HDuck

Remember Jim Leavitt, Oregon D-coordinator? News about him today in another post in this forum. I recall his wife didn't want to move to Eugene and that created some issues during his tenure at Oregon.

Hugh Freeze once coached his team while laying in a hospital bed that had been placed in the coaches box.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/former-usf-football-coach-jim-leavitt-accused-hitting-ex-girlfriend-stealing-louis-vuitton-handbags.amp

Several head coaches have been in the press box during games including Notre Dame's Lou Holtz. Joe Paterno. There are others. Though, not sure if Cristobal is the first to do it without being there as a result of some illness or injury. Cristobal can always say he never lost to Notre Dame as head coach on the field. The game Sunday evening is at Miami. ND leads the series 18-8-1. But, is 6-7-1 in Miami.

"....nation is going to come to an understanding of how challenging the Pac-12 really was" Every time I read one of "those" columns (looking at your Canzano) about how college football will revert to regional divisions (to include OSU/WSU) I think what impact that would have. It would mean, once again, the West would be an afterthought. Poor publicity. Poor kickoff times, etc. It is a fantasy to think there would be equal divisions across the nation.

"I'm pretty sure you'll see Seattle awarded a team in the next 5-10 years." If they do get a franchise, it will have nothing to do with a black eye over Sonics departure, or nation-wide fan interest. The only factor will be the NBA brass believing Seattle Metro is large enough, in comparison to other potential cities at that time, to support a team. And, some billionaire with enough dough to buy a franchise.

ESPN thinks that there could be some regression this season due to the influx of new talent and the lack of returning production. The Ducks return just four total starters from that 2024 team and will rely on a long list of young and unproven players to lead the way. "The Ducks are 115th in returning production, 125th on offense. We'll find out just how healthy Dan Lanning's program is this season with that amount of turnover," Connelly writes. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/espn-projects-significant-regression-for-oregon-ducks-in-2025/ar-AA1KxcOT https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-returning-production-for-2025-season-list-of-starters-coming-back-for-every-power-four-team/

"It would be a huge black eye on the league if they did to Portland what they did to Seattle." The NBA already has several facial bruises and doesn't seem to mind. It might upset folks in Portland and Seattle, but I seriously doubt the NBA fan base elsewhere would care. The Sonics left Seattle in 2008 and there hasn't been a groundswell across the NBA fanbase to replace them.

New WR coach Ross Douglas replaced Junior Adams (to Cowboys) in the off-season. Sometimes coaching changes and the toil of off-season workouts and Fall camp take a toll on younger guys. We'll see how it shakes out.

Daily EmeraldFormer five-star Jurrion Dickey reportedly suspended from...Sources close to the team have told The Daily Emerald that wide receiver and former five-star recruit Jurrion Dickey is no longer with the team, but according to Max Torres of On3, this is only int...

I think it is a little early to be picking "rivalries." The Ducks don't have a us vs them record of significance against most of these teams. Rivalries tend to develop as a result of events that piss off one or both sides. Did several games in a row come down to the last 5 minutes? Did one coach diss the fans of the other? Were their controversial calls by the refs? Is the series dominated by home wins vs road wins? Were the games a major factor in determining bowl assignment? And, so on, and, so on. Iowa? The last game was in 1994. Both the 1989 and 1994 games featured Iowa teams that were weak in those seasons. Iowa already has rivalries which include trophy games and from their perspective they may not see Oregon as a budding rivalry. Their historical rivals are Minnesota (especially) and Wisconsin. Though the Big Ten has pushed a third trophy game (Nebraska) as a rival. Iowa has more "protected rivals" in annual scheduling than any other Big Ten team. Plus, they play Iowa State annually in non-conference. I think more time and games have to pass before there is a pairing other than UO vs UW for rivalry status.

"I hope the loop will be restored by the end of August. I was at Autzen about a week ago, and it was a mess then." The photos of street inside this link show it is pretty close to their end of August target. Addicted To QuackOregon Football New Indoor Facility Update 06/2025We show you how construction looks right now

No photos, but it is my understanding the Leo Harris Parkway loop from Martin Luther King Blvd is supposed to be restored by the end of August. That alone was a big project. At least that was the goal.

"Do we believe him?" Well, most currently employed coaches responsible for recruiting and retaining staff are going to say the same thing, I suppose. Even if the potential NFL job is 42 miles from his high school. I love my wife, and I would turn down an offer from Page Spiranac. Of course, IF Page actually called, ....

Lanning and NFL? KC's Andy Reid is 67 years old. I have my doubts KC would hire Lanning if that job became open in 2026. The most successful NFL coaches have some NFL experience. But, if Lanning had a CFP championship on his resume then all bets are off. In my opinion, Lanning would be interested in that job despite which school his kids are attending.

"#119 Colson Yankoff" While we're in memory lane, remember when Yankoff wanted to transfer from fuskieland to UCLA? Chris Petersen, could have, but wouldn't, grant him immediate eligibility at UCLA, so he had to sit a year for the Bruins (Chip Kelly). Even before NIL, there have been numerous game rule changes/interpretations, eligibility criteria changes, where the hash marks are, live ball play clock, location of goal posts, etc. etc. Yet, there is one statistical record book that is supposed to allow us to compare current players to history. I think about that sometimes, and how non-comparable those records really are.

"FANTASTIC! This should result in Oregon playing 7 and not 6 home games in 2027,.....This move is well worth the $324K" Huh? 2027 was 6 home games: E. Washington, Utah St, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn St, Purdue 2027 was 6 away games: at Baylor, at Maryland, at Michigan, at Nebraska, at UCLA, at Washington Ditching Utah St and replacing them with Beavis will still be 6, unless "at Baylor" was scrubbed.

Yep, to borrow from a cliche, handwriting on the wall. Charles, of course, will be "ecstatic" that the Ducks are paying Utah State an additional $325,000 in 2029 to cancel the 2027 and 2028 games. In effect, paying an extra $325K to play the Beavers. Right Charles? laugh Personally, as I've stated in this forum before, I don't have an objection to playing Beavis....but not so often. I would rather see home-and-home with former Pac12 members in West Recruiting Territory like UA or ASU, Cal or Stanford, Utah, instead of going to Corvallis. Corvallis games have no impact on in-state recruiting for Oregon, and is a missed opportunity to be playing in Salt Lake, Bay Area, or Phoenix.

Not mentioned in this thread yet.... Oregon football players being hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis under Taggart’s watch. I do credit Taggart with demonstrating that Oregon could recruit effectively beyond the West Coast.

In an era that didn't have many televised games, home or away, for the Ducks.... I believe the first ESPN game at Autzen was 1982 vs Notre Dame. And, that was the only televised Ducks game out of 11 that season.

Next recruiting territory? Ireland? excerpt from The Athletic Gibbs grew up about 65 miles north of Dublin playing both soccer and Gaelic football — a cross between rugby and soccer. Gibbs had just 15 minutes to warm up before the 30-minute workout commenced in front of Tucker and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig. That’s when Franklin — who was on one of his “old man walks” as he calls his strolls around the stadium — took off his headphones and came over to chat with Leader. “And then Adam’s first punt that he hit, I have a good video of it, coach Franklin standing over his shoulder, and he hits, I think, 64 yards with 5.3 seconds of hang, which is just abnormal,” Leader said. “After Adam hit a couple of bombs, (Franklin) then walked away with coach Lustig, and at that point, I assumed something good was happening because it was not normal what Adam was doing for a kid of his age. Coach Franklin just pulled me aside and said, ‘Listen, would it be OK if we offered Adam a full ride right now?’ And so then obviously I said, ‘Yeah. That’s why we flew from Ireland and drove from New York. That’s why we’re here.’ So that was pretty cool.” For now, the plan is for him to punt and handle kickoffs at Penn State. He’s not quite sure yet if he’ll enroll early in January 2026 or wait until June.

Notre Dame and NBC money.... aside from the Big Ten, is there any other conference with NBC as a partner that would make the membership transition easy? Would be interesting to see the results of an open bidding process for Notre Dame? My guess is that each of the four major conferences would be willing to consider an unequal higher share at least for a period of time? Though the SEC didn't offer that to Texas. The Pac12 didn't offer it to USC to retain them, or the Big12 to Texas to retain them.

I suppose some fans are "truly" interested in having the best 16 teams, but I think a lot of resistance to the 5-11 model with 11 at-large is due to opinions that SEC bias will play out in those 11 at-large. If ACC, Big12, Group of 5 really want their own participation and geographical dispersal, then my proposal is "no conference will have more than 4 entrants." How often is the SEC's fifth team going to be better than most of the remaining field? Even in seasons in which B1G and SEC both get four, that will leave 8 to be spread elsewhere. Otherwise, if the SEC gets 6 of the best 16, and the B1G 4, then that leaves 6 instead of 8 to spread around. If a year comes along in which the B1G gets 3, and the SEC 4, then 9 to spread around. A limit of 4 may also lead to more interest in B1G and SEC toward the end of the regular season. As well as more interest in the Big12 which might be aligning for 3 instead of 2 entrants, because as long as the SEC bias is in play for at-large the Big12 won't be getting 3.

Moore 2023 at UCLA: 9 games, 114 completions (53%), 213 attempts, 9 interceptions, 1610 yards; 42 rushes, minus 84 yds 9 games, five starts (at San Diego State, North Carolina Central, at Utah, Washington State, at Oregon State) – (W, W, L, W, L) SDSU: 17 of 27, 290, 3 TD NCC: 8 of 12, 182, 2 TD Utah: 15 of 35, 234, 1 TD, 1 INts WSU: didn’t play much OSU: 14 of 33, 165, 1TD, 3 INTs, 10rushes, 18net I think Fall 2025 practices are going to be interesting. Novosad has a reputation for throwing a nice ball in practice. He finished his high school career with 8,983 yards passing, 114 touchdowns and just 18 interceptions. https://www.registerguard.com/story/sports/college/football/2025/06/28/austin-novosad-oregon-ducks-football-quarterback/84194894007/