer that the head coach can’t refuse.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported on Sunday that Cristobal and Miami are in the “late stages” of contract negotiations. Miami is offering Cristobal roughly $8 million per season over five or more years.
Mario and UM have been in late stages of negotiations for a deal in $8 M a year range for deal longer than 5 years. Radakovich also expected to join Mario here. UM official expect both to come unless somebody "gets cold feet." https://t.co/Egbf2KodD7
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 5, 2021
Cristobal has also been told he will have a large budget to build out his staff, according to Jackson.
Mario is being given everything he wants if he joins UM. I personally am not taking the step of saying he's definitely coming (same with Radakovich) because neither has SIGNED. Canes hoping to wrap up everything today ideally or tomorrow at latest. https://t.co/jodJBqcXRr
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 5, 2021
Miami is also in discussions about hiring Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich as their next AD.
Cristobal signed a six-year, $27.3 million extension with Oregon last year. He is making around $7 million this season with incentives, so the reported Miami deal would guarantee him more money. It’s unclear if Oregon has attempted to match or beat the offer.
Oregon is coming off a blowout loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Numerous reports have indicated that Cristobal is expected to replace Manny Diaz at Miami, which is not a shock.
Cristobal is a Miami native and was an all-conference player at Miami from 1989-1992. The 51-year-old was a graduate assistant there from 1998-2000 and an offensive position coach from 2004-2006.
If Cristobal does finalize a deal with Miami, Oregon may already have a replacement in mind.
Photo: Nov 23, 2019; Tempe, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
