David Marsh

Sounds exciting... With Cristobal potential talent both in terms of coaches and players is coming to Oregon in unprecedented levels. I am sure this will be a killer hire. I'm looking forward to the updated list tomorrow.

For the record I do believe Mario Cristobal is the coach to bring Oregon a National Championship. With that said I believe changes need to be made. It's a dynamic sport and nothing stands still long and constant evaluation needs to take place. I am obviously not in the room with the coaching staff so I can only make conjecture based on what I see on the field. We saw some flashes of offensive brilliance this season but when the offense needed to step up down the stretch they failed. I am looking forward to the spring game ... Probably more than any previous year. I do hope to see a far more dynamic offense by spring and fall next year.

I'm sure that giving walk-ons scholarships are planned for to a degree. Ryan Walk got a Scholarship this last year... Granted I feel walk-on scholarships tend to be something the coaches do that is nice for the players that have earned it if there are open scholarships out there. Oregon's scholarship limit is pretty tight right now so I think it will all depend on how many open scholarships they have by the time the season rolls around. The transfer portal has really taken away walk-on's possibilities as when there is a bit of surplus in scholarships most teams are opting to go portal shopping rather than handing out scholarships to those on the team. I'm not saying that it is right... just that it is...

I saw that list earlier... Difficult to say who is high on Oregon's list. I get the feeling that though Cristobal had a good chunk of money for his assistant coaches I don't think it'd make too much financial sense for him to go after Orlando... Buying out his contract and then paying him potentially more would be a high price. Steele could be good ... Good reputation and skilled recruiter but also comes with Auburn's continued payout for some financial support. Oregon is in a much better place than other pac-12 teams when it comes to coaching money... However, they still don't have SEC money do spending it wisely will be critical. Coaching serches are so exciting... Though a consistent coaching staff has some major benefits.

I wish him the best... as he hasn't broken out of the depth chart this year, I don't see it happening at all with so much talent at linebacker. It also opens up scholarships for Oregon which is kinda important.

Taggart and Leavitt seem like great buddies these days... it seems kinda funny to me how those two really seemed to click. Both also seem happier in Florida as well.

I know MC will pick whoever is the best fit... but personally I don't know if I want to see an inside hire or an outside hire. An inside hire would mean that the system may be tweaked but not drastically changed... but an outside hire would bring in new blood and potentially something better.

When it is something like 3rd and really long I tend to feel the same way. Though often these little passes can make the yards needed as the buffer provided by the opposing team's defense is such to prevent a first down and one missed tackle on the yards after catch would result in a first down. Often these passes are thrown to as the "hot route" where everything else is covered and the qb just needs to get the ball out of their hands. This will be a VERY important spring for Oregon... but it will be just as important for all teams in reality... as it will be a major opportunity to install the offense properly and run the offense hopefully at full speed. I feel we never saw this offense working at full speed for the duration of the year.

The real thing that I feel was missed was a lack of Verdell's blocking ability. He is actually a pretty good blocker. Dye just doesn't block with the same power as Verdell and CHL seems to miss blocks quite often. If you ask me why Dollars hasn't reached the field as much this year it is probably from two things... one he hasn't shown blocking ability in practice and also he has quite a few dropped passes when motioning out of the backfield.

Oregon is also looking at a transfer runningback I saw yesterday. I think they are diving into the transfer portal trying to grab anyone they see as the best potential players to help the team. Though if they are shopping safeties then they want a safety net.

I'm all for ditching the pistol and actually in the past three games we have seen a decline in the use of the pistol. I theorize that is in part due to Moorhead saying this doesn't work and taking action and in another part that Moorhead has been able to install more of his scheme, which has been difficult without having enough in person practice time. I would actually say that a large problem with the receivers not getting open has been as much of them not getting the ball passed to them when open. Quite a few of Shough's interceptions have been thrown too low where if he took a shot over the top his receiver would be the only one to make a play on the ball, was also open over the top and had nothing but green in front of them.

For the record I have written several articles about how Oregon's defense needs to improve. My most critical article of Oregon's defense can be found via this link... https://fishduck.com/2020/12/oregons-defense-is-a-cascading-failure/ Though the has been defensive growth and new leadership taking hold on the defensive side of the ball. https://fishduck.com/2020/12/a-new-defensive-era-has-arrived-at-oregon/ We do need our defense to grow and be the force it was in 2019 when they were the shut down defensive force in the pac-12. The offense needs to be more consistent and be able to win shoot outs. The offense needs to be better. The defense needs to be better as well but that is another discussion and I am sure I'll be talking defense again soon.

I do hope so... I have noticed more spread elements but the offense seems to have gotten bogged down pretty badly in the last three games.

The players will be there for it but will see see it on the field. It is a very exciting and promising recruiting class and I am hopeful we see an improvement in quarterback play to see an explosion of offense next season.

With another game under their belt maybe they would have sorted out some of the problems that plagued them in the fiesta bowl. The thing is the Oregon humiliation came out of season long problems. Probably wouldn't have helped but game expirence is so important.

Right now I do think Oregon threepeats next year. The biggest thing this current team needs is experience and they got some. They still have a lot to work on ... But that all starts with experience. You know ball security is going to be the first, second, and third top priority issues this off season.

I saw some Huskies in the Twitter feed declare themselves number one and should be pac-12 champions by default.

I'm honestly not sure a lot of those kids are actually serious about Oregon or just giving lipservice. Even with the previous coaching staves there were kids who said Oregon was their dream school and then didn't end up at Oregon. Yes, there were some Oregon didn't even offer but many many more who had an offer and didn't choose Oregon. I do think it would be to our benefit if Oregon had a high powered offense and become an offensive destination again. I think 2021 will be the real test for Cristobal as he will have some veterans that are apart of his first big recruiting class.

If Oregon gets Cardwell that could work. Six foot and 200 pounds ... Needs the speed. CHL has the size MC wants but no where near the speed. I know Cristobal wants a power fun game but beyond that I'm not sure he knows what he wants in his offense. You can have an effective power run game and a spread offense ... Ohio State showed us first hand in the 2015 National Championship Game with Elliot. Alabama has preserved a power run game with their spread offense.

I like the size of our offensive line for sure. The raw talent is there but what we have seen schematically over the past couple of years isn't helping them succeed. Get the offense in space and let those olinemen have more one on one match ups and they will dominate. Looking forward to the upgrades at reciever coming in. If they can regularly get behind the defense the run game is going to open up real fast. I feel JoMo will have a lot of the tools he will need to make a seller offense.

I did come across something the other day that Moorhead has struggled to install his system via zoom. As a high school teacher I completely get the difficulties of trying to teach anything over zoom for a prolonged period of time. I could only imagine how difficult it would be to teach a new offensive system over zoom when players need to physically go through the motions. I have theorized in the past that the Oregon offense has relied more on offensive schemes from the previous two years to help players bridge the gap when there was so much less practice time this year... though that is purely just my speculation. There was a general lack of tempo during the season as well... not necessarily a problem... but when Oregon was playing with tempo and in rhythm the offense looked good. The tempo also disrupted the defense which does allow the offense to play with more power as a slow tempo offense gives time for the defense to set up properly to stop whats coming.

TEs were used pretty well this year on the whole I feel and last year, especially when Breeland was healthy. The problem with TEs has been making sure there is depth at the position and all of the TEs are good blockers and pass catchers. I am really looking forward to seeing how DJ Johnson develops next year with a full off season because he is blocking like another lineman and has pretty good speed and power with good hands as a pass catcher. Webb and Herbert never really got a chance to play this year but next season I do expect both to be healthy and ready. Along with some highly rated freshman.

Credit where credit is due, Crisotbal's offense has been decent... it has been ranked in the upper third of the Pac-12 for the past couple of years which is ok. Though averaging less than forty points a game doesn't feel like the Oregon way we have all grown accustomed to. I am hopeful we are getting the lack of speed addressed with this recruiting class. Seven McGee looks like a burner in the mold of DAT. Recruiting is never done and when it is for a program that has undergone as much chaos as the Ducks had from 2015-2017 with three head coaches and under recruiting it takes time to fill all the gaps.

Addison could make a great corner... he has the height to make it very difficult on opposing receivers. It all depends with Addison if he wants to play on offense or just wants to play. I'm not surprised by Wilson (RB) is transferring out as that group is still top loaded. I would be shocked if Dye and CHL leave... Verdell I suspect comes back... but Dollars is working his way into more and more playing time. Benson sounds like he is also working his way in for some playing time as well as a bigger back. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple receivers opt to transfer... There are a few who have been with the program for a few years but have yet to see the field ... and with this upcoming class of recievers that makes their futures even more doubtful.

Losses can be more important than wins to a young team. This women's basketball team has a whole lot of youth and a loss can help build up their grit and determination to take on a beat a team like Stanford. Incredibly valuable in the long run.