David Marsh

Helf was also the one who found Herbert... who was mostly injured that year.

The last Alamo Bowl Oregon played in was a beautiful (and mostly terrible) allegory for the 2015 season. Healthy Adams, Oregon is offensively unstoppable and looked like a playoff contender... injured VA... well might as well concede now to avoid the embarrassment. I'm am now convinced that for Oregon the Alamo Bowl is cursed. Next time Oregon would make an Alamo Bowl... we just need to decline and take ANYTHING else.

In this day and age I wouldn't be surprised if someone at or connected to Oregon has already done some potential interest calls. They definitely have the list together and I am sure Phil has gone through it and ordered the candidates he would want. Starting to see the benefits of firing a coach half way through the season to get a jump-start on the coaching hire... granted we weren't looking to get rid of MC so it doesn't count for us.

No to Chip. I'd take Helfrich back as HC before Chip. Kelly won't recruit, period. Oregon was able to recruit so well during the Kelly years because Kelly had lightning in a bottle. The offense w as s amazing, the uniforms were amazing, and the coaches that made it all possible were at the peak of their careers. Oregon landed some big time recruits because of the timing and they fell in Kelly's lap. A few years later using the same recruiting tactics Helfrich missed on the same high level recruits. The magic had passed. And don't say that was because Helfrich wasn't as good of a recruiter as Kelly... Helfrich did more hands on recruiting than Kelly did as an OC and HC. Kelly hates recruiting. Oregon needs a coach who can recruit big time players and bring them to Eugene.

I loved Helfrich as a coach. The defense was aweful and in truth Helfrich wasn't good hiring other coaches and he had his major flaws. But you are absolutely right Charles, Helfrich was the most loyal coach at Oregon since Bellotti and he showed his loyalty in stepping down a few years earlier than perhaps he wanted to make way for Chip. College football has no real loyalty anymore. Saban is loyal to Bama because he is comfortable there and has built his program and Bama pays him through the nose for it all. Same goes for Sweeney at Clemson. Oregon is a good coaching job but it is not a top tier job because in the end we don't sit in the middle of a recruiting hot bed. Scott Frost was right people... Recruiting to Oregon is hard... Cristobal has made it look easy but that's only because he works it harder than anyone else in the conference. If MC leaves who do we hire? A big shot that will probably use us as a stepping stone unless we pay them some insane number (which is probably not likely before we see results) or do we search for someone like Bellotti or Helfrich who will be here for a while but the fans frankly will have no patience for slow results? Right now .. I think anything is possible between MC staying or going and I'm not trying to put a homer spin on it. I have heard he has cancelled recruiting visits tomorrow and regardless of the decision that makes sense... He wants to talk with his wife, talk to his mom (because his mom is what this possible move is all about,hl her health isn't great and can you blame MC for wanting to be close to his aging mother?). Then he wants to sleep on the decision... Especially if Oregon is working on a counter offer. So tomorrow morning he will have Oregon's offer and Miami's offer. He will have talked to his family. He will have slept on it. So tomorrow we will get the decision. If he stays, he will be here for a LONG time, like Bellotti. If he goes, Oregon needs to move very quickly on a coaching search but Mullens also has to make the right decision and answer the question... Big name or long term loyalty?

Need an offensive minded coach who can bring back what put oregon on the map to begin with. Need someone who can recruit as well... That means younger (typically) which means there will be some bumps in the road along the way. I haven't got a clue who Oregon should go after if MC leaves. What I do know is that we will probably be set back 1-2 years in recruiting due to the fallout of this recruitment class and the transfer portal. I'm a little torn in my thinking right now. I'm not sure MC could bring us the national championship we all want... But I also don't know who the replacement for him would be and if we can do any better right now. Miami has issued an ultimatum that the contract they are offering is set for MC if he wants it and he has until tomorrow to accept. Now Oregon gets to make their move to try and keep him. This has not been a fun end of season that's for sure. We may be looking at interm coaches for both Oregon and Oklahoma in what will be the most lack luster bowl game in recent Oregon history.

I think MC was being truthful and I think the big thing causing him uncertainty right now is actually his mom. If his mom was healthy then I don't think he would even consider Miami but his mom is sick and that can be all it takes. His agent is going to play the money game and play it out regardless. I think it is all about his mom at this point.

First game was worse... the defense did their job more or less.. only allowed 13 points. Brown's two interceptions resulted in 10 points. Brown is playing hero ball and he can't do it. Oregon has been at its worst all season when Brown plays the hero.

Brown gives Utah 10 points... Time to sit.

Brown is literally throwing this game away.

This has become the new on going joke in the social studies office... granted my office space is only at most three people...

We did get run over by Zeke Elliot and those massive offensive and defensive lines. Oregon's smaller lines were beaten down and then Elliot ran over our leaky run defense. That was also the year that Pellum was the DC and basically refused to blitz and only ever rushed 3... Our lines now are able to go toe-to-toe with Ohio State and we all saw how the outcome was different.

That is the next level that I would say this Oregon team does not have... or maybe they do but if Brown is good they don't want to put in Thompson at this point in the year to ensure he can be a back-up in case of an injury. I think he can play in one more game before his red-shirt is burned. At this point in the year might as well preserve that red-shirt. Granted... if Thompson comes out next year and blows away the competition and looks like the next big quarterback at Oregon he may not use up all his eligibility anyways... but always best to preserve it when possible.

Well.. it is your answer.. the talent could be developing. Not every player is ready to play as a true freshman, many of the true freshman pressed into service this year weren't ready to play but they played because they were needed. I think Keith Brown would have red-shirted based on his overall production if Flowe and Mathis weren't both injured in game one. We will get our answer next year as to how well the talent has developed. Remember... Marcus Mariota was a red-shirt and by all accounts he needed that red-shirt year to grasp the college football game. He turned out pretty good for Oregon.

Well it tanked because USC was obviously not making him the next HC and I don't know when the ranking was compiled but with Riley coming in and Williams on the way out the door recruits were not going to stick around for him. Not surprising but doesn't mean he isn't a good recruiter still. No one would recruit well with that uncertainty.

Part of me still thinks that 2020 threw off a lot of the progression of this team. Shough performed fairly well in 2020 but the end of the season he just collapsed and burned out, he was trying to play hero ball and it resulted in him turning the ball over and being ineffective on offense. Brown actually has the SAME problem this year when he tries to put the team on his shoulders. This year I get the feeling the coaches really want to protect the freshman quaterbacks and ensure they have time to develop and not have a repeat of last year. Remember in 2020 there was a partial Spring camp, no summer training, and a very short and very hastily put together fall camp into a short season. Moorhead's full scheme didn't get installed until this year, and last year they were really using the Arroyo scheme for the first 3-4 games because that is what Shough knew, due to a lack of prep. This next OC hire is going to be huge as it will show where the program is going. Do we get a vertical passing attack or do we stick with short passes? I am hoping for an OC who can develop a QB and get a passing attack on track. We have the receivers now, we didn't when Herbert was with the team, for a quarterback to feed if they can get the ball to them as a reliable passer. I do think Akron is an escape job for Moorhead... though I think a large portion of that escape isn't about his offense and the play calling but instead about the recruiting. Cristobal demands a lot out of his coaches in terms of recruiting. Oregon is NOT an easy place to recruit to no matter what anyone says, however, it is not impossible to recruit to Oregon either. It just takes works... a lot of work. Moorhead may not want to work that hard, which is absolutely fine because I don't think the vast majority of us want to work that hard (maybe Charles already does). The offense right now looks a lot like a Moorhead offense seen at other places at this point. The vertical passing attack isn't there but Brown really can't produce a passing attack like that anyways. Also... Thompson has played in 3-4 games (I am counting 3 but I may be forgetting one appearance) and is in place to preserve his red-shirt at this point which, barring an injury to Brown, is something I think the coaches want to keep at this point for Thompson. So the coaches are sticking with Brown an his limitations.

Or is he not coveted because those schools reach out to his agent and his agent just says "not interested" and that whole process dies nice and quick so there is no reason to pursue? I know Cristobal has some things to work out... Namely getting that offense to average over 40 points per game for starters and making sure that defense is consistent... The defense I am not worried about at the moment... But the next OC hire is going to be important. There is too much talent on the roster to let go to waste. Need a to get one of those qbs ready to go and have a strong vertical passing attack. Also notice how no one is yelling at Mastro this year since we got rid of the pistol?

I did hear a rumor that MC was planning on moving his mom to Eugene after the season was over... just a rumor but if it is true then MC may have side stepped this already if he is intending on staying. Personally... I think MC is staying... but right now I am feeling a bit more nervous than I have in recent weeks.

I think they look good when clean... Once there is any grass stain on them they look muddy and dirty... Even though they aren't that dirty.

Need to get that button on the front page here Charles. The easier to find the better!

Cristobal is not easy to work for... he has a lot of demands in terms of recruiting and recruiting at a high level takes a whole lot more work than recruiting lower level talent. I also get a sense that Moorhead is really an east coast guy and though Ohio isn't exactly east coast it is a whole lot more east than Oregon.

He was banged up going into the season. Cardwell I think has just shown some incredible vision as a runner which has moved him forward. Also... they really don't update the depth chart all that often for the public anyways. So Cardwell is firmly the No.2 RB but is still listed as a "or" on the chart.

They never changed that part of the depth chart. The entire offensive line depth chart really hasn't changed all year... Considering how much the offensive line has been moved around it probably isn't that surprising.

Utah has also not suffered anywhere near the same amount of injuries as Oregon... the announcers during the Utah game seemed to think Utah playing 5 true freshman was mindblowing.. they didn't seem to realize that Oregon has burned redshirts on a majority of the 2021 class. Also... Utah got to play against a backup QB of Stanford. Also... Utah did not have their play calling OC out with emergency surgery the morning of the game. yes... I'm still very salty about that Stanford game.

This is the biggest thing... Now I am not opposed with coaches trying something and if they are going to try something they need to give it an honest try. However, the pistol was used and used enough to determine how effective it was... the result.. not very. I will say I am super excited by some of these young players. Cardwell is going to be GOOD and I think he probably would have redshirted if Verdell wasn't injured. These receivers are going to be GOOD once we get a quarterback who can get them the ball. We saw them get behind their defenders fairly often this year, so the speed is there, but Brown just can't get them the ball at that point.