FishIceCream

Off topic - but living in the badlands of Riverside county in Southern California, it always surprises me how many Duck / O hats or t-shirts or bumper stickers you see. Granted I may be unconsciously biased to notice them, but I would say the only other college sports team that comes close is USC. Which is not bad for a school ~900 miles to the north in Eugene. Although the true winner for fan devotion in these parts is the Lakers and the Raiders - even though the Raiders skipped the state!

Thanks for that little history lesson about the recruiting services Charles - I had no idea about that. I have tended to use 247 in recent years for my own reading, but since Rivals seems to treat us better, this gives me a reason to just accept that and stick with Rivals. One thing that I like about Rivals is that the average recruit rating is easy to understand (just the average of the stars) and you can click on that column to sort the results by average stars. 247 has a scoring method that is (I think) proprietary, and in any case I don't understand it. Added to that, they don't let you sort the list by average rating. I've always felt that they should pay more attention to average rating, because teams with high turnover of players tended to have bigger recruiting classes, and thus get higher rankings due in part to volume. Stanford is a team which traditionally seems to retain players for their full four years of eligibility (probably being one of the top academic schools in the nation helps!) and so would have smaller classes. Yet, at least a few years ago, their average ranking was up there with the football powers. I think they've fallen on hard times lately though. Long story short, even flipping the table to see average ranking, Oregon is still number 5. Not bad!

I'll admit that my parents have never seemed to come around to my way of thinking, at least regarding OSU or Washington. But you have to make your own way in life

I worked out this theory in high school. (No kidding!) It's worked ever since for me. U of O over everyone. Oregon teams over everyone else. Northwest teams over everyone else. Pac 10 (now 12) over everyone else. West side over everyone else. Once you get beyond that level, it breaks down, but it works when you just turn on a random game and don't know who to root for, because you don't care.

I was disappointed that it didn't work out for Pellum as DC. Just as a person and longtime Duck! How about going back in time for a player who could play that role? In my memory, Anthony Newman might have been a little below the ideal size, but I have a few memories of him blowing up plays that stick with me to this day. What a player.

I will answer with a simple yes. I hear all of the honest, heartfelt, and informed complaints that it's no longer the offensive circus it used to be under Chip Kelly. But then we have the 2019-2020 statistics MC vs Kelly: U of O 35 points per game / UCLA 27 points per game. Yes, players have a factor in it, but who recruits the players? My take is simple: If he continues to recruit like he has, and the team does not completely under-perform, some bigger program will make him an offer he can't refuse within a few years. Then we can have the same debate about his replacement *grins!*

I agree too. I just feel like in the end, if the entire 'media conversation' comes down to four spots... and you have five big conferences, a bunch of lesser conferences, and one wild-card Notre Dame... how could anyone expect that good things would result from it? Maybe the people getting rich off the current system haha.

I have been working in the university of California system for years, and so my salary is publicly available online, just like every other state employee. Looking at how much I've made and then looking at the football and basketball coaches just makes you want to cry or laugh! And - good point - I could add Scott to that list.

Wow! Liked the article, and many people have already mentioned various points that occurred to me in their comments. This is what happens when you are late to the game. So I will just add on to a few things that have already been mentioned. My first thought dovetailed with Haywarduck. The linage of coaches is important, but the infusion of cash and attention from Uncle Phil really helped put UO on the map, back when the arms race for palatial estates for the football program was just getting started; not to mention the arms race for social media "cool factor" with uniforms and such. It's something that I tend to ignore, but it's also, I think, a reality in the 2020's. We do not have the overall cash, location and population base of a Notre Dame, Texas, or USC. Uncle Phil got us into the conversation. My second thought is that I disagree with the idea that the PAC 12, even after recent down years, is truly thought of as the least of conferences in football. I say that most people will look at individual teams (Washington, Stanford, Utah, UCLA, Arizona State, USC, Oregon) and think of them as teams - even if they've had a few down years recently - which you would expect to field a strong team most years, and occasionally a great team. I know the trend has been downward, but I don't think it's changed that overall opinion yet. I look at the ACC and the Big 12 - I don't see that many teams which I would put in that category. I think - as has been mentioned many times already - the fact that we haven't had a dominant team in this era of the four-team playoff has skewed the conversation. If you take the example of Clemson as mentioned in the article, the reason that the ACC is perhaps considered stronger comes down solely to the fact that Clemson has had great success recently. The Big 12 is only considered stronger because of Oklahoma. In the end, I am already on record of not liking the current playoff system, and I think that 'impressions of the day' are too closely tied to it. Now that we are going to have some new conference leadership, I would not be surprised if the Pac 12 in general starts to get more respect. And hopefully UO is leading the charge.

When you are the highest-paid state employee by a long shot (in any state pretty much) you should be expected to deliver good results. Saban delivers good results! Hopefully we will see some of that rub off in Oregon too.

I have to admit I chuckled reading the headline (headline?) of this topic. Although I would say, if I were a really diabolical general manager, if Houston wanted to give me the QB, one of their best linemen, a couple good prospects, and maybe the top draft choices over the next couple years, I might make the trade. But in the end, living down here in California and knowing some football fans who are not Duck fans - people are very high on Herbert. I think the price to trade him away would be much too high.

I have no fish pictures, unfortunately, but I leave you with this just to tickle your imagination. Fish Ice Cream

Just to buck the trend, I wonder if Sewell could play that position? He seems freakishly mobile given how big he is (saying that in the best of ways!) and we have some other guys, like a healthy Flowe, who can play the wrecking ball counterpoint LB. It's nice to have options, anyway.

You really throwing down the gauntlet considering my FishDuck handle I will see what I can do.

I keep looking at the scholarship limit, the incoming class, and then the weird COVID era rules. My feeling is that no matter what, some people have to go. but I'd rather it be nobody. This is why I am not a coach.

Great article! I sometimes feel like the more things change, the more they stay the same in football; reading about that defense really reminds me of reading about NFL defenses in that great old book... wasn't it "The thinking man's guide to football"? My key takeaway, and fitting my own "sit on the couch" coach perspective, is that it's easier to recruit great linebackers than great linemen. And I think we have a really good group of them these days.

Wow, that was very detailed, thanks. I know it's just a sign of the times, but I miss the days when most players came in as freshmen and you could watch them develop over four years. Now I just get confused by all the new names each season. Maybe old age!

If recruiting rankings translated into wins, USC would have won the Pac 12 most of the last decade, and the Utes would have been in the cellar. I think we all know that recruiting rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt. If you go to 247 and look at the top 20 all-timers, it's amazing how many never panned out to greatness. Or how our only Heisman winner was a mid three star. But there is no doubt that in aggregate, more highly rated players gives a team a better chance for success. Unless you are a Trojan

I think we called this one based on observation, more or less.

Sometime a while back I decided to make 247 my go-to for the recruiting rankings, which puts us at 6, but a solid 6, and well above SC. I have to say, even though I think I've said it before, the idea that our Ducks are up in that echelon of recruiting rankings is just about as magical as if my daughter's favorite flying ponies zoomed over our house trailing rainbows and glitter from behind their tails. I would pinch myself, but I'm afraid I'd wake up.

I'm not sure that's much of a thing any longer, but it is interesting to think about. The Ducks have poached coaches several times for lateral jobs - I believe Mastro from Wazzu is the most recent example before DeRuyter. Then two years ago the other conference coaches gave the Ducks no love when it came time to vote for all-conference teams and coach of the year. Payback?

Very Game of Thrones, or Sun Tsu. If the opposing commander shows the ability to defeat you, eschew the direct attack and use diplomacy or bribes to convince him to switch allegiances and join your side. In this way, the wider war can be won. FishIceCream guide to strategy chapter 1 lol. Nobody should ever say MC is a dummy!

Just from following FishDuck, it seems like he's been on the cusp but passed over now 2-3 times to get promoted to full DC? It's probably his time to make a move. I hope he does great outside of one game per year.

You took the words right out of my mouth after watching that film. Once he gets into a footrace, you can see he's a strider with that top end speed that might not show up in the 40 yard dash. Well, fingers crossed!

And people wonder why there is so much cynicism towards the NCAA and their insistence this is all amateur athletics.