David Marsh

Oh Josh... Oregon has made the playoff. They played in the FIRST playoff game in CFB history and got the first win! I know 2014-15 was a while ago but still.

Another reason why Championships Games are a liability rather than a true reward.

Oregon announces Brian Michalowski as inside linebackers coach for 2024 season - On3 WWW.ON3.COM On Wednesday, Dan Lanning announced several updates to Oregon's coaching staff following a... The loss of coach Meat a few weeks ago meant that Lanning could hire or promote a new coach to the staff. Everyone assumed that it would probably be a cornerbacks coach because that was the coach we lost in Meat. However, co-DC Chris Hampton was given positional coaching for the entire secondary, probably with a pay bump. And now Lanning has promoted an analyst in Brian Michalowski to inside Linebackers coach. In Lanning's scheme there are two inside linebackers. The outside linebackers are not always typical linebackers in terms of size as they are really edge players and are kind of hybrid players between a traditional linebacker and a defensive lineman with an emphasis on rushing the passer. It's no secret that linebacker has been one of the weaker positions on defense, though they took some major strides as year where it looked like Lanning may have started to sure up and fix Oregon's soft underbelly. Has Lanning Fixed the Duck Defense’s Soft Underbelly? | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM The Oregon Ducks’ defense has maintained one major problem for the last three years. Simply put, it has a... But it's clear Lanning isn't satisfied currently with inside linebacker play and by making a full time position coach to exclusively work with inside linebackers is a significant step. He wants more out of these players so look for them to make a major leap next year.

There is a big problem with NIL. Namely that schools don't pay players but 3rd parties do. Schools and coaches are technically not allowed to facilitate the deals or know how things are being done... But most know enough to function. NIL isn't capped at the NFL level because the NFL has contracts that bind players to an organization for a period of time and those organizations play those players. So NIL money is money for advertisements and things where the company paying the player is getting a major tangible benefit from their payment. Mahomes is paid for his advertisement work and the companies get to put Mahomes on stuff but that isn't how Mahomes makes the majority of his money, it's a side gig. Granted a side gig that pays better than most of our jobs. For the majority of the players at the college level most NIL deals are their paychecks and primary source of income. And for many all their NIL deals include is some social media posts. Players aren't bound to teams with the portal so they are free to shop the best NIL deals. The other major factor at play here is that the pool of players is so much different at the college level than the pro. For the NFL all players need to go through the NFL's gate keeping to be considered worth adding to a team. The biggest of these gates is the draft, get drafted or signed to a team and you're getting paid and may be worth other teams looking to sign you later. But at college there are thousands of players at varying skill levels. Some good and will get drafted and others good but won't be drafted. NIL pays these players not the schools. So how do you put a cap on something that schools themselves can't regulate? You really can't. So what would have to happen is that schools and he NCAA pays players and NIL is banned. That way it can actually be regulated. NIL at the college level is directed at schools but not run by schools. Whereas at the NFL, NIL is directed at a player regardless of their team. Mahomes would still be in state farm adds even if he played or another team. Division Street is paying for Dillion Gabriel because he's going to be at Oregon. They wouldn't pay him anything if he went to Washington. NIL can't be regulated.

This is totally worth your time and a watch. It breaks down what recruiting rankings mean and why they matter... or don't. Short answer... some positions have better ranking accuracy than others find out more by watching!

There is the potential that Oregon and Ohio State play each other THREE times this upcoming season. 1. Regular season game. 2. Conference Championship Game. 3. Playoff game at some point -- assuming that both teams only have 1 or 2 losses total (and possibly only to each other) they both make the playoff and have a chance for another rematch. What if Oregon and Ohio State end up playing their third game against each other in the National Title game? That would be crazy but it is theoretically possible.

Are the Huskies good dogs? sorry... dawgs. I suspect not.

Football is the sport I try my very best to not miss a game. I missed a chunk of the pac-12 championship game this year because I foolishly scheduled something on that evening without thinking about it. Oddly enough that worked out for the best because I didn't spend the evening agonizing in front of the TV but went to zoo lights with my daughter. Other Oregon sports I follow loosely and rarely watch games. I don't really have the time or patience. Basketball I used to love but I find it just doesn't have the same exciting flow and suspense as a football game. Also not a whole lot of trickery can happen in. A basketball game. It's fine and I might tune in come the end of a season but not during the season. Baseball and softball... Just can't get into it. But I'll pay attention to websites saying the teams are doing well. Same goes for pretty much everything else..

In the portal era ... The best teams won't have to take years to rebuild. I mean this should be a rebuild year based on what we lost but it's not. It's a stock up and reload and get ready for the next season. It doesn't matter who we lose after next season because they will be youngsters who step up into those roles or Lanning will go into the portal to find someone. Top tier programs and coaches won't be looking at big rebuilds if they're managing their rosters properly on a year to year basis.

I think he'll do just fine. It doesn't look like he is the DC but just a position coach and he has had success at other stops. I don't think he is a top DC by any stretch but I think he had a bigger problem in that he worked for Riley who doesn't care about defense. Now, it's funny that Riley is saying that defense needs to come first but I'll believe it when I see it.

Not saying he shouldn't bring players over from Washington... but Alabama kept things a whole lot closer with Michigan than Washington did. I have a feeling this is what is comfortable for him to do rather than doing what may be best. He has also lost a few Bama players to the portal as well but Bama's roster from raw talent is still better than what Washington had at the peak of last season.

I'd still argue that Chris Petersen made Washington into something. The only players left on that roster are DeBoer guys and some Lake guys. Looks like there isn't a whole lot left. Sure DeBoer brought in some key transfers, namely Penix, but holy crap he is talking a huge game right now. The funny thing is that as Duck fans we have felt betrayed by two of our head coaches, Taggart and Cristobal, and have gleefully watched their struggles after leaving Oregon. But I don't think any of us harbor the hate for Taggart and Cirstobal anything like what Washington fans are feeling for DeBoer right now. and I love it.

I'll check with the young people today... Looks like "Fire" might be the knew version of cool, but I'm pretty sure that is outdated now as well.

Also... take a look at this 2024 class out of the State of Washington. Looks like one school is suspiciously missing from it's top 15 state recruits. 2024 Rivals.com Washington Top 15 N.RIVALS.COM The definitive source for all Rivals news. Looks like the Huskies are MIA in their own state in 2024. Even the Cougs managed to recruit an in state player.

Resources... NIL in particular and how much a school has available to aid in recruiting (flights and such). I think Oregon is in an expanded playoff club of 12-14 teams because the amount of Oregon teams since 2014 that would have made a 12 team playoff is ... a lot. Washington in that same time frame would also have a lot of teams that would qualify. 2015 (maybe but a good chance), 2019, 2020, and 2021 the Ducks would have made it. 2021 was an unmitigated disaster towards the end with Cristobal's leaving. 2022 Oregon would have made it without an injury to Nix ... without a Nix injury Oregon probably would have made the 4 team playoff. Even before 2014 Oregon would have been a regular. 2010 (BCS Championship game already), 2011 (Pac-12 Champs), 2012 (top 10 team), 2013 (2 loss team on the bubble but decent shot of making it into a 12 team playoff) But I don't think Washington has the NIL programs surrounding it that makes it as good of a job as Florida or many SEC or B1G schools. Namely, Washington's success was built on Chris Petersen's tenure, even last years team! A large bulk of Washington's personnel were Petersen recruits and sure DeBoer brought in some key transfers to help fill out the roster but the bulk of the offensive line, and defense were Petersen or Lake guys. They're gone now... so the question is whether or not they can replenish the roster. A big red flag for the outgoing staff is that Washington didn't recruit a single notable player from the State of Washington according to Rivals! Does Washington belong in that 12-14 team group? Fisch has a chance to insist that they do going forward but they quickly could fall by the wayside again.

Could this be cool and fun? Yes. Am I interested? Not really. This shouldn't be seen as a replacement for the TV or an in-person experience but its own thing. Another example is... I don't see VR replacing the TV because interacting with VR is far more work than interacting (or not interacting) with the TV.

Until recently the amount of misses we have had with Washington recruits far outstrips the amount of hits and when we discuss the vast majority of our hits its not on four or five star recruits but three stars. For the 2024 class here is the Rivals link for the best recruits from the state of Washington. 2024 Rivals.com Washington Top 15 N.RIVALS.COM The definitive source for all Rivals news. Couple big points... the University of Washington failed completely to recruit their own state. Furthermore, Jason Brown (the No. 2 ranked player from Washington on Rivals) was recruited by Oregon but the Ducks turned him down at the end of his recruitment. Just think how mind-boggling that prospect this that Oregon turned down a four star runningback from the state to the north. Then Oregon secured two of the top ten from Washington as well.

I kinda doubt they'll do that ... UCLA doesn't seem to have much interest in being good at football.

I'm not surprised ... Whose even left? Those deeper in the depth chart have to look at Bama's roster and know they probably can't beat out their second string.

My list is pretty much the same as yours with only some minor tweaks. Completely fail. 1. USC - they destroyed the conference or at least started it's downfall. 2. Washington - because... Washington. 3. UCLA - they went with USC so they must shoulder some blame. Schools I would like see suceed. 1A. Utah - they were doing well in the Pac and were a team player. Let them own the Big 12. 1B. Arizona State - Dilly can make something of that program so let them beat up the Big 12 left overs like Utah. 2. Arizona - in football I have no I'll will to Zona, not a fan of their basketball program though. 3A and B - Stanford and Cal because they'll make ACC life miserable at times. 4. Oregon State - success varies from program to program but let them be good in the mountain west. You had Colorado as a program you wanted to see fail... I don't really care what happens to them. They went back to the Big 12 and I think their fan base assumes it will get them back to relevance but I think the reality is that they might win an extra game or two every season but struggle to compete with Utah.

Washington is going to be intense but with their roster depletion I feel they shouldn't be as tough this year. Also they are down 20 scholarship spots at the moment, that isn't getting filled with 4 and 5 stars. I'd put Ohio State ahead of Michigan. Michigan at Michigan will be tough but they have some significant roster losses as well that probably won't be fixed in a year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disrespecting Michigan in putting them at the second hardest game with this depleted roster. But they were a team loaded with 5th and 6th year players (like Washington) and many are gone now. Wisconsin... They'll probably be decent to good this year. They're probably close to the right spot. But overall I don't know the B1G nearly as well as I knew the Pac-12. Kinda feel UCLA might be disrespeced a bit for being as low as they are but we'll see if they have someone who can play QB for them this year.

And Oregon State's head coach turned it down as well. But USC wound up with Pete Carroll so they're not complaining. But they are still recovering from those high expectations set. But I suppose we can forgive Pate for that oversight... He's a southern guy and that bit of Oregon trivia is a bit obscure. But in the last decade + at this point he's right.

He wanted a shot at playing runningback...

I had to dive back into that mess and this line stuck out about Ross James the painter that I thought was really another poor argument. "James’ punts were only fair-caught 55.6 percent of the time which means that returners found it in their favor to attempt to run the ball back. Only 11 of his 27 punts were within the 20-yard line and each punt only averaged 48.4 yards." The argument here is two fold... First that James didn't pin teams back inside the 10 very often. That has more to do with the offense and decision making where Lanning was far more likely to go for it on fourth if we were around mid field or just over midfield and on the opponent's side. So not a lot of opportunities for those kinds of punts because the offense just wasn't stopped on a regular basis. And when the offense was stopped and forced to punt James was punting deep in Oregon territory and his job was to flip the field and he did that. Also the comment about how returners didn't fair catch his punts enough feels logical or more of a punt protection problem. The hang time and distance on his punts were pretty good. And again it goes back to the fact of the matter that James didn't punt thatich because the offense was just just that efficient. This one felt more like he just wanted to see the newer guy, Australian Like Dunne, rather than the vet. If Dunne wins the job more power to him but James was by no means a liability. I like Camden Lewis... Who is out of eligibility.

The guy knows nothing... He was completely WRONG about Florence as his argument hinges on the two losses to Washington. In the first game Florence was injured in the second half. Bridges got burned a couple times and made some decent plays but Florence wasn't in the game. The second game Florence didn't even play because he was out with an injury. So that right there is an argument based around no evidence. He should be replaced because he was injured is the argument which is a poor argument. Our punting was pretty solid so Ross James, we just didn't punt all that much. I know mid way through the season he would have been considered perhaps the BEST punter in the country but he didn't have enough punts for him to be ranked. That's a testimony to the offense. And as for Boettcher... Incredible athlete to play linebacker. I'd be a bit surprised if he plays as much this year because I feel some of the youngsters are more athleticly gifted but need to learn the system. They know the system now so they will probably surpass him. But does he need to be replaced? Probably not. I fully expect him to play next year and contribute, especially on special teams.