David Marsh

I was saying it during the offseasons when Lake was making those hires he was making the wrong hires for the wrong reasons. He opted to go with who was safe (or at least felt safe) rather than a risk. Donovan was a huge risk but to Lake apparently his only requirement was NFL guy and that's what he wanted and what felt safe. Granted it feels like all Lake wanted was NFL guys and felt that would be enough to do the recruiting work for him. I didn't know how many times he was rejected though. Say what you will about Cristobal, he certainly has his own major flaws, but he knew he needed solid recruiters and he was thorough in the hiring process. Lanning also feels like he knows exactly what he wants in the hiring process and is moving at decent pace. Not as fast as fans would like but getting the right hire is more important than the fast hire. Speaking of hirings... Isn't it interesting from an institutional level the mentality of both the Oregon and Washington schools. Washington choose a safe option, or relatively safe in Kelan DeBoer and Oregon chose to take a bigger risk with arguably a much higher reward on Dan Lanning. Oregon is playing to win and win big. Washington is playing to not lose. Completely different mentalities between the programs.

I would say that under MC Oregon really didn't have the fully united factor that binds teams together through adversity. Actually with the 2020 season and covid and the opt outs I feel the culture took a very negative dive with the program. Not only losing a final season from some very strong veteran guys like Holland, Gram, Breeze and Penei Sewell... But in their opting out they sort of signaled an individual first vibe. I do think any signal like that was unintentional simply because the Pac-12 was so woeful in determining whether there would be a season or not ... But for the past two years I think a United team vibe has been missing from the Ducks. Maybe lack of a strong quarterback and consistency of leadership with all the freshman has contributed as well. But when the ducks really needed to rally together... Looking at the Utah games... They completely and utterly failed this year. Maybe Cristoabl leaving was the epidome of "me before we" and that ignited the players and remaining the coaches to bond together. Utah has certainly come together as a team this year with the deaths of two of their players. They had something to unite them an leaders who stepped forward to lead. Oregon has really been lacking in that department. Here's hoping for a surprise in the Alomo Bowl.

In his first year as commissioner I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. We have no idea how much work is being done behind the scenes because most of it is frankly boring to fans. I am sure Larry left behind one amazing mess for George to clean up. There have been some smaller public steps made but nothing earth shattering at this time. I am expecting to see more out of George in his second year.

In truth Riley didn't bring too much beef to Oklahoma. 0-4 in the playoff because they weren't able to beat the heavy hitting SEC linemen. He got bigger linemen than Oregon of old had but wasn't built to really compete with the top tier programs. Also... Riley is keeping the same problem Helton had with recruiting ... Lots of good skill guys but not on the lines of scrimmage. Lots of flash not a lot of as you said... Beef.

Washington is at a point where they need to burn a large portion of the program down.... Or let it burn more to the point... And then rebuild. Though for us Duck fans... This is a whole lot of fun watching the program burn.

I absolutely agree Oregon needed to take a risk. I think it will payoff big time for Oregon. The Utah games were brutal and the youth excuse by that point in the season was no longer in play. Injuries were still in play... But really no excuses left for those games.

Smells of desperation and dispair. Lanning will have some growing pains but he knows what he wants in his coaching staff and has put together a strong defense at Georgia, with the help if Smart. I think Lanning is a high risk hire but it has the potential to be the best in the PAC.

Players have the ability to transfer got whatever reason right now. I do believe players should have the ability to transfer once if they so desire, especially in this day and age where there is so much movement among coaches. I see nothing wrong with wishing players and coaches the best as they move on. I think Cristobal leaving is a real opportunity for Oregon to upgrade. If Lanning can recruit as well or better than Cristobal then we have upgraded because Lanning is a better X's and O's coach and Cristobal. So why should I be mad Cristobal or any player leaves if it gives us an opportunity to upgrade? If they stay at Oregon against their will are we going to get a better performance out them? Maybe but certainly not guaranteed. Yes, with Cristobal leaving and any player leaving there is the feeling of rejection. Cristobal leaving cost us some big recruits and this class is a bit of a wash because of it but we are setting up for a new era of Oregon football, one that may be better than the last. So be nice and wish them well... We may reach higher heights without them than with them.

Absolutely possible... But will anyone with that kind of money want to pay for specialists? Wouldn't they prefer to pay for any other position on the field and get some real star power for their dollars?

Then the baffling kicking disaster that was the Utah games... But I won't hold that against him... Again distance and ball placement on those attempts was pretty bad. One was outright blocked which wasn't Lewis' job to provide protection and it's not like the snap and catch was messed up. Also... A few more points would have helped moral in those games but they would still have been losses. I am fine with Lewis being the kicker for next year ... But I really feel we need someone with a bigger leg for kick offs. Lewis struggled to get that ball reliably in the end zone for touch backs. Matt Wogan many years back was super unexciting from a fans point of view for both teams. He basically got rid of the opposing team's return game by kicking the ball right out the back of the end zone every time.

As far as Ohio State and it's fans are concerned it's season ended with their loss of Michigan. For Oregon's fans are we much better? Our excitement right now is all wrapped up in the coaching hires. Personally, I'm not all that excited for the Alamo Bowl... I'll watch (unless it is really bad for the ducks then I'll turn it off) but I'm not anxiously awaiting Wednesday to come for the game.

The Oregon offensive line has underperformed the last two years for sure. Lots of raw talent but MC hiring Mirabal wasn't a good choice for player development it turns out. We have seen amazing glimpses in what this offensive line can do ... But nothing consistent enough.

Camden Lewis is kinda the new version of Maldonado. Also Aiden Schider broke some records for kicking and consistency at Oregon but he was a walk on (at least for the majority of his time at Oregon). He tried out for an NFL team and hated it so he stopped his pursuit of that.

I hear that kickers, long snappers and punters don't train the same way and that can be a rub for some. The other side of it is if there are scholarships for kickers then wouldn't everyone just want to be a kicker? No... I think the vast majority of those who play football and grow up watching football don't look at the kicker as the person they want to be in the field. Again... As fans we want to be able to ignore the kicker, punter and long snapper for the entire game. We want them to be SUPER boring because if they do their jobs right we don't know they exist and if the game doesn't depend on a field goal to win the offense has done its job. No die hard football fan dreams of being a kicker. Beyond that only a handful of the best of the best specialists make it to the NFL. Then once in the NFL they do have long careers which makes it difficult for new specialists to make it to the NFL. Might as well give them a scholarship at college... Or maybe at the very least a partial scholarship... Give them something.

I'm also getting real interested who is being targeted for the coaching positions on offense. It looks like we have our OL coach.... But what about the others?

I think there were a few major factors at play beyond just whatever was going on within the Oregon football program in terms of relationships with the other coaches. 1. Surgery was serious enough that it seems to have shaken him. Oregon is a pressure cooker with expectations and recruiting and JoMo could see this has something negative to his health going forward. 2. With health being a concern bring closer to home and family would be a plus. He is also on the older side and has made enough money to retire whenever he wants to. 3. He wants to be a head coach again but due to his health he doesn't want to have the pressures of a power five program. Akron will be thrilled with him if he just shows progress, this is not a pressure cooker job. If he gets to bowl games and wins them then he is set at Akron. 4. Family... He has a family and I am sure he wants to spend time with them. A power five school really doesn't allow a head coach or an OC to really have that much down time. At Akron he will not be recruiting nationally, he won't have the resources to do so for starters, so he will have more time at home. I do think everything is linked with this health and his family, in response to his health. Akron at this point in his career looks more like a job to take to retire from rather than a stepping stone job. I wish him the best, he made Oregon a far more watchable team this year than the previous few years and I thank him for that.

What bowl game? Oregon didn't go to a bowl game in 2016 and certainly not an Alamo Bowl Game ... and if we did go to such a bowl game I would have forgotten all about it.

From what I have heard he was cleared of any wrong doing which is good. Though hard to clean up the reputation damage that it might have caused.

Absolutely and that was mostly because of Dillon Mitchell who made it into the NFL, this NFL speed. No idea how well he is doing now but I know he isn't a big name in the NFL so hasn't made the transition.

Also a credit to Lanning and Moss for opening up a dialogue as quickly as they did. Moss was going to sign but postponed the actual signing which opened the door for Lanning and Oregon.

I'd say Travis Dye makes the list for this season. In 2019 I'd say it was Herbert and Troy Dye. Those Dye brothers are just brutal competitors... They also like winning in Seattle. Troy played with a broken thumb and Travis had potentially his best game in an Oregon uniform.

Well.. I won't entirely be like 2021 if Nix is the starting QB... our defense WILL be better under Lanning ... so at the very least we will probably win by more than one score... but the scoreboard might look something like... 21-3 Oregon. Though I do feel Nix is completely a safety net for this coaching staff. He has worked with Dillingham and Lanning is familiar with him because Georgia has played Auburn so he has studied Nix's tape for his own DC purposes. Lanning and Dillingham don't actually know the roster terribly well besides who's on it and the depth chart and maybe Dillingham has seen a little bit of practice but in truth it is all a mystery to them. Especially when they are not inheriting a starting QB. Taggart talked a lot about how there was an open competition at QB when he took over but everyone knew it was going to be Herbert. Then Cirstobal took over and knew Herbert was the starter for the first two years... and then no need to go into the last two years we all know what has happened there more or less.

Pittman is going to FSU. Good for him, wish him the best and he gets a chance to play against MC next year.

Oh yeah, absolutely agree as well. This last season we had way too many games that ended with the defense needing to hold off one final drive to win the game.

Haven't heard about him building a relationship with Dillingham.. but if true I wouldn't mind getting him back. After all we did just lose TMac from the 2022 class. Pittman isn't bad.. the scheme relegated every receiver to the sole role of a blocker. Receivers should be blockers but they should also have opportunities to have fun and catch the ball.