David Marsh

I love this current Oregon staff but when Dillingham moves on I wouldn't mind seeing Helfrich come back as the OC. I've been saying this for years. His offense was an improvement over the Kelly offense, it wasn't crazy in how it changed but a few tweaks, some deeper shots, and it was deadly.

I always thought Frost was a good upper level quarterback coach. Think of him as the coach who teaches QBing 301, he did a great job with Mariota and Adams but both were already incredible products that needed to continue to be polished. However, Frost as the qb coach at Oregon never developed a QB from scratch that was reliable on the field. Oregon went through a ton of four star recruits that were beaten out by.... Jeff Lockie??? Then before 2015 all those players who couldn't beaten out Lockie, and Lockie himself, we're then beaten out by Adams who arrived late to fall camp as he scrambled to complete a math credit. I do firmly believe Helfrich saw this problem and brought in Yost who did get Herbert ready and Prukop gets a bad rap but he honestly wasn't that bad ... Oregon just didn't have a defense. Then I won't even start on Taggart... He's an article onto himself at this point.

But at least it's not IMG. At least Oregon has been able to pull kids from Mater Dei. So hopefully this turns out to be a good thing for the Ducks and we continue to grow that pipeline.

Helfrich was the one credited for finding both Mariota and Herbert. Both are statistically the top two qbs in program history. Helfrich made a huge mistake when he did not continue coaching quarterbacks. The problem sort quarterbacks is that it can be really tough to find one that can make the leap to the college system. Most don't, as we forget how few actually see the field. Now the bigger blemish for Oregon's track record in recent years is how many quarterbacks have left Oregon and ended up actually playing somewhere else. Getting a quarterback that was recruited and developed by Oregon would be huge for the program. However, in this day and age it is possible just to go transfer portal shopping every year but that has its own drawbacks.

Exactly... Unless the formula changes for the playoff invitational there is no incentive to add tougher teams to thr B1G. In some ways I think Oregon shocking Ohio State has given them pause. USC and UCLA are both meh at best. They will probably make bowl games regularly but not threaten the status quo.

Sort of... Schools still cannot pay players. What is allowed now, opposed to 2018, is other people, organizations, or companies can pay players for use of their NIL. Schools still cannot directly pay players which is why such ideas like schools creating an "NIL fund" for players is not allowed. I saw someone throw out an idea of charging five dollars additional per ticket per game to go into an NIL fund. This would be blantabtly illegal as the school would collect the money and then pay players with it. However, if there is a guy with a bucket not affiliated with the school who collects money for NIL and that money is used to pay players that is a different story. What Tennessee did was have those affiliated with the school paying recruits money. Which is still a no-no but who knows for how much longer.

Specialists have their own recruiting standards. Typically a five star long snapper counts as a two or three star by the usual rankings. Specialists really don't get a good deal through it all... Kickers Deserve Scholarships, Too FISHDUCK.COM Most of the focus in football is placed on the star power positions like quarterbacks, running backs... But specialists do play a critical role on every team.

So what happens when Riley has to take on Lanning? Especially if the Ducks have a solid offense to go with that defense.

I did pose this question a couple weeks ago in my article. I think it is inevitable because the bigger revenue drivers will want a bigger slice of the pie and would happily ditch non revenue building schools. In the B1G think of how much money Ohio State brings in and by comparison how little Indiana or Rutgers brings in? How long do you think Ohio State or even FOX is going to want that to work? FOX would definitely see ditching Indiana for like Oregon would be a revenue increase because Oregon is a bigger and better brand. The New Overlords of College Football FISHDUCK.COM This will come as no surprise to any of you, but the NCAA is dead. It ceded away its power to the major...

If we get UCLA back then the PAC is in a way better place even with the loss of USC. At that point USC is replaced with someone else but thise options aren't going to be as good overall.

I mean... We all saw this coming years ago. So good of the NCAA to finally get around to it.

Sounds like someone just wants to stir up some chaos. .this conference stuff will take quite a long time to be resolved. Nothing moves fast except fan reactions to announcements... And the news being announced is typically months in the making.

Leadership has to come from Sewell this year. Not saying he hasn't led but he is the defacto vet on the defense and he always leads by example.

The Dye brothers have been the heart and soul of the program for around six years, even as a freshman in that aweful 2016 season Troy Dye was making plays and becoming a leader. Then I think the two big defining Dye games were the last two against Washington, both at Washington. Where Troy played through a broken thumb and Travis willed the Ducks to victory. It will be a loss. However, I do feel the coaches have brought in some nice prices at runningback and a better scheme will help our run game. Probably have a bit of a leadership void in the runningback room right now but whoever emerges as the top back(s) I'm sure will take hold of the leadership element. We have some fantastic sophomores.

I'm happy to see the low blocks going away. Those can be dangerous. I am also tired of seeing a shirt yardage play from an offense that has most of their offensive line just torpedo the defense by diving forward with low blocks helmet first. That never struck me as fair and always came with a high chance of injury. It's also one of those things I never felt added anything to the game.

It is a popular feature for the season. There are usually a few surprising games during that time slot. However, the PAC cannot be relegated to all late start times.

This was the era where Oregon was down and Washington was up and USC was less bad. It would be interesting to see numbers going back the last ten years. I know last year Oregon beat everyone in the pac-12 on a regular basis.

Paying 75mil for one team is a steep price for nbc considering they don't have any other college football. Fox and ESPN have whole conferences and as a result they can pay out larger suns potentially because they bring in more eyeballs. How many times have you turned the TV on to watch a Ducks game on an hour or so and ended up watching the previous game or at least part of it? Or after the Ducks have won, how many games have you stuck around to watch? Those are eyeballs that they capture by the nature of having bulk programming. For nbc and ND you go to NBC for the ND game and you leave as soon as it's over. They don't get any eyesballs on an ND game by chance. This feels like ND making a demand that NBC can't cash or won't cash and they know it. It is something that could be used to bow out of independence and save face along the way.

First ... I don't think Oregon loses three. Two maybe but not three. I have a feeling the Ducks won't come out flat on game day like they did under MC. Also I think Oregon State is going to be surprising again this year. I think they beat the Trojans at home. The beavers are hometown warriors, they struggle more on the road.

Recruiting sucks. It takes a lot of time and effort and the investment per athlete does not always deliver players who actually join the team. It's a lot of work and for every commit there are many more who commit elsewhere. I know it doesn't compare to football coaches but I ran a guild in World of Warcraft, yes an online video game, for years and the thing that drove me away from the game faster than anything else was the constant recruitment element. And that was recruiting in a video game ... I can't imagine how grueling recruiting high school athletes is. I'm a high school teacher now and I'm thankful I don't have to recruit for my classes they are just there. Well... I do have an extra curricular that requires some recruiting but that is only for about a month and that month sucks in that regard.

If UCLA is forced to stay in the PAC then the conference is potentially on decent footing. Though if UCLA is forced to stay in the PAC would the B1G decide not to take USC? They'd probably take them anyways.

If Lanning is the next Saban then he will build his program into his vision. Lanning will have the program he wants and that builds loyalty between him and his institution... Hopefully Oregon. Saban is one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football (if not the highest) but if say LSU or Auburn or even Oregon came knocking at his door with more money, I would find it unlikely he would leave Bama, he has built his program in his vision. Why start over? That's what Oregon has to do with Lanning if he is the next great head coach.

There could have been more at play than just money for a merger. Schools or organizations losing some of their autonomy is always a big factor in these sorts of things. Money is the driving force behind all of this right now but it is not the only thing being used in decision making. If it was purely about the money then there would be only two conferences... Fox and ESPN.... It feels like it is trending that way but it's not there just yet.

Now we wait to see what comes out of ESPN and the ACC. The sky isn't falling just yet... There are still plenty of moves to be made. If the ESPN talks die then yes... The sky is falling at that point.

This time of year it is more fun for fans to see if we are "winning" the recruiting wars rather than the alternative of nothing as we wait for the season to start. I know for some fans they like the recruiting wars side of things more than the actual games. I for one cannot wait for fall camp to start. I am ready to see what our current players can do on the field.