David Marsh

One would like Herm Edwards could be the chopping block... but I think right now ASU wants to protect him at any cost but lets get real... he was involved in these recruiting violations.

This feels like a difficult question to answer... Oklahoma ripped up Oregon's defense but Oregon's defense was also playing third and fourth string walk-on players. Oregon's defense struggled with injuries all year long as it was but by the Alamo Bowl it was an empty husk of the defense that played against Oklahoma. There were some series that Williams' was contained by Oregon and overall it really wasn't the passing game that beat Oregon as much as the run game as Oregon's run defense couldn't stop the run. Williams' did have some passes that burned Oregon through the air but I think with a Dan Lanning revamped defense will probably make Williams' a whole lot more difficult.

Except having coordinators makes recruiting so much easier. You can sell a scheme and the coaches players will be working with... But Mario doesn't do scheme.... So you can sell the coaches being held hostage by having to make players play physical and trying to sell that as a scheme.

I turned the game on to check in with it for a while today ... Oregon nearly lost their lead going into the half. I turn it off and they won big. I guess I wasn't allowed to watch this game.

Right now I think things are going absolutely bonkers with NIL ... Especially for players who haven't played a down of college ball. I do think the recruiting side of NIL will slow in several years as even those deep pocketed fanatics may grow weary of paying for players who don't see the field ... It does happen. So maybe some get paid while others get perspective deals that take effect of they do make it. Lots of players don't see the field for a year or two, if not more. How would boosters paying there players feel about letting their investments sit without knowing if they'll ever pay out? Pay for play is one thing... Pay for no play... That will start to dry up the NIL money pretty quick.

Possibly a bit better... but as a head coach this last season UNLV only averaged 20 points per game. Now UNLV isn't exactly a powerhouse and has a major lack of talent but I think Arroyo has only won like two games in his two seasons (including a covid season) at UNLV and the offense hasn't bee good.

And... I think you only get to go to Nick Saban's coaching rehab school once. I think the turnover he was suffering at Oregon was going to catch up to him quickly. Four years and three coordinator hires. He started with Leavitt and Arroyo. Then fired Leavitt and picked up Avalos. Arroyo left and MC hired Moorhead. And then Avalos left and DeRuyter was hired... and Moorhead was leaving at the end of this season regardless so if Cristobal had stayed that would have been 4 coordinator hires in five years. Cristobal was averaging at Oregon one coordinator hire per year (minus his first year)....that is some insane turnover. No healthy program has that level of turnover, unless your name is Alabama that is but Saban is the exception not the rule.

Cristobal doesn't have his coordinators which is probably the biggest factor in his recruiting woes right now. Usually a kid wants to sign with a school and at least know who the coordinator is going to be, especially at a program with a brand new coaching staff. Cristobal has also been rather reluctant to make full use of the transfer portal. He has used it from time to time at Oregon but not consistently. He doesn't actually need to if he doesn't want to in truth but most programs are dipping their toes in more than him.

College is a completely different beast to the NFL just with recruiting. I can see Harbaugh wanting to go back to the NFL just to get away from the recruiting madness and the NIL stuff. Granted the NFL has its own problems.

USC has been recruiting smaller lineman for the past few years because Cristobal kept out recruiting them for linemen. They don't have bad linemen but they have linemen built for an air raid offense and can be easily out muscled. The lines at USC are their greatest weakness by far and so far it doesn't look like it is an area that has been addressed. Oregon has some problems on the lines but I'd argue that has been more an issue of position coaching and scheme.

Institutions can't really revoke scholarships.. they can force kids out the door by saying they are low on the depth chart and won't see the field and will be relegated to the scout team which would force them into the transfer portal. But a program can't just take a scholarship back without a real reason... usually it is disciplinary.

Arroyo was probably better than we gave him credit for but in fairness UNLV has been pretty bad offensively under him. For 2021 UNLV averaged 20 points per game which is pretty bad. Yes, UNLV doesn't really have the talent but still. But anyone want to bet that the Akron Zips average more than 31 points per game next year? Not saying they are going to win a ton of games but they will score some points with Moorhead as their HC.

I could see him staying at Michigan or going back to the pros... if he leaves though I think Oregon starts winning some more recruiting battles in the NW. Forget Washington, it seems like it is Oregon v Michigan in a whole lot of battles for NW talent. If he goes... Oregon has a very good shot at Cornerly the No.1 prospect out of Washington as it seems like it might be an Oregon v Michigan battle down the stretch.

Miami will just have to play more physical at that point... Not much of a difference in truth. Just play physical here is the playbook. 1. Play physical and own the line of scrimmage. 2. Play MORE physical and run the ball between the A-gaps. 3. RAAAWWAARRR MOAR PHYSICAL! 4. Listen to whatever the OC has to say and just call for more physical plays. 5. Actually consider what the OC has to say ... then do the opposite. 6. In case of an emergency: Do what the OC wants to do. 7. Play Harder NOT SMARTER! See No. 3 Defense isn't much different.

And this is the SECOND signing day... This would be understandable if this was the first early signing period. How do you think fans will feel if he makes it to the next signing period without an OC and DC? Yes... This will mean the next signing period is December... And he may fill those spots but they could very well be vacant again by December. So it is a possibility.

I want to see a scheme that enables this... giving up yards of padding in coverage isn't helping our corners and safeties either.

It is only a recent problem at Oregon really that we have this problem with so much top tier talent failing to live up to their potential. For most of our history as a program we had more in common with Utah and having to recruit 3-star diamonds in the rough rather than finding ready made talent. Though I have heard numerous college coaches say it over the years that the vast majority of high school talent needs to be brought in and retaught the game of football. Tackling being one of the biggest aspects that needs to be retaught at college mostly because even those three-star players were big fish in a relatively small pond so they could be sloppy in technique and still dominate. I really want to see Oregon as a sound fundamental team which is something that Cristobal preached but never really delivered on... perhaps it has something to do with the discipline or lack there of on Cristobal's Oregon teams. I also doubt that Lanning even with this amazing recruiting staff will be able to bring in the same caliber of players consistently that is on Georgia and Alabama's roster, at least not those big defensive linemen. However, I still think he can build a scheme to get the most out of the players he can get and build a championship winning team.

I'm thinking more and more that Phil probably had some conditions in that contract that came with that money. I think Phil knew Cristobal had the recruiting ability (that one is obvious) but lacked the on field X's and O's to get the job done. Also if Cristobal saw his power being restricted that would have rubbed him the wrong way and probably had him even more open to a Miami offer.

I'm going to trust the staff on this one... well we kinda have to regardless we don't get to be in the room for these decisions. He has the size but he does need to be coached up, granted the fact that we have his former and again current DL coach doesn't make me terribly confident but maybe a change in scheme will change things as well. But he does have the size... and you can't teach size.

Definitely need a kicker for kick off... Lewis just doesn't have the leg strength to consistently get a touch-back. Lewis was better at place kicking this year but I was still nervous every time he kicked the ball.

It's happened before ... Usuly not this public in the announcement though. Usually I have heard about it while browsing goducks.com There have been quite a few walk-ons who have left this last year and I can see the need to add some more.

If Lanning wins and wins big at Oregon he may just stay. Because of all who have come before him at Oregon the program is built for success at a national championship level. If Lanning wins that national championship at Oregon, he will have a big time roster to do it again. The past two coaches left Oregon for their dream schools in Florida... Lanning doesn't seem to have that connection to another school out there. At least not that I have heard of to date. If Lanning wins a national championship then I think there is a good chance he stays for quite awhile. If he does that what's the incentive of leaving? I'm sure the money will come with success as well.

You know... I've been thinkng about that lately... He turned it down from Uncle Phil and Uncle Phil just walked away from that proposal. Now... I have zero evidence but assuming he was not in contact with Miami (at least not serious) and negotiations had certainly not started yet... But what if... What IF Uncle Phil had some stuff on that contract proposal that would have taken some of MC's power away and forced him to let his coordinators do their jobs? Again... No evidence... But that was some big money and Cristobal is a big recruiter but I'm not convinced Uncle Phil would have been willing to give out that much money without some assurances that he was going to get a team that could put opponents away. The on field results were not satisfactory, though it was a 10 win season, but it was a messy 10 wins for the most part and it was a messy pac-12.championship the year before. Would uncle Phil just give out that size of a contract without ensuring Oregon would actually improve on the field? I'm not so sure. Something to ponder anyways. Cristobal certainly wouldn't have liked losing power in some way that's for sure.

Since the end of the Helfrich era we have had Taggart and Cristobal and both of them looked at Oregon as a complete rebuild. Nevermind the fact that in their rebuild of Oregon it came on the backs of some incredible players who were recruited by Helfrich... Herbert and Troy Dye to name two. But neither coach really wanted to embrace Oregon and what made Oregon's special place. Lanning in reaching out is getting a feel for what makes Oregon the place that it is... And I hope those players say at least one word for all our sake's... "POINTS!"

This just makes me all the happier that he left and got Oregon a nice 9 mil in the process. There is a lesson to be learned through all of this that MC hasn't learned... He needs to let people do their jobs and really in the last year he got a reputation of not letting that happen. Before this last year you could realistically blame COVID for the 2020 season where the Moorhead offense never came together because off season and a rushed install with a new quarterback... Fine sure... In 2018 and 2019 they had the quarterback but no receivers and pets face it... Arroyo isn't exactly a big time OC name either. So there were some interesting flashes but nothing spectacular and the roster wasn't really put together and no big time OC. But 2021 they choose to go with the grad transfer in Brown, they had a full off season to install the offense... And they HAD the roster at Oregon. And the results... 31 points per game (much better if you take out the two Utah games) and they didn't show up against Utah... TWICE! Also... DeRuyter is a good DC. He has a good rep... But with a super promising roster who by the end of the year had the expirence to finally back up their potential (though injuries were a probl) what did Oregon have to show for it... A pretty lack luster defense that really failed to make KT a super mega star that he could be. So yeah ... Glad we aren't sitting here right now with Cristobal with a massive contract and waiting to see at least who the next OC would be for the next couple of years before they decide this job is only hurting their career. Thank you Cristobal and Miami for paying us 9 mil and giving us an opportunity for greatness.