David Marsh

It sounded this was the way it was going when he had basically recovered from his injury and didn't want to get back on the field so he could preserve his redshirt. Irving and Whittington are beasts and I can see breaking into that duo's rotation would be pretty hard. That and James is looking like a big time player and with Dante Dowell coming in as well, Oregon's runningback room is LOADED. It will be interesting to see whether Sean Dollars stays or goes.

Not as much as he would have in the past... it seems there is really no patience for anything other than a fast turnaround. He is going to have to post a record of improvement. I would say there are only a few examples of patient ADs these days. Utah and Oregon State being two of them that have shown they can give their HCs time to actually produce results before giving them the ax. I would say Arroyo was given a bad deal at UNLV, he had that program improving and becoming respectable but he still needed a couple more years to do it. I really doubt they are going to do much better with a new hire.

I think we all were... as we blamed Arroyo for the lack of offense. Then we got offensive guru Moorhead and ... still not much more offense.

This one hurts... Thornton was going to be a big time receiver next year. He was breaking out pretty big the past few games so losing him is going to hurt. I guess that makes it all the more important to make sure we hold onto verbal commits in the 23 class right now.

I do wonder how much of the offensive aggression was Diy and how much was Lanning. I know Lanning wants to be on the aggressive side of things but how aggressive is he really? Yes... The final decision is Lanning's but he also wasn't calling the plays. Lots of lessons to be learned from this year.

Lanning was not caught off guard by the Dillingham hire. The two had talked it out and it was clear that Dillingham was going to go to ASU if they offered. I am sure Dillingham and Lanning both talked to Moore a couple weeks ago about the possibility. Lanning also has a short list of new OCs and has probably communicated something about his vision for the offense to Moore as well. The other big thing is that Dillingham and Lanning are actually friends out of respect for that friendship I would imagine that Dillingham isn't looking to outright sabotage Lanning right now. Not saying he is going to go out of his way to help Lanning but among coaching circles showing each other some respect goes a long way. There is a reason why Lanning didn't just leave Georgia after being hired by Oregon, he finished his year with Georgia first. ASU is a major rebuild... and in reality here I really doubt there is much real overlap between recruits that Oregon and ASU are going after right now realistically.

He's probably a mid-round draft pick at this point. He might be able to improve his stock a little bit but not much. However, get a good enough NIL deal and staying could be worth it, especially with some draft insurance.

I agree. The Huskies and beavers weren't inferior opponents this year and they proved it. Lanning and co were out coaches in both games, especially defensively. DeBore and Smith are moth far more experienced head coaches and they are both incredibly smart and they took advantage of some of Lanning's rookie mistakes. Also... A healthy Nix would have won both games which also shows just how fragile this Oregon team is. Our defense wasn't going to win many games on their own and needed the offense the carry.

Lupoi already as the co-defensive coordinator title. The other DC is Matt Prowledge Prowlage has a decent background as a position coach in the secondary but the secondary has been suspect this year. Well... The run defense was doing a decent job until it just decided to stop working. Lots of questions right now. I think depth was certainly a problem this year and I think Lanning is working to address that issue with how he is recruiting... Lots of defensive lineman in this class and only a few linebackers which is what his defense needs.

And Chip has thrown away a big lead while at UCLA ... Talk to WSU about that one. Lanning is a first year head coach and has made some blunders. I think it would have been different with a healthy Nix but that's not the way it is. Lots of lessons to be learned here and he just needs to show he's learned them. Big OC hire coming up. Then I would also say he has some big things to consider on the defensive side of the ball.

On one of the other threads about this topic I threw out Helfrich and David Shaw. I doubt either will be interviewed but I think both could be good. Though I'm not sure on Shaw's QB coaching credentials.

Here are two names... I think neither are going anywhere but I would love to see what they could do. Mark Helfrich: every year we have this discussion when there is an OC spot open. The guy can identify QB talent (Mariota and Herbert) and is a good QB coach when he is focused on that job. See Darron Thomas and Marcus Mariota. He isn't the strongest recruiter but to be blunt he can build relationships and he doesn't need to be the HC and be in charge of recruiting for the whole operation. That and NIL does change the game a lot with recruiting. I feel Helfrich is unlikely due to some bad blood with Mullens probably and he seems pretty happy with his current home and work balance. David Shaw: will he go down a level to an OC position? Unlikely, but he is a smart coach and it would be fun to see what he could do with Oregon's roster. I also think Shaw was beaten down by trying to be competitive at Stanford with both hands and one leg tied behind his back. He might want something "easier" for a few years. He is much older than Lanning which would also give Lanning some much needed expirence in the room but also Shaw has shown aggressive play calling in the past which does mesh with what Lanning seems to want to do... Stanford of a decade ago would go for 4th and one in a heartbeat and get it. I think both of these coaches are solid picks... But I don't think either would get an interview to be honest.

I said we were going to the Rose Bowl after the Georgia loss. If Nix didn't get hurt I think I would be correct in that prediction but not anymore. Also... Last year I said that Oregon should give Thompson an opportunity to play and I think that is a glaring mistake to say because I'm pretty sure we'd have a lose record two years in a row if he was the starter. There is a reason an injured Nix started over a healthy Thompson.

This isn't surprising at this point. Shaw is a good coach and he will probably take a year off before looking for another job. Stanford just isn't competitive in terms of roster management in this day and age if college football. They lose to the portal and never really gain and they've always had to restrict their recruiting to players who meet their difficult academic standards. Staford is simply not competitive anymore.

ASU is a mess... And Oregon has an strong NIL program for the average player right now. I don't see really any players on the current roster decide to leave and go to ADU. At least starter quality players.

I feel we might need someone with a bit more expirence. Dilly has been good this year but we had some glaring weaknesses due to his youth. I know I've written about some of those weaknesses before so I won't go into them now. But Lanning has learned some tough lessons this year and is going to have to hire at least one assistant. I feel he needs someone with a bit more expirence. Maybe still a young guy ... But maybe someone who has called plays before too would be good. If Dilly were to stay he would have that growth and I wouldn't be calling for his head. But Dilly is gone and we can't go backwards and get a first time OC play caller. We have enough other projects to address this off season.

Make it twelve... Mario Cristobal left and Miami paid us some big money to make that happen!

I'm not really suggesting a name here... But those wineries are only there because the Missoula floods stole all of eastern Washington's top spoil and deposited it in the valley. So in a way western oregons prosperity is a result of Washington's devation. So that's fun.

I do feel the Oregon coaches are more on the traditional side of things when it comes to the recruiting process. Klemm has stuck with recruiting and building a relationship with Proctor and Conerly before him. The NIL number wasn't there early but as that relationship grew and time went on the NIL number from Oregon I'm sure has changed. There is a reason why Oregon decided not to get in a bidding war over the qb position with Nico and Rashada. They liked Moore the best from the sound of it but Oregon's coaches wanted to build that relationship and see the player underneath the highlight reel. Will it pay off? We'll have to see but Oregon's NIL boosters aren't throwing money around like other programs that's for sure. It's clear that Oregon will put out enough NIL money early to show they are serious but then wait and not get in a bidding war.

I doubt he takes that many practice snaps in truth. He barely practiced at all last week and I can see the coaches getting him in for some 7 on 7 work and a few passing drills but nothing too crazy. They are going to take the risk of him being rusty and let him rest as much as possible rather than have him practice too hard. So Thompson or Butterfield will get the majority of those first team reps I'm sure.

Lanning is the expert in his defense. I get the desire to allow your staff as a HC to make the calls, but sometimes he just needs to call the shot. It's a learning process for everyone. Lanning as a new HC and his entire staff. We tend to forget that there are two teams that make up THE team. The team of players that we all see running around on the field but there is also the team of coaches. Those coaches need to learn to work together and create a chemistry of their own. Lanning also needs to figure out who he is as a coach. He's made some absolutely brilliant play calls but he has also made some blunders. He is going to learn and this season has been an incredible year so far for a first year head coach. Now let's beat the beavers and go to the Rose Bowl and end the year with double digit wins!

What made the plays against Colorado so effective was because I'd argue they weren't really trick plays... Well the Irving pass to Nix was a trick play.... But the Touchdown to Conerly and the Sewell touchdown were both wrinkles to an already established scheme. Nothing too crazy was going on with those ... And both actually came out of the 14-J formation.... We haven't seen that formation of personel since Colorado. I suspect due to some injuries. Then going into the two point conversion stuff from the Kelly era... It worked so well because it was aggressive and new. It forced teams to practice it and line up correctly to counter it. When Helfrich took over it wasn't new anymore and most teams knew how to counter it. I crindged this last game when they tried to get cute with trick plays. There just needed to run their standard offense as the tricks usually set Oregon behind the sticks. Without a mobile Nix Oregon couldn't afford to be behind schedule.

But Colorado isn't always reliably this bad. Even Arizona managed to bite UCLA last week. The sad truth of it is that the committee doesn't truly care about strength of schedule only winning out. TCU hasn't had that tough of a schedule but they're undefeated and basically in. USC has played two ranked teams all year and neither was a top ten... They went 1-1 against them. Need the Ducks to get heathy and win the conference at this point to block USC from getting the playoff bid... Yes I am that petty.

Thornton reminds me of where Kris Hutson was last year in terms of development. Lots of potential but took him time to put it all together. Also I yelled at Kris Hutson through the TV last year to stop fighting for extra yards (when securing an already big catch) and just go down. He got the ball knocked out of him a few times and it became a turnover. Thornton is learning the same lesson. It's better to just go down and take the yards (or in some cases negative yards) than to continue to fight and make things worse. But I agree... I love how Thornton is emerging as the guy we all believed he could be.

We would have barring the Nix injury... Or if they called targeting for the tackle dealt to him. Hill got a targeting call for making contact somewhere other than the head... So I say that was a missed call. The ducks get a first down there... Even Thompson could hand a ball off to Irving or Whittington to let them score at that point.