Oregon Football Coach Mario Cristobal talks recruiting and PAC-12 North predictions

Oregon Ducks Head Coach Mario Cristobal addressed the throng of reporters at PAC-12 Football Media Day in Los Angeles on a variety of topics, ranging from the ease of recruiting for the program to the management of lofty preseason expectations.

On recruiting, Cristobal stated, “I'm obviously going to be a little bit biased, but we have a great product to sell, and our coaching staff and the people that surround our student-athletes are really high-caliber professionals with a super high care factor. And I think people feel that.”

When asked if there were any underrated players that he was looking forward to seeing, Cristobal declined to name anyone, but noted the importance of recruiting California and Southern California athletes. He remarked that this strategy led to a really excellent recruiting class. California players topped the list for Oregon's 2019 recruiting class with a total of twelve of the program's twenty-five recruits coming from California.

When it comes to the physical conditioning of the freshmen, Cristobal noted that this was, “a big change for them, and you combine that with the type of strength and conditioning program that we have, and you're going to see some pretty immediate results.”

Cristobal went on to discuss the high energy of his coaching staff, noting that they bring that level of energy to everything they do.

“We believe you can't separate -- you bring it for practice but you kind of let your foot off the gas for recruiting and do you let your foot off the gas for -- no if you're recruiting, playing checkers, if you're playing football, bring it,” said Cristobal.

The Ducks were picked to win the PAC-12 North by the media in attendance at PAC-12 Media Day, which naturally prompted Cristobal to discuss managing such expectations.

“I think you always acknowledge what the noise is on the outside," said Cristobal.  "When I say noise, I say that respectively because I certainly respect the media and the choices and decisions made, but it never really factors into the process, never really factors into our preparation.”

Cristobal went on to discuss his approach to the team's preparation.

“It starts with me," said Cristobal. "It starts with coaching. We've got to make sure that we are prepared mentally and have a mindset that's a different level.”

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com