David Marsh

Just another layer of depth. I don't think they were counting on him for some time but knowing they had someone as another layer of depth was worth recruiting I suppose. There is also something to be said for just having more mature players. But I always found it highly unlikely Oregon was going to win this recruiting battle once BYU seemed to throw more money at him.

It comes down to the coordinators, the HC, and locker room chemistry and player leadership. FSU threw a ton of money at the portal for last year's team. Everyone (pundits) was raving how in 2024-5 FSU was in contention to win it all in rather dominant fashion. Fast-forward to the season and it turns out they didn't have a team and the wheels came off in week zero and it never recovered. Ohio State has been throwing money but has been losing to Michigan quite consistently. They had 2 losses last year! They lucked out with an expanded playoff and had a chance of redemption and credit to them they seized it. But in any previous year they wouldn't have made the playoff. Watching Ohio State this year is going to be an interesting tell as to how productive this practice is year after year.

I do believe this recruiting cycle is indicative of many programs NIL programs waking up and realizing they have money they can throw at players. Washington has loads of alumni with money and the same goes for USC. Both seem to be throwing money at recruits because they discovered they could do that. So they are really working with a 2022 framework of NIL and it is disrupting the whole system. Additionally this is year 4 of NIL and all these recruits in the 2026 cycle have been watching NIL pay out since 8th grade and they all want their turn at the big paycheck. And many believe they are worth more than they are... But right now there are plenty of programs happy to pay them out for the recruiting win. And interesting convergence of circumstance.

I saw a few comments on another site saying he was reclassifying as well. But I haven't been able to follow that up anywhere. But this one feels like it's a closer to home and a bigger payout was at play. It feels like Oregon never really had either parent fully recruited and both were wanting either more money (dad presumably) or closer to home (mom). This recruiting cycle has really become a bidding war. Yes, previous cycles had this aspect about it but this one really feels like players are going wherever the largest payout is coming from. I think Oregon will bring in a fine class but less flashy than it could have been with some of this crazy spending.

Not a great spot for a conference when your best team is in the 30s and your second best is in the 70s. Boise should be happy with this arrangement.

I guess that's different. I mean if Penn State did this the fan base would lose their freaking minds. But beige isn't a color that sparks any sort of inspiration.

UNC has a football team???

This had to come at some point for sure. This case I think is one of the more blant instances of roster tampering. The article was unclear but kinda implied by "able to compete" is Lucas a preferred walk on or is he on scholarship at Miami. It doesn't really matter in truth because walk ons can be paid enough that they are effectively on scholarship these days anyways. I could see that getting thrown into the case though if that is what happened. He left Wisconsin and went to Miami and became a walk on for their football team... Who could have seen that coming???

The whole system of Oregon athletics is working great right now. I'd say basketball might need some coaching changes in the near-ish future if things don't improve for men's and women's basketball. But hard to argue with results when Oregon led the B1G in conference championships in year one by a wide margin.

Much needed after the string of losses.

If you're desperate for some football still and on the west coast. You by default meet one of those criteria Charles!

The new Pac is the best of the old mountain West which absolutely means they will all consume each other regularly. Probably fun for viewers (if you actually want to watch those teams) but not great for their playoff prospects for sure.

It sounded like the NIL offer was greater from TAMU than Oregon on this one. He apparently is a life long Ducks fan but Oregon wasn't going to match the offer from what I've read. But this might be one we wait and see on come December.

I think it might be a short term strategy as well ... But for an additional reason. I think it might be a better use of resources until NIL deals for prep recruits calm down. This cycle some of the "sleeping giants" have woken up and discovered they do have money and can buy recruits and as a result we are seeing some outrageous prices. And the recruits themselves are all big shots in their relatively small fish ponds and many think they are worth more than they actually are. All this makes for a highly unstable recruiting environment at the high school level. Whereas, the portal is relatively more stable ... In an odd way because there are some rules and regulations around the portal and the portal window is so short. The bidding wars are short, intense and resolved in about a month. Whereas the high school recruits get YEARS to haggle. But I also agree that a portal heavy recruitment strategy has so far failed which is why Oregon has always done a hybrid but this year it feels like there is a greater need to rely on the portal than years past.

What does that even mean? Boise State had some shocking major bowl wins but they were never a contender for a national championship and will probably never be.

Only to those who don't understand how to maintain a stable roster. Oregon rarely loses any players to the portal they want. The NIL money is going to the roster and to the players who stay and produce. Much of the Oregon model seems to be come to Oregon and you'll get a fair deal. You'll develop and if you're good enough you'll get paid more and be ready for the NFL. Not a great pitch for those who want to be paid NOW. Which is what USC and others are using. However, USC did lose by far their best offensive lineman to the portal (to Oregon). So they obviously aren't doing a good job maintaining their roster. They lost other prices of their production as well. One thing has remained true even in the portal and NIL era. The rosters with the oldest players who have developed in the program the longest are still the ones winning the national titles. Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Georgia are the last four... All had senior heavy rosters who were in the program for a long time. Sure there were some important transfers but they supplemented the team and were often veterans themselves. USC can bring in all the No. 1 classes they want but they won't win anything if they can't develop and hold onto them.

Oregon State can be a feeder program for the Ducks. I'm cool with that. I'm not saying Stars are everything, but Oregon is really recruiting at the absolute top end of things right now. Wheaton the younger just isn't on that list. And frankly I'm not sure Wheaton the elder would have made the cut for this staff. But without Wheaton the elder we wouldn't have this staff today.

Yes... He who shall not be named does use the portal in a way that differs greatly from Oregon. The portal in bulk approach that Kiffin at Ole Miss kinda uses as well. I would say the portal bulk approach is there because they are searching for overlooked diamonds in the portal. There are some absolutely... Benson was fantastic at FSU but didn't emerge at Oregon. But Lanning has something that few teams do... The ability to pick the top talent from the portal and land them consistently. Often taking the BEST players from other teams and treating them like feeder schools. We don't know how all this NIL stuff is going to playout in the near future as the House Settlement is still proceeding. But what's clear is that Oregon isn't going to overspend on high school recruits when they can dominate the portal.

Couple other things of note... I wrote this article a couple weeks ago so things have changed slightly or just proven my point the more. Brandon Arrington jr (a highly sought after CB in the 2026 cycle) is considered a TAMU lean because their offer on the table is so much larger than what Oregon is willing to pay. Some school's NIL program is still using blunt force (aka just outbid everyone) to recruit. Oregon hasn't and isn't playing that game. But as we saw with Dante Moore ... That doesn't mean we can't catch some of these players on the rebound. What if they don't have the season they dreamed of at their chosen school? They might be coming to Oregon after all.

This one is a weird one... Because frankly it doesn't matter if NCAA basketball moves to quarters. Everyone else uses quarters and they create natural breaks in the games. It is also a guaranteed commercial break for broadcasting companies which is what they want. It is the same reason why the NCAA adopted the 2 minute timeout in football. So going to quarters really wouldn't change the game. But it just feels kinda wrong.

Lyons is the QB you're probably thinking of there and if Oregon lands him he'll really be more a part of next year's class than this year's. This isn't to say that Oregon should pursue and land him. However, unless Oregon goes after two QBs this cycle, they probably will effectively be without a new QB for the 2025 cycle.

I think it was a given this was going to happen at some point. But I think they needed to wait a (minimum?) of 10 years before they could do it. I want to say LaMachael James was about 10 years removed from his time at Oregon before he was inDUCKted into the Oregon all of fame as well. Regardless, this is a big honor and well deserved for Mariota. I still love going back and watching those games, he ran that offense so beautifully.

Fantasy football is an interesting one... because I agree without it the NFL would definitely take a hit. However, fantasy football has some other things going for it other than a strictly betting perspective. There is often a social component where leagues are built around friends and there may or may not be any money on the line at all. Some people do bet on it aggressively but that isn't always the case. It can be a game within the game. For many the joy comes from just playing the fantasy football game as it combines with their love of football by default. I would get into fantasy football if I cared about the NFL but I rarely watch any NFL games. Fantasy football isn't unlike people filling out march madness brackets. Sure, there could be money on the line but often time it is for fun and I guess bragging rights. Betting can be a thing without money, people do it all the time, but to me sports betting IS about money and sports betting culture IS about money. Though I will say there is an element of sports betting that has always been a part of sports culture (or mostly about sports culture) and that is the pre-game lines. We all love looking at who is favored and by how much. What we do with that information varies wildly from person to person.

I don't like betting... especially when I don't have any say in the outcome. But I am an obsessive Ducks fan. This is the case where big moneyed interests are pushing a narrative that makes them more money. You can't really blame a lot of sports casting and content creators that take their money for advertising as that keeps their businesses and passion projects alive. But we can absolutely push back on the notion that gambling is a must to be a sports fan. Being a sports fan is fun onto itself. People were still sports fans before sports betting became largely legal throughout the country.

Hey... Alabama put numbers ON the helmets and names on the BACKS! That's just downright crazy by traditionalist standards. PSU stopped with the stripe down the middle and I think even when they did that the designers were like "I think this is a little much, better not put player names on the back."