Is it possible to be so focused on your in-state rival that you actually forgot it was Thanksgiving week?
The simple answer is yes!
During his Monday media briefing, Cristobal was asked about this week’s Thanksgiving schedule and if any changes might be forthcoming – Cristobal quietly paused, smiled, and shyly said, “Well, it’s all football,…it’s all football.”
“Honestly, you realize it’s a blessing. The blessings that you have and the fact that you’re surrounded by such awesome people. You just made me stop and think that it actually is Thanksgiving. So, will the routine change? No, you just move all the days up – Thursday is really your Friday so it’s the night before the game when you have your meetings and your walk-through at night before you travel the next day.
“There won’t be any I would say changes in our normal schedule. Maybe the menu might be different at the house. I’ll check in with the wife and see what she has in store later.”
Not sure what Jessica Cristobal might think of her husband’s response, but then again, being the wife of a head football coach, I’m certain she realizes the focus and dedication it requires to maintain a winning program on the level of the Ducks.
And of course, it is rivalry week which means at least half of households across the state are either Duck or Beaver fans.
Winning this game certainly brings with it a significant amount of bragging rights statewide so there’s no question why Cristobal is so laser-focused on the task at hand and not the Thanksgiving holiday.
And with that, there’s still a large portion of Cristobal’s team, his team’s younger players, who need to be educated on the history and importance of what used to be referred to as the “Civil War.”
“I think the biggest mistake you can ever make as you coach a team is assume everyone knows or assume that culture is automatically going restart the following year,” explained Cristobal when asked about the understanding his younger players have regarding the in-state rivalry.
“We have a couple of guys that really can take a deep dive into that and explain that to our team, and they’re going to as the week goes on. They have already. It’s important for our guys to always understand the importance of a game like this, while at the same time being completely focused on us. On us getting better as a football team improving on technique-wise, fundamentally, schematically, all the things that can help us continue to be a better team.”
WATCH MONDAY’S MEDIA BRIEFING WITH MARIO CRISTOBAL BELOW