EUGENE a Oregon's decision-makers chose continuity over wholesale change in December in promoting offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal to the football program's vacant corner office. A few weeks later, they locked down defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt for a second year, as well.
Those winter decisions are paying off in the dead of summer.
"We've gained ground because of familiarity," Cristobal said following Tuesday's practice at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. "We feel we are farther ahead."
A year ago under Willie Taggart's brand-new staff, it took until the 13th or 14th practice of preseason until the offensive and defensive playbooks were entirely installed, Cristobal recalled.