David Marsh

Totally agree. There are some records that really can't be broken. On the flip side there are some incredible teams of the past that can't even remotely compare to the teams we have today. There is just no way to compare even 2000's football to today's product. They are just so wildly different in terms of rules, schemes, and player training.

I found Taggart was happy to run up the score. Where Kelly, Helfrich and Lanning all slow it down and burn the clock in a blowout and even put in backups... Taggart always seemed to keep his foot on the gas. Think of how many more touchdowns Nix would have had in 2023 if he wasn't sitting on the bench the entire 4th quarter? As for Cristobal... Yeah... I'm planning on looking at some of his offensive philosophy at the time. Has Cristobal finally learned to let hai OC actually do their thing? Maybe, we'll see this season if the Cam Ward production was an anomaly or if MC finally learned something.

Interesting thought.... What if Helfrich hired Wilcox as a SC instead of Hoke? Probably would have had a job a few years longer. Justin Wilcox was a pretty good DC but as a HC he can't seem to get both sides of the ball aligned. He also doesn't have the resources. I have a different view of Helfrich than many. I don't see him and his staff digging a hole for the program but rather being left behind in terms of recruiting. Offensively they were fine.... Defensively they were a mess. Recruiting they were ahead of Bellotti but weren't changing with the times.

I'll add that what if scenario to my off season writing list next spring! That is something interesting to ponder.

In both cases of Taggart and Cristobal when they left they helped Oregon in more ways than one. Leaving so Oregon could move on to a better hire AND giving the Ducks a nice bit of pocket money to invest in the next hire. Had to go dig this one up... https://fishduck.com/2021/12/lets-be-thankful-for-the-coaches-who-have-left-oregon/ I almost forgot I wrote it but it is supplemental to this article.

Well we kinda do have the answer to that... Mario Cristobal. Taggart's sole class was a hybrid class of Helfrich and himself. Cristobal had a hybrid Taggart-Cristobal class but after that he landed a few top ten classes. A change in the recruiting mindset was needed and Taggart could do it but Cristobal actually did it at Oregon before Lanning arrived who elevated to a whole new level.

Yeah that's fair. He was only at Oregon for a year but his legacy is a complicated one. Next up in this little series is Cristobal who also has an interesting legacy at Oregon. But that one might have to wait till the Spring because the season is fast approaching!

For Oregon to win by 25+ would require a super dominant game for the Ducks. I think 21 is reasonable as I think the Ducks win by three scores but I'm not sure the team would be insync enough to win by 25+. This is probably the toughest game we have before Penn State.

Went back to an old article of mine looking at 2022 numbers. https://fishduck.com/2023/06/should-oregon-move-to-the-b1g-im-not-convinced/ Washington was No. 2 in the pac-12 in revenue generated but while Oregon was making money UW was not. Is imagine now they would be in the black overall with some B1G income but Oregon should still be leading by a healthy margin.

Good thing the Ducks athletic program is in the black. Or we'd be in some real trouble with the House Settlement. Looking at those LA schools. I don't remember where Washington sat in terms of athletic income but I know from the Pac-12 days Oregon was the top earner.

I think it's one of their B1G-ist regrets if you ask me.

Just remember everyone... As Oregon we either buy kids because no one would ever come here otherwise. But if we lose our on a kid it's because we're broke. Oregon is after all the only program that uses NIL to pay players.

Before NIL the rules around recruiting were much different and I'm not talking about pay for play. Recruiting classes used to be capped at 25 a cycle. Yes, there were ways to technically have more of players enrolled early they could count towards the previous years limit so you'd get one year with 23 recruits and the following year with 27 but they were technically 25 and 25. Now if you have scholarships you can fill your class as much as you want. USC has more than 30 commits right now. Many of which are good recruits but building a culture based on so many new faces is going to I be rough. Veterans set the pace of practice and locker room discipline. USC is going to lose some players to the portal and graduation before this recruiting class gets to campus. And they're not done yet with this class and they'll have some takes in the portal. They're probably looking at closer to 40-50 new faces by next year's fall camp. That assumes this class stays together. No veteran presence and the NIL amounts for some players will create a culture nightmare so we'll see if Riley can handle that.

I know this would sound crazy to a USC fan... but maybe Oregon doesn't just throw money and outright buy players? Maybe they actually recruit players based on other criteria? Yeah.. no USC fan would buy that. They have always bought players and they don't understanding that players sometimes play for something other than money.

Yes... But I think the problem is that not ALL NIL deals required anything of the sort. They just collected a paycheck and signed the rights to use their NIL away but they never actually had to do anything. I know many Oregon players had to make social media posts in support of a product and that should count.

Personally I'd love to see the jumbo package come back out. This is what we did under Dillingham and i'd love to see this stuff come back for short yardage. https://fishduck.com/2022/10/oregon-football-is-the-embodiment-of-modern-physicality/ Don't really need a different QB to run it... Usually I dislike using a second QB for a particular package because it becomes a tell as to what's being run. But I love a jumbo short yardage package.

All I know is don't count Novosad out. Even if he doesn't start I wouldn't be shocked to see him called upon for an important play or two this season if Moore goes down. And vice versa. Is Novosad starts over Moore I'd be thrilled because that means Stein definitely got the right guy for the job. If Moore gets the starting job, it means Lanning and Stein went into the portal and got the right guy for the job.

I know in years past Lanning hasn't done a strict first team, second team, third team until about halfway through fall camp. They tend to like to look at how different groups and players work together and build connection beyond just the ones and twos. The goal is to find the best players and encourage competition and leadership opportunities. So they'll be doing plenty of mixing and matching between all involved for the first two weeks for sure. I think by week 3 we have a pretty solidified ones and twos and by the week before the first game it will be set. But even then this coaching staff tends not to set everything in stone because sometimes players put it all together a little later and work their way into the rotation. And speaking of the rotation... I think the goal this year is to rotate 7 linemen around on offense. Keeping fresh legs in there is important when they can and keeping an extended unit together also helps smooth out injuries. But my guess is they'll know who the starter is in a week and will start to solidify things in two weeks with the projected starters working together more regularly after that.

USC inder Riley really did attack the portal pretty hard BUT he did so in a very skill position way. He grabbed a ton of his skill players from Oklahoma and other schools, he took Travis Dye from us. But he neglected the line of scrimmage that couldn't easily be fixed via portal. But the biggest shocker I've found is their absolute failure to navigate NIL. Suddenly when it's legal to pay players they can't manage to do it? It certainly feels more like institutional chaos and ineptitude over strictly coaching. However, Riley has treated his love to USC like he's still playing in the Big 12. At first in the Pac-12 and now the B1G. In both cases his offense first approach didn't work, outside of 2022 where he had a very favorable schedule and even then they lost to Utah twice. USC certainly wants to appear like they know what they're doing but it's always been flash over substance for them.

Yeah I noticed they decided to stick with rivals as well. On3 has a rising brand and does a good job with recruiting information. Rivals just didn't seem to have that going for them. But on3s rankings always felt 3rd or 4th behind Rivals and 247s rankings and maybe even ESPN's which still feels like something they just throw together. It'll be interesting to see if they change how the rankings work as On3 has a bit of their own methodology.

Big big shame that USC and Ole Miss don't play this year. Just think... Riley would have had the rare opportunity to get beat by two former USC head coaches if they played. Instead we'll just have to settle for the return of Clay Helton who is doing a decent job at GS. But Kiffin getting a shot to beat USC would have been sweet! Does he still have a former USC kid at QB too? Gahhh missed opportunity.

Where are the "Bring back Helton chants?"

Well... USC's NIL is happy to pony up $10 mil plus for a high school recruit who hasn't played a down of college football and won't until next season. But they couldn't find the money to pay their best offensive lineman? Suureeeee... "Tampering".... Whatever helps you sleep at night USuckers.

Los Angeles TimesCommentary: At sagging USC, Lincoln Riley should be on th...USC is no longer one of the top programs in college football, and Lincoln Riley is a big reason why the Trojans have remained mired in mediocrity. Article is a fun read as it uses the last 16 years of Trojan mediocrity to put things in perspective. And they don't mention the Ducks once. But we all know they are thinking of us.

Though I believe the lawsuit will come officially from the players, as they are the injured party with standing as they are the ones losing the right to sell their NIL, I also fully believe that NIL collaboratives will be happy to pony up the money for the lawyers. Many of these collaboratives do love having an influence on their programs of choice. Are there some problems at play? Absolutely... But oddly enough I think the biggest counter to all this isn't just trying to sweep away NIL, but it is what becomes of the court case between Wisconsin and Miami. That case concerns revenue sharing and contracts that bind players to universities. Those contracts that players enter into as revenue sharing should be the key to combating some of the transfer mania. If players break those agreements they should have to pay up on a major way, not unlike coaches who leave for another school. NIL needs oversight and limitations. Abolishing it entirely without something to replace it is going to be messy. Too many people and parties have NIL money mixed up and on the line.