BigDucksFan

He beat the Ducks and he passed the MC entrances exam so he must have something going for him, but can he recruit ??

You are so right about winning. For Pac-12 schools to win over other Pac-12 schools is easy. However winning over the schools of other conferences is much harder. When the second best of the Big12 embarrass the best of the Pac-12, you know the Pac-12 has a problem. That problem is money. It takes money for schools to draw elite coaches and keep them. Just ask Colorado about that, they couldn't even keep a mediocre coach because of money. Yes, winning will put butts in the seats and to win you have to spend big money to get a big coaching. Or you can be content with winning the Pac-12 conference and not going any further in the win game. As for me I would like to have the Ducks win a national title while I'm still around to see it. (They better hurry)

It's nice that DeRuyter will have a bucket full of talented guys to work with.

Question: "Is it true that to become a Defense Coordinator for Mario Cristobal you have have beaten him in the past ??" One other question I have is "how is his recruiting ability" ??

Darren, your article was spot on today, Thanks It's to bad it has taken so long for our Pac-12 CEO Group to recognize this and take action. It seems we had to wait for the turn over of enough presidents to reach the proper consensus. I also want to give a shout out to John Canzano for his continuous attention to this problem. He's a good source of information as you point out. Your summary of "And if they screw it up? No biggie. It’s only the end of the Pac-12 as we now know it." is so right, we must get it right this time.

Can't get it right all the time, it's like in 1951 shouting: "The Dodgers win the pennant", "the Dodgers win the pennant" - - - NO WAIT - - - "The Giants win the pennant", "the Giants win the pennant".

Per Rivals the 2021 recruiting rankings places the Pac-12 teams as follows: 6 Oregon 8 USC 28 UCLA 37 Utah 39 Washington 43 Cal 50 Colorado 51 Washington State 55 Stanford 56 Arizona State 70 Arizona Oregon State did not make the list. So what does that tell you ?? 1) Not much has changed in the pecking order of things for the Pac-12. It's USC vs. Oregon 2) Those below 50 will continue to be irrelevant but dangerous as a trip-up game if the others are not "UP" for it. 3) Oregon is right up there with Georgia (No. 5), and close with Clemson (No. 4), LSU (No. 3) 4) Oregon is one 5* + one 4* away from Ohio State (No. 2). The bottom line is that Oregon recruiting is still kicking it in high gear. The future looks good.

David, you must spend more time in Vegas, for enjoyment purposes, and stay up all night and all day.

Relocate to geographically neutral Las Vegas? Great idea Charles.

Leave no stone unturned.

More of the details from Jon Canzano: Don’t be fooled -- Scott didn’t leave this conference any better than he found it. It’s not nationally competitive in key revenue-generating sports. The brand is in pieces. The media rights contracts have been lapped by peers. Scott built the Pac-12 Network, but gutted it when it served him to do so. He trampled a lot of people. In the end, the outgoing commissioner will be best remembered as the guy who laid off dozens of his staff and handed out furloughs to others while accelerating his own annual bonus. Some details: -- $5.3 million in salary. -- Chartered jets and lavish hotel suites. -- A $1.9 million interest-free loan that, far as anyone knows, Scott still hasn’t made a single payment on. Look. Understand. The proud roots of the Pac-12 go back to 1915, where it was founded in The Imperial Hotel in downtown Portland. It operated for years in humble office space in Walnut Creek, Calif. That is, right up until Scott ordered his one-time lieutenant Gary Stevenson to secure a $7 million a year lease, gobbling up prime commercial real estate in downtown San Francisco. To a lot of you, this conference has always been like extended family. To Larry Scott, the conference was the Bank of Pac-12. Minutes after the news broke, I reached out via text message to a long-time trusted Pac-12 staff member to ask, “What do I need to know?” The reply came: “He’s a (expletive).” The point here isn’t to pile on Scott, but to make sure the sitting presidents and chancellors don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Scott struggled mightily to connect with his own staff. He barely spoke to most of them beyond what was necessary. He ruled like an emperor, and cast aside anyone who couldn’t help him. But Scott’s biggest sin is that he forgot somewhere along the line that his job was supposed to be about doing everything in his power to boost the conference and serve those 12 campuses. The next commissioner has to be someone with ties to the campuses. It has to be someone who understands the struggles of coaches and athletic directors. I think the CEO Group would be wise to interview a couple of sitting athletic directors in the coming weeks. You can outsource the media rights negotiations to an agency, but what the Pac-12 can never again do is lose connection with its campuses. Also, it has to stop the charade. It’s not a media company, as Scott famously claimed. Athletes, coaches, alumni and athletic directors are the lifeblood of any conference. Without them, you’ve got no pulse. Whoever sits at the big desk at Pac-12 headquarters has to be interested in more than a meet-and-greet fly-by on game day, whisking out of town at halftime leaving a trail of jet fumes. Wednesday was a long-overdue reboot. Scott said in the release, “now is a great time in my life to pursue other exciting opportunities.” He had to know months ago that he was in trouble. We could all see this coming. The timing of the typical contract-extension negotiations didn’t unfold for him as expected. The Pac-12 presidents and chancellors who ousted Scott this week aren’t the same ones who hired him a decade ago. Only two of them were around when Scott arrived: Gene Block at UCLA and Michael Crow at ASU. Best case, Scott had to know he was facing a 10-2 deficit in the vote. I don’t blame you for being excited about the possibilities. With the right leadership, this conference has a chance to turn the corner and make up ground on it peers. Larry Scott is now lame-duck commissioner. He’ll leave the post in June, one year before the expiration of his contract. What this conference needs to focus on now is the person takes his seat. It must be a massive course correction. One with deep connection with the university members and some fresh vision. The Pac-12 will get a new boss this summer

And I don't think it will be anyone we have seen on the field so far.

I'm sure the SEC and ACC would pull back and they are much stronger then the Pac-12 and Big 12. The best solution for the Oregon Ducks would be to join a different conference, like the Big 12 for example. This can be done in a couple of years from what I understand.

It is a mystery how he stayed this long but now there is only 1 president remaining that was part of the group that hired him. Also for some strange reason Arizona State president likes him and has spoken out in favor of him in the past. Maybe with all his income he had a kickback program going, (that's just a rumor of course)

Yes, a lot of good talent to replace. That should weaken them a bit.

Yes, and there are plenty of good teams at the nation's top, so you better be prepared.

Oregon picked up the #10 slot in the Yahoo Sports poll, but that was based on Shough and Brown coming back for 2021 and Thibodeaus and Noah Sewell taking control of the defense. IMO, I'm not sure either Shough or Brown will be controlling the offense in 2021. This is still very much up in the air right now and much could change during the Spring Game. The defense I do agree with. Thats a no brainer. USC is at #15 but IMO should be higher, like just above the Ducks at #9. Their only drawback is replacing their top 3 running backs, leaving there defense with plenty of retuning talent.

With Ball in the mix for rookie of the year its doubtful Payton will get it. Ball has too much national recognition.

Never thought of it in those terms, thanks for shining the light on it. Yea, I could get behind that.

100% agree with you on this.

Yes, it's been a long time since we've had a clutch QB.

Love the photo 30Duck. Nothing say's it more then an intense look from your coach as he points the way.

Maybe our running back coach needs to make some adjustments as to what he feels is the right type of running back we need and to recruit.

Aaaaaaaa the wonderful world of the NCAA.

If anyone can make it work Dana can, we just got to get him to sign on the line.