Despite Oregon's “Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly” money offers to extend Mario Cristobal's contract, the head coach is leaving the program. Various reports on Friday suggested Cristobal had agreed to take over as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, in a surprising twist to the tale. Just how the ‘Canes managed to hijack what seemed like a done-deal for the Ducks has just come to light.

It's hard for any coach to turn down the chance to take the job at the program where he played college football, but it also helps when that school is willing to throw you a big-money contract to help ease any doubts. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Cristobal's offer from Miami would see him earn around $8 million per season, and is expected to run in excess of five years.

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While Oregon was clearly willing to offer him the big bucks to continue building what he had so excellently crafted in Eugene, the allure of coaching for his alma mater proved too much for the 51-year-old. Cristobal exits the Oregon program after four full seasons in charge. He logged a 35-13 record and went 2-2 in bowl games during his tenure with the program, having stepped in after the infamous departure of Willie Taggart to Florida State.

Cristobal played four seasons at the University of Miami under Hall of Fame head coach Jimmy Johnson. As an offensive lineman, Cristobal won two national championships with the ‘Canes and was named First-Team All-Big East Conference in 1992. He'll now be presented the tough task of bringing this waning Hurricanes' program back to the forefront of the college football landscape. After a dismal 7-5 campaign that saw the program fall vastly short of expectations, Cristobal's new project will be far from easy.