David Marsh

It has been but it hasn't been winning so much overall... But what I love the most is how much it sticks out. Green and yellow! No red or white nonsense.

Kelly was more Oregon than Cristobal at that point certainly... I can absolutely understand the attraction Coda had for picking UCLA over Oregon. This was not a stable time in Oregon's football history. I'd probably pick Kelly over Cristobal if I was an Oregon legacy kid at that point.. I knew what Kelly could do (with just his Oregon record... leaving all his actual faults and problems aside for the moment) and Cirstobal was a new head coach at Oregon that was just a mystery.

So this is an old article from 2015 and Southern Duck's post made me think of it and somehow I managed to find it. Basically in 2015 NFL teams were complaining that the NCAA does not produce enough viable quarterbacks for them. Back then there was a stronger argument that that wasn't the job of the NCAA to be the farm for the NFL, even though it kinda was, but with all this semi-pro stuff going on now in college football there is a stronger argument than ever than the NCAA is just a minor league for the NFL... but I digress. The major premise of the article was that college QBs are trained to make the throws the plays and schemes are supposed to create rather than making the plays that are created due to the actual play unfolding. There is certainly a case for this as many of the most successful college quarterbacks are good at making the plays they are supposed to make and that's about it. We have certainly seen this as Duck fans... I would say Anthony Brown is a prime example of the inability to read coverages and go through his progressions to make a play. How many times last season did we watch Brown just take off with his legs when he should have either stayed in the pocket a bit longer or extended the play behind the line of scrimmage to make a throw? Also... how many times did we see receivers running open and free and Brown make the worst throw? This is something that isn't unique to just Brown but I would say the majority of quarterbacks in college can't go through their progressions and make the proper throws. I think even some of those big names with some those blue blood schools may not be able to go through their reads properly because they are so dependent on having high quality wide receivers who can get open due to their own massive athletic ability and the quarterback has to only make the prescribed throw. Want to know what makes Herbert so good in the NFL? A major factor is that he didn't have those game breaking receivers at Oregon to make his job easy. He had to go through his reads and make the right throw. Now... Herbert had an NFL arm as a Freshman in college and this made it difficult for receivers to actually catch his throws sometimes because it was moving so fast but Herbert could read the defense and get the ball into tight windows when he needed to. It also didn't hurt that Herbert had to learn three different offenses in his four years at Oregon which really did mean he could process the information incredibly well. In that regard, Oregon did prepare Herbert for the NFL. Now... my last though on this in this already too long post... I love what Dillingham is saying about his "pro-style offense" that is about getting mismatches and players in space. This is all about a quarterback making the correct reads and exploiting weaknesses. Now, having a quarterback that can do that is the next big question.

Number wise I agree with Charles in the article that if we hit 38 offensive points per game and 20 defensive points per game, I would be SUPER happy with those in year one of Dan Lanning. Those numbers may be good enough to get Oregon to the playoff as well, not good enough to win it but possibly make it. But the biggest offensive and defensive goals I have for next year are simple... make Oregon football fun to watch again. I want to see a fast moving offense that can score points and be explosive and a defense that can dominate. I want to feel like I can't walk away from the TV even for a moment because if I do then I might miss something big. There is something special about that and that has really been missing the past few years.

I think Oregon actually did a pretty good job of this last year... a 10 win season with our injuries is actually quite insane. The biggest problem with our next man up players last year tended to be a youth problem. There were some schematic problems that I don't think worked but the Ohio State game was a prime example of great prep by back-ups. Just by the end of the season Oregon didn't have anyone left besides walk-ons.

Only goes to prove that so much of Kelly's success at Oregon came from his offensive brilliance but more importantly it came with him inheriting a coaching staff that were solid recruiters and coaches.

This is one the the biggest reasons why I hate the division system for the conference now. This was a rare game to happen but the fact that there is a conference title game after the civil war game really makes this game feel less important.

The main focus of the alliance was to take the spotlight off the SEC. It has or potentially still has the ability to be so much more but it requires sacrifice that not every conference is willing to do on any given issue. They do need to make a splash with some significant if they want to stay headline worthy though. It is quickly approaching "who cares?" Territory if they don't come to some splashy agreement about something.

Interesting interview of Dan Lanning on the Talking Ducks Podcast. There are some adds early on so fast forward a bit but worth a listen. Some interesting questions and a bit more insight into our new head coach.

Also a big difference if that OL gets beat right at the snap and the defenders are in the backfield in a fraction of a second after the qb got the ball. Those sacks are absolutely brutal and unavoidable. In those cases the QB just needs to tuck the ball and go down... anything else the chance of a turnover increases dramatically. We'll see how good that line is come the season. My gut says it can be schemed around a bit by getting the ball out quick but that also limits the playbook.

Utah probably will... and that can be enough to rob USC of the Pac-12 south. I don't think USC makes it to the playoff next year regardless. I think they drop at least two games. One conference and probably Notre Dame. More likely I think USC drops 3 games. Riley may have a good offensive scheme but the Pac-12 is super unpredictable and though we may be seen as the "bad" conference the Pac-12 seems to be rife with upsets.

Additionally... I didn't even really mention the sanctions put on Helfrich from the Kelly era! Oregon lost a few scholarships, this didn't really hurt too bad back then but today it would be absolutely killer. But what really did hurt the program was going from 56 Official Visits down to 37 Official visits. That doesn't seem like much but even today's brand new Oregon coaches know that they need to get students on campus to have the best chance to reel them in. Cristobal was able to work some miracles in the 2021 recruiting class without having any campus visits available but no one else did either. Helfrich managed to recruit at a respectable level, by then Oregon's standards, without being able to bring as many students onto campus. This did lead to taking fewer risks because they didn't have the visits to spare for those 4 or 5 star players who may be interested in Oregon but weren't seeing Oregon as their end game destination. This was a big reason why Oregon was in a lot of top players top X but never their final location. For the 2016 class Helfrich was freed of this regulation but the culture had already started to plummet fast from that Alamo Bowl disaster among other things.

And this is pretty interesting as under the Cristobal era Oregon really did see a drop in their football player graduate rates. This doesn't really effect the overall recruiting because a lot of those top players see themselves leaving in 3 years regardless of whether they have earned a degree or not. This is also something that will probably spark more conversation as to whether or not student athletes are even really students anymore... oh there is a lot to be had in that... but it is still interesting to see how the football culture at Oregon changed under Cristobal.

Also.... What I think really did Helfrich in wasn't so much the recruiting as his poor defensive hires. I've said it multiple times but he gets a bye on Pellum because promoting from within was the Oregon way... But the Hoke hire needed to be a home run and it was anything but that. Hiring is what did Helfrich in and his failure to hire I think trickled down into him losing the locker room. There is lots more to disect and I may write more on it in the future. The Helfrich era and how it ended is fascinating as it really is the turning point from the Brooks Dynasty (Brooks, Bellotti, Kelly and Helfrich) to the new era... There really isn't a catchy thing to call the era we are in for Oregon right now.. Taggart and Cristobal have a link but Lanning will be his own thing with a completely new staff.

I thought about Tua and it was a recruiting miss... However, (and it's a big however) he wouldn't have stayed on the same roster as Herbert. This would have created the same what if as Mariota and Mazel being on the same Oregon team. There is only one QB on the field so they could not cohabitate... At least not for long.

Technique helps a lot as well... have a strong technique and good speed then a bigger but slower player may not be able to keep up entirely. It all comes down to how you can stress the opposing players. Make them work harder while you work smarter. Sometimes being just big is enough to cause problems. Jordon Scott in 2019 just ate at least 2 offensive linemen per play, sometimes more, this allowed other players to get into the backfield.

I'm all for the current coaching staff meeting and talking with past players. These past players have connections of their own and many of them may be interested in investing in Oregon, again, either through monitary donations or even publicity or whatever, if they feel involved with the program. I think there was a lot of desire in the push for Wilcox because Taggart basically implied the old coaching staff didn't know what they were doing and fired them. Then follow that up with the Cristobal years when really it did feel like the old players were left out of the program. And then follow all that up with those two coaches leaving Oregon in a disrespectful ways. I can certainly see the old players wanting to feel connected again. So if Lanning wants to do that and get a real sense of what Oregon football is about, then go for it. Taggart and Cristobal didn't understand Oregon football. They coached it and put their stamp on it but I'd say they never understood and understood whatade Oregon truly special.

The biggest question to ask whenever a conference is considering adding new teams is not just the gross additional income, which would increase, but instead looking at the change of income per school. For instance, adding Boise State and Fresno State to the Pac-12 may not increase the overall income of the rest of the Pac-12 schools but might actually reduce it because the overall payouts per school is no longer 12 ways but 14. Both Boise State and Fresno State have been solid teams over the year but hold relatively small media markets. Are they big enough to add more than they take? So unless a school is able to help generate more income for everyone then they should not be added because they will only hurt the rest of the conference.

As Oregon fans we were all super psyched when Moorhead was hired. We blamed many of our offensive problems on Arroyo and moved on. Well turns out not much changed besides not having a great quarterback running the show. The pistol did eventually disappear from Oregon and the run game was better ... But down field passing was still only a dream to us.

Mario leaving Oregon had at least one good reason that wasn't money. Get back home where he has family and an aging mother. I can respect that part of his decision. Riley left for the money and probably to get into an easier conference before Oklahoma moves to the SEC where his jobs gets super difficult. I also heard some were that Riley may have some NFL aspirations and LA is a better media market for that and also getting beat up in the SEC doesn't make that goal as easy in the end. I can certainly see why they are upset. Also at Oregon we really feel we upgraded our entire staff. Pretty sure Oklahoma doesn't feel that way. They probably feel like they have a good staff but not an upgrade.

I see KT, McKinley and Wright will be drafted. I see Verdell being a late draft pick at best but probably being a free agent. JJ3 is probably a free agent. If Williams had opted to stay at Oregon and had a fantastic year next year I would say surefire draft pick... but I feel he is at best a free agent. Lets face it the Oregon offense hasn't done receivers any favors over the past few years. He has the physical attributes to get him in the door as a free agent the way I see it. Now, does he have the work ethic to earn himself a spot on a team... that is far far more difficult to say. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up in the Canadian football league to be honest.

Certainly interesting... But ASU, UCLA, and UW are all pretty heavy in terms of their upper classmen. Last year a lot of players in the Pac-12 in particular opted to return for another year due to Covid and a short season. Johnson is the ONLY player on Oregon's list that does not have any eligibility left. Everyone else on that list can return for another year or two which is kinda crazy.

No.. unless players start leaving. The problem isn't the 25 scholarship counters for the 2022 cycle (we can actually use 26 this year) but the bigger problem is the typical 85 scholarship cap (this is slightly higher due to covid stuff) but it is that max scholarship roof that is keeping this class down. So if more players leave that opens up a scholarship from the max total which then can be filled by a 2022 scholarship available.

It feels like that could have been the case... but at the same time this last season there were a whole lot of freak injuries that seem somewhat outside the realm of normal injuries. I mean KT's sprained ankle was bad but that was just a weird fall. Flowe's injury isn't a common foot injury. Bennett broke his leg from a non-contact drill in practice... it happens. Some of the more minor dings could be apart of a strength and condition program causing injuries but probably not all. Also considering Oregon's injuries haven't been terribly unusual for the most part the past few years Feld was working the program it seems a bit weird that there was a sudden super uptick this last year. I don't know... and I'm not really taking a side on the issue. But I do agree that there may have been something odd going on there.

Let me be blunt... Sure KT dropping the draft hurts in the short run...mainly for Oregon's bragging rights. But Herbert going 6th in the draft turned out very very good for Oregon and Herbert. He has broken records and just had a pretty good pro bowl game as a second year player. This may not have been the case with a higher draft pick. Sure Burrow is doing well but being on a team with that quick a turn around is usually pretty rare. I mean other Oregon greats we're destroyed by being drafted early... Looking at Mariota and Harrington. Now this might be more of a quarterback problem in the draft but still going to a solid team is better long term and the publicity is always good for Oregon.