David Marsh

Vision... Lanning needs to have a concrete vision as to what he wants to see on the field. This also has to be a realistic vision and something that has concrete results. Aka... Defense holds teams to under 20 pts per game... Offense averages 40 pts per game... Those are the big picture ideas. He needs to be able to enable his coaches (and himself) to execute that vision. Cristobal's vision was physical... which is kind of a dead end... what does physical look like on a stat sheet? What does it look like on the scoreboard? Oregon didn't lose to Utah twice this last season because they were out physicaled ... Oregon was out coached and the schemes couldn't counter what Utah was doing. Being "physical" got Oregon into that mess... Utah knew just sell out to stop the run and force the pass and watch it all fall apart... and it did! Lanning needs to let his OCs do their job to get points and not dictate what the scheme must be but question how to make it better. It is also his call at the end of the day if something isn't working and he must impose a change and that might be in the form of firing and hiring a new coach. He is an actual X's and O's guy on defense so he has more lead-way as far as I'm concerned to create and impose his own scheme. He just needs to know what he wants the desired outcome to be in terms of the stat sheet and the scoreboard. Though in the end I think Lanning will meet his first real test as a coach not on the field but when there are some off field shenanigans that some players get themselves into. At some point someone is going to get into trouble and the question is how will Lanning react to it. This is perhaps one of the toughest things coaches have to do because the answer isn't always remove from the team but let the players work their way back onto the team. The punishment must always fit the crime and that is difficult. I could probably ramble more but I shouldn't ... Good post Notalot... lots to think about.

I'll believe it when I see it... it has been over a decade since the talking heads have said "USC is back" and it still hasn't happened yet. I do think Riley is the best coaching hire they have had since Carroll but that doesn't mean USC is back. Riley has more flash than Lanning but I think Lanning's defense may counter Riley's offense. Also Whittingham has been pretty good at Utah but with better coaching I think Oregon surpasses Utah though Utah will be annoying and I think USC can surpass Utah with the recruiting we are currently seeing. Also... if Riley fails to get his QB in Williams I think his house of cards falls apart his year. He has pushed out Slovis and Dart whether intentionally or not for the arrival of Williams and if Williams doesn't show then Riley is in for a world of hurt next year.

Our corners the past few years have been pretty good. The weakness has been the safeties covering the underneath routes. Well it's been the underneath routes that have been hurting us the most overall. The corners have been pretty reliable though and haven't been burned too often.

It's NIL but this still hurts. I really hope USC loses the Pac-12 South now so we don't have to face Dye. I think Oregon would beat him I just don't want to see Dye play against us.

Next year I may end up watching Miami football just to see if our theories as to the source of our frustrations the past few years are true.

I'm not saying the Pistol is good but I think Cristobal had a lot of say in how it was used and it was used horrendously. Mastro also has a great reputation as a running back coach at various stops and yet our run game has been good but a far cry from Oregon good. Makes you wonder...

I think Oregon gets the win against UCLA... it is a home game and I think we will have a better coached team. I think our offense will also play with some more tempo and be explosive. It did a pretty good job against UCLA last year and the only reason we won by three was because Brown gave them the ball with two interceptions in the fourth quarter. Utah is going to be a tough game... but I think with better coaching and coaches who hopefully keep the team engaged this should be a whole lot better. As long as we don't have the same injuries as last year. It will also be at Autzen which will help. Stanford... Oregon should not have lost that game last year. It will be at Autzen and we shouldn't lose this game this year. Shaw is a good coach but Stanford has been struggling to maintain their roster since the transfer portal became more popular.

Mastro wasn't heading to Miami anyways apparently he has some family members who are ill.. I want to say granddaughter... and they live on the west coast and Miami is just too far away for his liking. Though I do think Cristobal wanted Mastro and McClendon to be his two OCs at Miami. With Masto not coming I think that has messed some things up... especially since Cristobal knows who he wants in all his staffing spots except the coordinators. Thinking about it it is an interesting dynamic that coordinators being hired to established programs expect to join an established staff... but if coordinators are joining a head coach at a new program they want to be able to have a say in their position hires. I think if Cristobal had stayed at Oregon he would be struggling to get at least a new offensive coordinator, but would it have been easier since whoever the OC would be they would have known they were joining an established program rather than joining a new program? In truth I think if Cristobal had stayed at Oregon, I think Jim Mastro would be our OC and McClendon would be Co-OC.

Wouldn't mind seeing more speed at Oregon again.

I think the booing was perhaps the central reason (outside of MC's mom being ill) why Cristobal left. The honeymoon was over and we as fans wanted results. Now, I wasn't there and didn't boo but I completely understood why people booed.

The thing is DeRuyter's defense was solid at Cal and yes it was influenced by Wilcox as well. However, Cal under Wilcox has not had a consistently good offense, let alone having a great offense. DeRuyter could have and should have managed to get the job done... but the bigger question is why couldn't he? He was able to do a better job at Cal with less talent.

We were saying the same things a year ago more or less... just glad we are on the other side of it now and able to see it for what it is...

The defense in 2018 with Leavitt was meh... but Oregon was still rebuilding from the bottoming out in 2016 with the Hoke debacle. The 2019 defense was loaded with some quality vets and it was really good. So good that Oregon was projected to have a top five defense in 2020, that was before covid and opt outs and what not. 2020 was bad but as mentioned the opt outs gutted the defense. So we gave Avalos and Cristobal a bit of a bye on that one without having a full offseason to get that young talent up. But 2021... why was our defense so bad? Early on in the year youth could have played a factor and injuries were horrific which didn't help matters... but Oregon never really found its footing. By the Utah games and the bowl game there just wasn't anyone left to play and it was just so sloppy. So what was going on in 2021. DeRuyter found himself a new job pretty quick and didn't even seem to consider taking a job in Miami.

These are absolutely correct circumstances that should not be entirely overlooked. Though I would say that the scheme on both sides of the ball in 2020 and 2021 were woefully lacking. The best way to get the most out of your players is to put them in position to make big plays. It was not something that was consistent either year but it did happen from time to time. But there were some unusual circumstances that made the last two years unusual.

Yeah... Anthony Brown scored 10 points in the first half of the second Utah game. Well... he scored 10 points for Utah anyways.

I am really looking forward to seeing what Klemm can do with this Offensive Line... I have been sitting and hoping the last few years that the offensive line just needed more time to come together but in truth I have been grossly disappointed with it under Cristobal. I always felt it should have been more dominant and able to impose its will on others better than they actually did. There were moments and even games where the line looked good but it never consistently looked good. I mean Oregon's line was manhandled by Arizona last year pretty badly. Then never mind the Utah games.

Learning to get the reload down can be difficult for some coaches. Lastime Georgia made the national title game they needed a rebuild... Though very minor compared to what most programs call a rebuild. They didn't bounce right back into the playoff right away. The only two teams to consistently rebuild without much if a blip is Alabama and Clemson... And last year Clemson had a few struggles. Georgia will certainly have the raw talent, but will they be able to put it all together?

Exactly this... he doesn't have the body type to make it in the NFL, at least not make it for long. He needs to get paid for his football ability now and I can't blame him for that. Granted... if he does transfer I would like him out of the Pac-12 footprint so I don't have to feel torn when playing him, but I doubt that will happen.

It was an upperclassman heavy team... I think they are going to have some real difficulties next year. They were going to have some growing pains regardless next year but that was without the transfers. The transfer portal and NIL are gutting teams faster than anything. There is so much movement that I honestly don't know who is going to be good... besides Bama... We have seen Oregon take some hits but nothing like what is going on elsewhere.

Don't undersell it... 3 yards.. two yards after contact. And usually tackled from behind too from those pistol plunges.

Our average ranking is pretty good.. our number count is less good. Locking in a few more recruits and hopefully some splashy ones too should rocket us right up the rankings. Not expecting a top 10 finish this year but I would love a top 25 finish. Also transfer portal players don't count to rankings for better or worse.

I think this is a glimpse into what the OC search may have looked like for us if Cristobal had stayed at Oregon. I am pretty sure we would be hand ringing and questioning whether Cristobal deserved the bump in pay. I think we are all going to be thankful he left when he did and got Oregon paid in the process from Miami paying the buyout.

Let's also get real about recruiting rankingd this year... There are a ton who are underrated this year because many to most are lacking high school junior year tape because of shortened or canceled seasons. So Lowe may be a bit raw because he missed out on some junior year development and he may just not have that much tape so he is underrated in terms of his star ranking. So many players need to be developed in college anyways so he may need a redshirt year but he could be a real find.

This would be a different issue than what happened during and after the game between teams and coaches. This is a pretty cut and dry don't criticize refs or pay a fine sort of deal. It is also why Pac-12 coaches across the board dance around reffing issues rather than out right saying it when things are bad.

Possible... but I doubt it... so far Oregon is turning into an Auburn and FSU pipeline .. 3 to Auburn and 2 to FSU. Still 0 to Miami.