David Marsh

Can't wait on this hire... its the nature of the new coaching carousel. There will be lots of potential candidates for any number of reasons in a month. But the early signing period is next week and so far Oregon has done well in only losing 4 commitments, I was expecting a flood here. Also Oregon hasn't lost anyone to the transfer portal, YET! However, it is only a matter of time until the flood gates open and the only way to stop that is to get the new HC in soon.

Not burning a bridge with Wilcox. Wilcox is NOT the right coach at this time in my personal opinion but in 5 or 10 years he may be. Wilcox, Kelly and Sitake are all good coaches and will do fine at Oregon right now. The problem with all of them is that they will get Oregon to a Pac-12 Championship game and a Rose Bowl often enough for us not to fully hate them but not get us a National Championship. They would be good... but not great. Oregon is in the market right now for great.

And Kirby Smart, Mel Tucker, Jimbo Fisher, and many others.

Post Bama Kiffin is a different coach. Nick Saban's coaching rehabilitation clinic is pretty good.

These days I just feel confused about everything... so... is being confused deja vu? If so... then yes.

Also.. he doesn't want to recruit. Recruiting is probably 80% of the job these days. You have to love recruiting.

If they win a national title the likelihood of them leaving goes down. No one wants just one national title to their name... And why rebuild if you have what you want at your current location. Not to say it is impossible and won't happen, but it tends to be less likely.

Partly also because Utah knew that Brown doesn't make his reads terribly fast, tends to be blind across the middle of the field and usually won't throw a route down the middle and when he does it feels like it is over thrown or intercepted. So Utah really did just sell out to stop the run and Brown couldn't start a passing attack to make them respect the passing game to get the run game going.

First... If Oregon hires Lane Kiffin it would make me look really smart... I have been telling anyone who would listen that I think for what Oregon wants right now it is Kiffin. What Oregon wants right now. 1. Splashy enough to save the recruiting class and the roster 2. Restore the offense... we need an offense that can bury people in points again! No more winning by 7 on a regular basis. 3. Can recruit top quality talent... recruiting to Oregon is doable but it isn't always easy need someone who can get the talent we need. Kiffin is a better and different coach post-Alabama so I don't have concerns in that regard. Kiffin screams gun for hire... he does and that is really how he has played out his career to date. But here's the thing about Kiffin and his loyalty or lack there of... We lost Taggart and Cristobal to their "dream jobs" and guess what... Kiffin already had his dream job and was fired at USC. So don't need to worry about that coming back to haunt us because it would the a shocker if Kiffin is even interested in USC ever again after that. Cristobal left for Miami who had to pay a 9 million dollar buy out to get him... that is a pretty steep buy out. Any other school wouldn't have gotten MC because the only school he was leaving Oregon for was Miami and even then I was not so sure until I heard about his mother's frail health. Won't he just leave Oregon for a better place? Well... there are two ways to ensure loyalty or whatever passes for loyalty these days. 1. Pay him enough to keep him... which should be doable if he actually wants to the job. 2. Kiffin gets us what we want... a National Championship. You know why no one is calling Saban for a coaching hire... well money for starters he is too expensive but that is something that could theoretically be overcome by the right buyer... the second reason is why would Saban leave Alabama to build a program anywhere else? He has a program built to win championships so he has what he wants because he built it. Kiffin would fill all the four needs of Oregon... yes, including the loyalty factor if he brings us to the promised land which is what we all want.

I found that Jim Mora's Bruins were always Oregon Lite... they kinda looked like Oregon but were no where close to as good. I'd take Kelly or Helfrich over Mora... and I don't particularly want either of those former Ducks back as the head coach.

I think he was upset by the lack of normal protocol in the process. From the sound of it Mullens and Phil were ready for if this happened. I think it is Mullens vocalizing the breaking of the norm of contacting the athletic department.

I'm just hoping this is an interview they feel they have to do but don't have any real interest. I feel like I'm being a coach snob at this point but this hire needs to be right and needs to come soon.

Not really liking Sitake as a candidate... BYU is a completely different beast from Oregon. Mormon missions change the average age of the players which makes for a different team make up. Yes BYU beat 5 Pac-12 teams this last year but I don't think he's a cultural fit for Oregon and I feel like many candidates proposed... He'd be good at Oregon but good is playing for the occasional Rose Bowl not the Playoff.

Mormon population... lots of Utah's (and BYU's) players go on missions for two years. When they return they are two years older. I mean Britain Covey is 24 years old and has eligibility remaining (partially due to a medical redshirt). An older player is going to be more adult in their body which means they will be bigger. Even with all the star power Oregon has from recruits it is difficult for an 18 year old in an 18 year old's body to be as developed as a 22 or 23 year old. Oregon has better athletes but Utah has older players... few freshman have adult bodies... Noah Sewell is rare in that regard. Even KT has a freshman wasn't as developed as he is now three years later.

Well there are a lot of players from Utah that MC and co grabbed from the state. I wouldn't be surprised if some take the opportunity to go home. All the more important for Oregon to make solid hire quickly.

Getting a new HC quickly is important to not miss the early signing period and keep some of this class intact. Granted... this will NOT be a top 10 class. Whoever takes over will need to work to ensure it is a top 20 class. It will be a set back in terms of incoming talent but there is so much young talent on the roster already that it won't hurt the program. The most important players the new coach must recruit are the ones on the roster to encourage them to not leave for the transfer portal.

In truth Utah was the only team that could execute the surefire way to beat Oregon this year. 1. Sell out to stop the run. 2. Have decent enough backs to maintain coverage on short routes long enough for the pass rush to force Brown to throw or run out of the pocket. 3. Force Brown to throw the ball downfield, ideally across the middle. Brown generally misses open receivers across the middle and also throws his worst passes across the middle. Brown will not make any significant deep passes. 4. Use all the time you get from Oregon going 3 and out to eat up clock and score points. 5. Brown plays hero ball and makes everything worse. Other teams tried to do this but failed because Oregon could maintain their run game all season. Utah was the only team to truly succeed at this. Stanford got lucky with a mixture of Oregon injuries, Moorhead being out for surgery and some highly questionable ref calls. If Oregon had a true passing quarterback then Utah would have had to devote more to coverage which would have opened up the run and Oregon would have potentially won the game(s). Oregon couldn't change their scheme to beat Utah because Oregon didn't have the quarterback to beat Utah. Yes, you could say maybe one of the freshman would have done the trick... but the coaches didn't believe them capable of doing what they needed... so that is a different discussion.

But will anyone on that list actually retain the current staff? Will the current staff just look at leaving? Mirabal is going to Miami... hasn't said it yet but he and MC are from the Miami area and it is only a matter of time until MC brings his best friend with him to Miami. Everyone on the list with potential Duck connections had connections to an old staff that is mostly retired at this point. Whoever they bring in they will have to recruit and maintain as much of the class as possible and THEN bring in their new staff most likely. It would be nice not to have as much staff turnover from year to year but unless they hire from within, this staff probably won't stick around.

But who is going to recruit? Probably Helfrich as he was the best recruiter of those three...

But will Kelly maintain the same level of talent? Probably not... he gets 3 maybe 4 years out of the talent that we have and then its a quick nose dive. We saw this story before. Kelly's first run at Oregon was magical because the timing was PERFECT and he got easy recruiting wins because of it. Skip forward three years and you have Helfrich, who did basically everything Kelly had done but the world of College Football had changed. Helfrich's offense was even better than Kelly's! But the model of reruiting didn't change and Helfrich was sacked because he couldn't recruit. Granted Helfrich also had some small sanctions from the Kelly era... but still.

Aww yes... in another game where Brown was literally throwing the game away.

I'm good for interim coach... Not sure about full time HC.

And... I don't like this list at all. I don't think any of these names get us to the promised land. I think Oregon would be a good team but only ever play for a Rose Bowl.

Just due to Phil's age I can see this being perhaps the last coaching hire he plays a major role in at Oregon... assuming it goes well. I think we will see Oregon pull out all the stops to get someone who get Uncle Phil the championship he wants.

I wouldn't say Cristobal burned him. MC didn't accept an extension and left after four years. Kelly left after four years as well for the NFL. I was shocked to hear MC was leaving but I'm not actually angry with him leaving. I know some fans are angry and feel betrayed but this is also football. I would like a lifer... but Oregon has had only two "lifers" in the past 20 years. Mike Bellotti and Mark Helfrich... Bellotti retired and Helfrich was fired.