As kids growing up, we always heard the old adage ‘practice makes perfect.’
It was always the phrase and additional push we needed to excel, no matter what it was we were doing.
I’m guessing when Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal first heard the phrase he absolutely took it to heart for every endeavor in his life.
And then some.
As an adult, and now head coach of the Oregon Ducks, it appears he’s multiplied that phrase by a zillion and it still isn’t good enough to satisfy Cristobal’s appetite for complete perfection.
In football, there is no such thing as perfection.
There’s simply the process of practice hard every day, and get better every day!
It’s the culture Cristobal has instilled in his players and it’s paying dividends two-fold.
“I think by the way you practice really determines what you allow or what you’re infusing your locker room with” explained Cristobal this week when asked if he was concerned about a potential drop-off of intensity after the big win over Ohio State.
“The way we practice has not changed from the way it was the previous week. If we feel there’s a drop in intensity from opponent to opponent it’s addressed. It’s confronted and demanded in a very real way – right between the eyes and that’s important for them.
It’s important for our team as human beings development-wise and as football players.”
When listening to Cristobal speak, you immediately understand his words aren’t just coach-talk. He’s created a formula for winning, not just games, but the hearts and minds of his players.
“I feel like the guys who are on the leadership council,…they are really determined to maintain a certain level, a certain standard that they’re not willing to compromise” said Cristobal.
“They understand that compromising any aspect of that standard is the equivalent of compromising 1 and 0. So, they’ve done a good job and everyone is just pushing in the same direction and pushing hard understanding the reality to become a great football team you have to be a relentless competitor every single day in practice and everything that you do.”
WATCH MARIO CRISTOBAL’S MEDIA BRIEFING BELOW