David Marsh

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.

From what I heard is that he was injured (like everyone at Oregon it seems) and he was working his way into the rotation coming off that injury. The injury kept him from being able to practice as full speed which means fewer reps and he wasn't seeing the field. From some other talk I have come across basically a mixture of home sickness and a lack of playing time made him want to leave Oregon and return to the state of Utah. It is a loss but that is just the way it is with the portal.

and I was seriously was about to say "at least it's not purple..." and you have gone and done it.

I've said it once and I will say it again.. it is nice to post somewhere that there aren't a series of replies that tell me that I am dumb for not holding the same opinion as others. There is a reason I don't post on other forums. Discussion is fun, if we didn't discuss things it would be boring. I can talk to myself just fine and I agree with me 99% of the time but I rarely gain new insight hearing the same opinion. Thanks Charles.

Thanks for that... Also a concussion in the Alamo Bowl on VA and an injury to the starting center that when paired with a complete defensive collapse resulted in... oh no now I am remembering that Alamo bowl. By the way... I am pretty much of the firm belief that Oregon should never play in an Alamo Bowl again... they seem kinda cursed. The 2013 one wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly an exciting game either... but 2016 and 2021 were both awful.

This will also show how good of a head coach he actually is as he has proven assistants. If they fail to produce then it is on Cristobal and his inability to be an effective leader, not his assistant coaches.

Oregon with Lanning has so much potential that it is really difficult to really know just what we have. Oregon probably has the best overall roster in the Pac-12 because it has been four years in the making. This last class was ok but good enough considering the amount of chaos and some positions of need have been addressed. The coaches at the top ooze with potential but lack a lot of experience. They are, however, coaches who have moved up to high positions within quality programs. If they live up to their potential they won't need long to eclipse USC's staff. USC has had a lot of turnover in terms of players this last season. They have also brought in a ton of transfers. This will help them for the next year and maybe two and then they will need to recruit and develop their own talent to get the most out of their program. They could do that and are expected to do that as well.

2012 Kelly offense or the 2014 Helfrich Offense. Both had Marcus Mariota and in 2014 Mariota won the Heisman which has to say something for the overall quality of the offense. The 2012 team was so close to a National Title appearance and was just a dominant team. The 2014 team was something pretty special to watch as well. It came with the emergence of some incredible wide receivers who could stretch the field vertically and get separation, many of which were just freshman. Byron Marshall was moved to wide receiver to make room in the back field for Royce Freeman and Thomas Tyner (who had an up and down season but an incredible Rose Bowl Game). Just a dynamic and fun offense to watch and efficient on the field. This did carry over to 2015 with a very exciting Vernon Adams run offense.... though that season was marred by a broken finger.

I think he will be good ... But not great. I don't think Washington wins a conference title with him, at least not quickly. He can get Washington to a bowl game... He can potentially do it this year. But looking at the schedule and basing it off last year's performance they will be hard pressed to get to 6 wins but with even just a little bit better coaching they should get to 6.

And the sad and kinda funny thing is that they only read the title and don't bother reading the article. Half the time I find the actually AGREE with you but hate you because they disagreed with you before or everyone else in group think land hates you thus they hate you. It's really quite sad but just the way it is.

They all stayed for two years (minus DeRuyter who left only because MC left) Arroyo was actually 3 years, including the Taggart season as he was around for 2017-2019. Avalos was 2019 and 2020. Moorhead was 2020 and 2021. So two year shelf life under MC more or less.

Michigan did a LOT of running up the middle... Pretty sure he's fine with that.

Michigan's offense last season in truth looked about as exciting as Oregon's. Big difference is they didn't suffer the injuries throughout the year. The Michigan defense is more prostyle than what Oregon was running last year but it is probably a better fit for Cristobal. I kinda feel like everyone lost with Cristobal as head coach offensively. Cristobal I think really really wanted a full on old school prostyle run heavy offense. The fans and probably Mullens we're expecting a high scoring spread offense with some bigger linemen so that we could be spread with real power... Kinda like what Ohio State has been able to do with their run game. What we got was... Slow moving boring offense that had spread elements such as keeping the QB in the shotgun behind center instead of under center. We got the crappiest version of the pistol which was Cristobal probably seeing it as the spread version of the I-formation or something more prostyle. Everyone lost as we had this weird cobbled together offense that didn't make any sense for anyone and left everyone unhappy. Now does this mean that he is guaranteed success at Miami with this OC and DC picks? Absolutely not and he still has to let them do their jobs but maybe everyone is more on the same page for the first time in forever which can be good for Cristobal and I wish him the best. It makes Oregon look better if coaches leave here as successful coaches as well... Haven't had too much of that with our former head coaches.

There really isn't a "closing" date but May 1st is the deadline for transfers in Football to be eligible to play come the fall. However, if players are cool with sitting out a season completely then they can transfer at any time. There will be a flurry of action in the transfer portal in April but expect it to quiet down until Fall camp when there will be another flurry of activity as players abandon their teams to transfer and sit out the season in the hopes of starting with their new team next year.