jrw

He just threw a pick-6. His ankle is taped. His team is down 14-0. Why should he not be benched?

Mario, we have a problem. A big problem.

I don't object, in principle, to losing. I just don't like losing while looking embarrassingly shabby.

Ummmm....

Then why did Mario recruit prize passing QBs such as Butterfield and Thompson?

Oregon 28 - 17, 2, 3, 265

Can't the entire athletic department at ASU hear the NCAA's footsteps coming down the hall?

Dilbert used to bang the heads of new employees on his desk; if they gave off a hollow sound, he put them in Marketing. But, marketing a small business was all I did in my so-called career, so if you hear something, it's the echo from my head. What recruiting is, is selling a brand. A college football brand has to be sold to two targets: the recruit and their family, and parts of the public at large. So, you need to know the markets you're going after and what are the needs and wants of your markets. I'd say Oregon is pretty - like really - good at selling the school's brand and assets to recruits and families - winning, facilities, uniforms, academic and personal support, getting to the league - and pretty darn good at marketing to sectors of the public. As long as Oregon can maintain the Nike connection, the Ducks will have access to the design, advertising, marketing, and NIC talent of one of the best companies in world at selling their brand, like Nike or not. So, if the status quo endures, I'm not worried about recruiting to Eugene. Sorry, Scott.

His job consists of guessing what other people are thinking. Strenuous.

I think not caring is a big part of it. So what if you're wrong? No big deal, there will be something else to opine on in a few minutes. The so-called pundits are rarely held accountable for their accuracy; hits, clicks, likes, and number of followers are all that matters.

Yeah, these days all the attention goes to the so-called smart guys who have the most strident, instant, knee-jerk predictions on everything. There's no downside to being wrong in the current media environment, as everybody forgets what you said after about 15 minutes. So, I'm with you; I love it when the instant authoritative predictions go down the drain.

It's the happy honeymoon period now, for Riley and USC. They think they're the Mecca of college football and it's all a love-fest. Reality will set in and life will go back to normal; USC will be a huge recruiting rival and a maybe a much better program. Time will tell. But, not every SoCal kid wants to go to USC. That's why there are other schools and programs in other parts of the country that are successful. Ever been to the USC campus? It's kind of a dump, in a dumpy part of town.

If the bids are not automatic, it's not a playoff, it's an invitational tournament. Pretty simple.

Having grown up there, I question their judgement. It’s always too something: cold, hot, windy, snowy, humid, buggy…there are about 5 nice days each year. And even then. it’s still flat.

Somewhere in here we need to talk about the differences between how money is seen by players and coaches. Many players come poverty. Not all certainly, but a lot. A bit of NIL money can make a huge difference in their lives. Coaches are talking about how whether they make $3 million or $5 million a year. Money to them is a way of keeping score, or buying a bigger boat, not about any kind of need. So, I'm not sure the standard of loyalty can be applied to both players and coaches.

Moorhead's comments are the classic coach-speak answer about leaving a job. I think he's gone.

Kelly is just part of the problem. I think college football is headed for a reckoning of some sort; too much money, too many oversized egos, lack of an equal playing field, too little control by any oversight body. It's the Wild West out there now, and I think trouble is coming.

The old Royal Navy toast: "To our wives and girlfriends. May they never meet!".

Do we really know what offers or conversations, if any, Mario and/or his agent has had with other schools? I doubt whether everything that takes place makes it into the media.

How much do double-wides go for?

Everybody from Riley to ESPN is having an embarrassing sugar high over this move. Let's see where things stand after all the talk has been exhausted and real life sets in. He could do very well, or not, but "Mecca?" Give me a break, say a whole lot of other schools.

Okay, where in the Googles does it say Moorhead has taken the Akron job? There obviously could be fire with all this smoke, but I can't find anything that says this deal has been done.

I hate it when I agree with Canzano.

He's only "reportedly" the "leading candidate" for the Akron job, which to me means that Akron is leaking their wish list, not that Moorhead is necessarily going there. Is there any confirmation that this is actually happening?

The modern head coach is a lot more than the guy on the sidelines on Saturdays. He’s the head of a substantial organization, with lots of money, lots of moving pieces, and a reputation on the line. Recruiting is a huge part of that program, and is part of evaluating the abilities of a coach.