For most of his career, Oregon offensive line coach Mario Cristobal was coaching or playing on dominant offensive lines.

“I’ve been spoiled,” Cristobal said. “I played at Miami when it was the best team in the country, coached there when it was the best team in the country. I spent some time at Alabama … even our offensive line at Rutgers was underestimated.”

Now Cristobal is working to bring the Ducks into that group.

In 2016, the Ducks’ offensive line was not up to Oregon’s standard. With veteran Tyrell Crosby lost to injury after the Nebraska game, the line was manned by freshmen with little to no game experience. One of those starters was Calvin Throckmorton. Now, with a year of play under his belt, Throckmorton thinks Cristobal’s coaching is bringing out the best in the team.

“It’s an intensity that I’ve never seen matched by anybody else before,” Throckmorton said. “He’s pushing us to be the best we can be, and not accepting anything less than that.”

According to Crosby, that intensity isn’t just for show.

“He’s not there just to scream at you,” Crosby said. “He wants to see you improve and get better each day.”

Coming to the Pac-12 from the Southeastern Conference is a big switch. The perception is that the SEC is tough, and runs hard-nosed, smash-mouth football. The Pac-12 is seen as favoring spread offenses and passing attacks.

While neither is entirely true, Cristobal has certainly imported  grit, a factor that Oregon lacked last season. A major part of his technique is imbeding a sense of toughness in all elements of his line’s play, regardless of scheme.

Oregon Ducks offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal gives instruction to one of his players. The Oregon Ducks hold practice during their spring season at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex practice fields in Eugene, Ore. on Friday April 21, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

“We have a little bit of everything,” Cristobal said. “Every single one of them requires physicality.”

Cristobal also rejects the idea that certain schemes are inherently soft or less aggressive.

“Zone football is sometimes mistaken for sideways football,” Cristobal said. “We have the opposite mentality. We want to knock you back.”

For Oregon, the success of the offense hinges on star running back Royce Freeman, and starting quarterback Justin Herbert. Neither can excel without a strong offensive line, a fact that Cristobal’s players are keenly aware of.

“They’ve got the right O-line mentality,” Cristobal said. “We’re here to serve. We’re here to protect, to break holes in the line of scrimmage, and not worry about any tad bit of recognition.

There is no ‘my bad.’ My bad is the quarterback getting checked into Slocum for some kind of examination. We don’t tread on that world.”

At the end of the day, the vision of head coach Willie Taggart is at the core of what drives Cristobal.

“He’s got a great plan and he’s got a great philosophy,” Cristobal said. “We all are in it 1,000 percent.”

In turn, Cristobal’s players have bought in 100 percent to his system.

“We all trust him,” Crosby said. “Anything he says, we’ll do without hesitation. We believe in him and what he’s telling us.”

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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