Just like he did with Andy Avalos and Boise State, Cristobal has hired away a defensive coordinator from a school that handed him an embarrassing loss.

According to Football Scoop, who first broke the news, Tim DeRuyter, formerly of the California Golden Bears, will be Oregon’s next defensive coordinator.

DeRuyter has been Cal’s DC for the last four seasons, sharing the position with fellow Duck Peter Sirmon in 2020—though friend of the site Rob Hwang of Write For California informed us that that was likely for the benefit of Sirmon, as DeRuyter regularly showed up on hiring lists for teams interested in a West Coast defensive coordinator.

The reason why DeRuyter earned so much praise at Cal is because he, alongside Head Coach Justin Wilcox, was a driving force behind the Golden Bears’ post-Dykes transformation, in which they went from a high-scoring squad with one of the nation’s worst defenses to a team with a dominant defensive presence and a mediocre offense.

In 2016 Cal ranked 127th in scoring defense, and at the end of DeRuyter’s first season they finished 22nd in that same category. At Cal, he’s manned the defense in three competitive games against the Ducks (in which the defense looked fantastic but wasn’t able to overcome the mistakes made by the other two-thirds of the team) and, perhaps most importantly, he brings with him a two-game winstreak against the huskies, and in both games he held them to under 20 points.

DeRuyter has recently been working with the outside linebackers, but also has experience working inside. Evan Weaver, the All-American that led the nation in tackles in 2019, could hopefully become a less-talented example for Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe to follow in the coming season.

WELCOME TO THE FLOCK, DeRUYTER!

NOW HIT THE RECRUITING TRAIL!!!

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

PREVIOUS STOPS

• 2017 - 2020: California (DC)
• 2012 - 2016: Fresno State (HC)
• 2010 - 2011: Texas A&M (AHC/DC/interim HC)
• 2007 - 2009: Air Force (DC)
• 2005 - 2006: Nevada (Co-DC)
• 2002 - 2004: Ohio (DC)
• 1999 - 2001: Navy (DC, then DB)
• 1995 - 1998: Ohio (DC)
• 1989 - 1992: Air Force (Assistant)