David Marsh

By the end of the season I was more impressed with James than Bucky. I think Irving was playing a bit banged up but he was just getting stuffed for little to no gain. Where James on the same run was getting significant yardage. Probably a bit of an injury thing but James defiantly looks ready to be the read rusher. But as stated above we also have a big body in a transfer as well. Whittington is a change of pace back, he isn't the bell cow. However, how Oregon likes to rotate backs anyways we don't really have a primary back per se. I think so much of how this runningback room operates is through throwing fresh legs at an opponent with slightly different skill sets and making their defense adjust. The key in most sports is if you can make the opposing team think, you're winning. Forcing the opponent to think means they won't play as fast and that could mean the difference from a 2 yard gain and a 40 yard touchdown run.

Oddly enough... I could see that happening. I don't think it's crazy likely... but I could see it.

I wrote this went MC left us. The Changing Face of Loyalty in CFB Coaching | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Loyalty for aspiring top-tier programs is dead in College Football. The desire for loyalty is commendable and... but you're right loyalty goes both ways.

And if he makes the playoff with Zona he'll be in a fantastic spot to land it.

He would have been better off in the draft.... Kiss that draft stock good bye!

That helps thanks. Hard to keep track of all the rules these days. So theoretically Fisch could take the UW job and take a bunch of his players with him if they wanted. But to me Fisch staying out at Zona is just as likely because he has his entire roster that he built and probably a better shot af the playoff next year. Then leverage that into another coaching gig in the power 2 if he wanted next year.

TAMU picked someone with existing connections to the program. He was the DC there before he left to become the HC at Duke. Also I think DeBoer was really the only splashy choice for Bama. I think Saban waiting to announce his retirement was a mistake. Sure, it allowed him to get this recruiting class but announcing earlier in the coaching carousel may have given them more options.

Bama can't do anything but hire a big name. Their AD is trapped in that regard. Could you imagine Bama hiring a coordinator who had never been a HC before... Especially someone who didn't have any connections to the program? Some like Dan Lanning to Oregon. Their fanbase would flip the fricken out! Now I know the AD's job is about what's best for the university and not what fans want.... However, sometimes what fans want is what's best because they're the ones who fill the seats. Bama either had to hire a big name coach from outside the program or promote someone from within. This is the curse of all blue bloods. Look at USC, LSU, Texas or any other blue bloods. They go big or go within.

When you only win by one score you can't afford to put 2s and 3s in for any playing time.

Better roster! I think our blue chip ratio may be around 70% next season. And that's with some of those blue chippers developing over the past couple of years. Think of all those freshman and sophomores who played snaps are starting to come into their own. Think of Florence who was solid last year getting even better!

I'm sure they called Lanning, Smart, Norvell and Sark. And I'm sure all said... "I'm honored to be considered but no thanks" Bama and Washington fans will try and spin it and say DeBoer was their first choice... But the reality is that all the first choices were never options to begin with. It is funny to watch Bama fans squirm because they firmly believe they can have anyone they want. The reality is that Bama has incredible resources but so do Oregon, Texas, Georgia and many other schools. Bama's big X-factor has been Saban. Still one of the top jobs in college football but I don't honestly think there is a singlular TOP JOB in college football.

True, Lanning has opted to make Oregon a destination school. But resource wise Oregon has just as many resources as the big schools out there ... The Bama's, TAMU, Texas, OSU, USC and such. Maybe not quite as much and we certainly don't sit in a recruiting hotbed like them. But in terms of facilities and branding and NIL.. Absolutely there with the blue bloods. Can't say the same about Washington.

I know there is a 30 day window for CFP teams to allow players to enter after the playoff games..that's the window that many Huskies and Bama players are currently taking advantage of. I know there other rules on place for players when there are coaching changes. One of which is a bonus official visit to get to know the new coach.

But they won't touch football or men's basketball. Those two make them money.

But here's the follow up to that... It means that Fisch will probably not be around at Zona for the long term, but he can go a LONG way in upping his stock if he sticks around for one more year and gets to the playoff. He's set to do it... And he was planning on being there for at least another year already. So why bolt at this moment? He'll have opportunities next season regardless.

Perhaps sign him to a one year contract while prepping for something more long term? That could be a decent plan. Their next season isn't going to be good regardless.

Washington isn't any better in that regard. Husky athletics is kinda underwater as well.

First off we got a clear indication with Saban retiring of a couple things. 1. Oregon is in the upper tier of desirable jobs because Lanning did not leave. 2. Washington is not in that top tier but the are probably in a tier just below that upper tier. The Huskies are a good program but seem to be where Oregon has been for a long time, a nice place to coach until something better comes up. There will be those who want the Washington job. However there are are few things that make this job a tough sell RIGHT NOW. 1. Recruiting classes have signed and the winter portal is wrapping up. Sure there will be some new additions to the portal from the playoff teams but that's not a whole lot and they'll be competing with every other team out there. Building the roster up right now isn't going to be easy. 2. The cupboard is bare. Washington road a team of vets to the title game many in their 5th or 6th years. Some of those who are not out of eligibility are already entering the transfer portal. Which points back to point no. 1 where replacing this talent via the portal or traditional recruiting will be very difficult. The spring portal will open but that portal time is never as good as the winter portal. The Huskies are entering a big rebuild. 3. Why would a power 5 head coach leave their current school where they are set up for the next season to go to Washington? Jedd Fisch's name comes up as a potential new HC at Washington, I doubt he looks at that job as anything more than leverage for his current contract. Arizona offers just as much access right now the playoff if not more than Washington for Fisch because Zona stands a very good chance of winning the Big 12. Washington meanwhile will need a roster rebuild and is probably looking at atleast 3+ losses next year. Even if a power conference head coach were to leave their school for the Huskies they couldn't bring their roster with them yet because the portal window is closed. They'll have to wait till spring. The time of year this has happened is perhaps the most painful. The coaching carousel is winding down and the Huskies are only now hopping on. 4. Coordinators/non head coaches and Group of five coaches are the only targets for the Huskies. Group of five coaches might look at the Husky job as worth it. It's a personal rebuild. Only those who see this job as worth it right now will jump at it. Everyone else may just stay out for a year because a power coaching job will open up next year regardless and at a time they could actually make changes because the early signing period and portal are both in play. Most coaches are settled for next season. 5. With all previously stated let's add one more problem for the Husky's new head coach. Hiring assistants will also be rough. The best parts of the Husky staff are expected to head to Bama which means whoever takes the job might have to settle on the rest of the staff as they search to cobble together a staff. This is probably the easiest problem to solve potentially because getting assistant coaches to move around is probably easier because there aren't many rules about it. But trying to pry assistants away from places where they're at to join a rebuild this late in the season will probably be harder than normal. So who actually wants this job? No big names that's for sure... But as frick fans we get to kick back and watch the chaos.

Can't maintain a winning program through the portal alone. There just isn't enough high quality talent in it on the line of scrimmage for starters. A big bulk of that Washington team was composed of Petersen and Lake recruits who were in their 4th-6th years of eligibility.

He'll hold onto enough to be dangerous for the next year or so... But might have a quicker drop off. Keeping an eye on that blue chip ratio will be the telling sign.

DeBoer is going to be deadly for a year or two at Bama. He has a roster full of play makers and big linemen. He has proven he can make the Xs and Os work but he hasn't recruited a Division 1 roster to date. He bailed from Fresno before his recruits became upper class men and he is leaving Washington before his recruits become the backbone of the team. He has shown he can take someone else's roster and add some nice transfers into it and make it into something. But he hasn't proved he can build a roster from the ground up. But he is going to have to learn to recruit fast to maintain any success he has. Now... Some might say that Lanning is winning with Cristobal's guys but that is false for the most part. Lanning has gutted and rebuilt the Oregon roster over the last two years. The 2021 team was mostly Cristobal guys but the 2022 team was majority Lanning. And the 2022 team was better!

DeBoer is going to be dangerous at Bama for a couple years at the very least... he gets a good roster out of Bama. But he will need to continue to build that roster and he hasn't shown that yet.

Meyer is the most likely of those three to rejoin the coaching ranks if you ask me. Helfrich could have reentered the coaching ranks at any time after Oregon as a head coach. He had a good record at Oregon and was overall a good coach who had a bad season. Many programs would have jumped at grabbing him if he was interested. Petersen got tired of recruiting more than anything. Both seem happy with their commentary jobs these days. I'd even say Meyers looks happy just talking about football rather than coaching it.

Other thing to add... Bama wants a proven coach who can get them back in the championship game right away. I'd be shocked if they do what Oregon did and go and grab a first time head coach. The stakes are too high they want a guy who can win it all in year one. That shortens the list a whole lot.

It is pretty funny that Bama certainly has the resources to theoretically have their pick of all coaches in college football but the reality is that they don't. Many of the best coaches out there have built their programs to rival Bama in the mold of Bama. So why go to Bama to have to reshape the roster a bit to fit what they want to do when they already have their roster? Most don't want to touch it. If this was December and not mid January I think it would have been different. However, it is mid January and most programs have finished a majority of their recruiting and transfer portal moves for the winter. Sure, there's a second signing day but the majority of players have already signed and are done. Bama has a good class but it's Saban's class. Any coach that takes over is going to have to go in and win over Saban's buys real fast because the portal is still open for Bama (CFP team rules for portal) and then it opens again in the spring. Whoever takes the job is recruiting Saban's roster for starters and that's harder than recruiting their own existing rosters. Also access to the playoff is expanding so that means that other schools are going to be able to compete and NIL is such that the recruiting game is different. And frankly... Bama doesn't have the best NIL program right now. They haven't needed it either because they have been able to sell Saban and his incredible track record. That all changes right now for Bama. They are a top school but no longer THE top football school. They have the prestige but what coach in their right mind is going to want to enter that pressure cooker? Not when they have what they need to make a title run where they're at right now.