HappyToBeADuck

Personally I put very little stock in any poll or analysis this early in the 2022 process. Even the good ones like SP+. Consider that there is no way to quantify or qualify the impact of the transfer portal. MSU and Baylor gave us a good snapshot of what the portal can do. Were they the exception or the rule? With 3,000 plus players in the portal, how do you measure the negative or positive gains for each team? It's safe to imagine rosters will change after spring ball via the portal. In or out teams will be affected. That top 10 is a safe bet but a hollow, empty presentation without Utah in the top 10. We all have eyes and saw the powerhouse that Utah became once they settled on Rising. Utah boat raced Oregon twice. They gave tOSU one hec of a game. Way better than expected. Utah would beat 5 of those teams listed ahead of them. And give the others a run for their money. No matter the analytics used....... Fortunately, Oregon, USC and WSU get a chance to beat those teams above them on the field. Not sure where Florida ranks but Utah has a good opportunity to take them out. Nothing like walking the walk. Man it seems like eternity for spring ball to start. September feels like it's in another dimension. Go Ducks.....

I had all day to ponder this article and all the really solid comments. Honestly it is painful to ponder how one coach, one single coach, could undo a near decade of vurtually unstoppable offenses. Nothing was broke, very little needed to be done offensively when MC took over. IMHO, MC either lacked vision or was completely lacking in his ability to keep up. Perhaps in his need to control everything he simply choked the life out of the Ferrari. He did not know how to handle this amazing, high performance machine. The control freak put a Governor regulator on the throttle. To me it is unfathomable and fricking unforgiveable............ So to the article. How do we get back to our offensive identity? That must watch offense. First the coaching staff must have the desire to want to score lots of points. Don't talk about it just take all restrictions off the throttle. You all remember those 6 play, one minute and eight second scoring drives. A thing of beauty that decimated opposing defenses. An attacking, high speed offense. Then the damn defense get the ball back to the offense with great field position. Install and teach that attacking defense we saw in the Natty. Force turnovers.... Improve the special team units. Make them a force to be reckoned with. You know old school football with a heavy dose of thunder and lightning. Recognize that the Oregon Duck football team got to 2 Nattys by scoring points. Lots of points. Put those scoring teams on the field with a top ten defense and what do you get? Oregon Ducks first football National Championship. It's about damn time, isnt it?

Good point Annie. Too many unknowns at this point to have any idea how Oregon will do next season. The on field talent necessary to win big is in place. But games are won in the fall, on the field. Not in imaginary way to early polls. Can Coach Lanning and staff help the players overcome the big time losses in their last 4 games? Those losses were beat downs. Can the coaches meld the talent into a team? The pieces are in place........ A win at Georgia and the Ducks are in the CFP discussion from week one. Go Ducks...........

Jon, I support you on this. It is beyond frustrating. The leadership in the PAC 12 has "no marbles" . As the Larry Scott curtain is being revealed it is becoming more evident that the 12 dwarf presidents were the true decision makers. Or should I say the lack of decision makers. Many, if not all the dwarfs need to be eliminated from making athletic department decisions. It appears GK is just a figure head. These decisions are a recipe for a few schools being poached from the PAC. Eventually schools who don't have top level donors will be left behind. Question is, which conference will poach the top teams from the PAC?

Thankfully, someone stood up and fought for the players by taking this all the way to the Supreme Court. The scholarship value and educational opportunity is a valuable commodity. But it comes with strict rules. I sat thru an NCAA athlete indoctrination meeting when my youngest son entered college. There were no you can do this just an hour of you can't or you don't. For the players, family, friends and boosters it was an eye opener lecture. Everyone is going to have their varied opinions and feelings. Probably no real solution. But the NCAA and the hard a$$, arrogant school presidents deserve this. They didn't budge or give an inch on this topic. THEY WANTED ALL THE CONROL AND MONEY......... And they still do.. Someone on this forum posted an article a few weeks ago. I think it was a Conzano article. It covered the potential future divsions and how the process will work out. It also covered NIL. The article was insightful but a hard read. I was really taken back by the comments of the President of the Oregon State Legislature. The Legislature is trying to put a bill in place to protect the players and their NIL rights. Yes the US Supreme Court, in essence, granted the players the rights to their Name, Image and Likeness. It's their rights to market, not the schools. The Legislature contacted the U of O and OSU presidents to get their input. Their ideas, especially on jersey and merchandise sales. And how to share those revenues. Guess what, the President of the Oregon State Legislature was surprised that the 2 school presidents offered very little support for the idea. They weren't interested in sharing any of those revenues. Yet the player has the rights if you put their NAME on the jetsey. Keep in mind these were 2 of the 12 presidents who shut down expansion because they didn't want to share revenues with a lesser conference. WTH.......... As much as this is frustrating to most, just let it play out. Let it seek its own level. Keep this in mind and maybe it can provide some perspective. We pay our 14 employees absolute top dollar with full medical and retirement options. We want them to be motivated to work and produce. They perform the work, we pay them.The school offers a scholarship, room and board and education. The players work hard to earn playing time and most earn their education. That's the work agreement between both parties. Nothing more, nothing less. It's just business. It is a work place agreement. Now, if any of our employees add to our customer base and increase our revenues they get highly compensated for that. Isn't that fair? So when the P-12 media rights increase each school will receive millions of dollars more each season . Do you think they are planning on sharing any of that money with the players. NOT A CHANCE........ Chances are this side of the football business will get worse before it gets better. But this is between the schools and the players. This time the players have the power. Personally, it is painful to watch, but I support the players.

The article certainly pointed out the obvious going forward. Future recruits have and will continue to have their eyes on both young coaches. Winning performances on the field by the Ducks and Trojans open the door for multiple good things to happen: All the networks involved in covering college football want and need both schools to dominate all OOC and conference games. Both schools, when winning, command eyeballs. Both schools will garner prime time game slots. Multiple USC/Oregon P12 Title games will upgrade the national perception of the conference All the 8 to 14 year olds will be watching both schools. They are the future of CF and as a result, both schools can keep all the top West Coast talent. Herbie and the game day talking heads will be gushing about both schools. CFP appearances will be on the line The loser will get a New Years 6 bowl game. More money, more needed money for all the conference teams. Why invest any money in your athletic department when Oregon prints money for you. As top winning brands both schools can and will recruit the Deep South and Texas. But championships are won the field. Both coaches have to translate recruiting and transfer portal success to the field. Talk is cheap, everyone at both schools are in the honeymoon faze. And Utah will have a big say in this process

The butt sniffers have a history of making some bad decisions when it comes to hiring and retaining head coaches. Since Don James retired, other than Petersen, it has been a parade of missteps. Culminating in the ultimate mistake by the lake, Jimmie Lake. (That was fun to type). in the near 30 years since James they have been to just 18 bowl games with a 6-12 bowl record. Is that academic prowess or what? I really enjoy their rise in academic prowess coupled with their gridiron demise. Apparently top level recruits are taking notice, too.... Let's journey back to 1908 when the butt sniffers hired their greatest coach, Gil Dobie. Dobie had coached North Dakota Agricultural to 2 undefeated seasons in 06 and 07. At the time of his hiring the huskies were playing as an independent. In 1916 they joined the Pacific Coast Conference. Dobie's teams went 58-0-2. Winning the PCC title in their very first season. The Dawgs could not retain Dobie and he left to coach the Naval Academy for 3 seasons. Then off to Cornell where in his 2nd, 3rd and 4th season they were undefeated and national champions. They let a undefeated coach get away who went onto to win 3 national titles for another school. Though in fairness Cornell probably offered much greater academic prowess. Their are probably a number of reasons Dobie left the near decade undefeated huskies. How does this reason sound? School president to Dobie: Great job on another undefeated season. Sorry I didn't get to see the games. How many undefeated seasons now, 3, 4? Dobie to school president: No this season makes 9. School president to Dobie: what did you want to talk about, Gil? Dobie to president: I would like to talk about a pay raise. School president to Dobie: Hec Gil UW is a powerful academic school. You are lucky we let you coach our great school. Dobie to school president: Okay just want to let you know I will be taking my coaching ability elsewhere. School president to Dobie: Best of luck to you Gil. Well that may or may not have happened. But Gil Dobie put 3 real National Titles on his resume. Not an imaginary, shared title like the huskies. Let the academic prowess continue to rise and the football woes continue for the huskies. It just makes me smile.

Great post and comments on this thread. Had to read all a few times to ponder and digest all the good thoughts. In advance, I apologize for the following rant. Media rights should be handled by an experienced team, led by an experienced leader. This team should have vision, forward thinking, an open mind and keen negotiating skills. Not be handled by 12 Arrogant, narcissistic, know it alls who sent some sort of tennis guru to handle negotiations. This magnificent brain trust spurned network merger offers for the P-12 Network because they knew they could build and run their own sports network. How has that turned out for the brain trust? Larry Scott isn't the only person who should have been fired. The way GK and the 12 dwarfs handled expansion leaves me feeling apprehensive about their ability to negotiate their future media rights. They were presented a major opportunity to change the landscape while adding a good chunk of Texas eyeballs to the P12 footprint. What a powerful bargaining chip for media rights! All 4 time zones (West Virginia) that include Texas and the West Coast. See any forward thinking or the ability to improve your bargaining power in the brain trust? The networks need programming product content. Good quality product to sell advertisers that attracts eyeballs. This conference needs to improve the on field product, top to bottom........ Chip and MH's Ducks were must see TV. Games against Stanford, USC, UCLA and even the butt sniffers were nationally televised. Game day came to town and the ESPN A team called some of those games. The product was outstanding and like Pavlov's dogs, the networks came to the table.........let's get back to that type of product or move to a conference who appreciates a committed national brand. This is big business now. I don't have much academic prowess but the Good Lord blessed me with common sense. My Dad, with patience and love honed my business skills and negotiating knowledge. And my wonderful Mother taught me to be courteous and humble. From all that, my advise to the brain trust would be as they enter media rights negotiations..........leave your arrogance at the door. Admit you failed with the P-12 Network and openly seek out a partner(s) who is willing to fix that. Being open and humble will open the door to multiple offers. Recognize that currently your only bargaining chips are west coast eyeballs, the need for late night time slots to be filled, Oregon s national brand and an emerging Utah. Fortunately, Oregon and Utah proved that on the field we can compete with a CFP blublood. Now GK and the 12 dwarfs it's your turn. Prove that you belong at the media rights negotiating table or put a team in that can. However, due to your shortsighted vision, your team will be bringing a dull butter knife to a 50 caliber gun fight. Good luck..

Glad to see the butt sniffer, toilet water drinking huskies rolled in with the 93rd ranked national recruiting class on 247. 11th in the PAC. They sure got some prime time talent , most likely, filled with academic prowess. My hand got tired scrolling down the list of all the schools.

Just heard on James Crepea show that Mario hired the DC from Maryland to the same position. The guest on show said Mario has been Lazer focused on recruiting and he was taking his time with the hiring process. Sorry I was driving and didn't get his name.

Great article David. You covered many angles and provided alot of info. Thanks........ Baylor and Michigan State had stellar 2021 seasons via the transfer portal. USC, LSU and Ole Miss are jumping off that bridge too. Only time will tell if this is a path that leads to the CFP. If the CFP and a Natty are truly the goal then Sparty and the Bears fell short. 10 plus win seasons are better for the fans and HC survival regardless of the portal route or via high school recruiting. IMO, some of these programs are selling their future short if they depend heavily on the portal. Recruiting and player development should be a programs foundation or backbone to long term strength. Use the portal to fill in those immediate needs. As time goes by, coaches who depend heavy on the transfer portal may be sending many negative signals to future recruits and parents. For example, when you come play for me, just know I will always bring a proven talent in ahead of you, if necessary. Because, I the coach must win now, I don't have the time or patience to wait for you to develop. Most players and parents know that the path to the NFL is thru player development, physical and mental growth and quality playing time. The portal is a game of chance. Vernon Adam's or Dakota Prukup? Quality playing time and player development or lack of is a driving force why 3,000 players are in the portal. Yes NIL is a factor. Are their 3,000 high paying NIL deals? Not a chance. If only 2% of high school athletes get scholarships then these youngsters have already hit the lottery. Leaving for a NIL deal, yet giving up a $100,000 plus value package with a college degree attached, is high risk decision making. Leaving for playing time, better coaching or a happier college experience makes sense. But not for a possible NIL deal? A bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush. Most of the time those 2 birds get away. So, coaches must win now or they can lose their annual lottery payout. The portal has the lure for a quick fix. The coaches will not be excited to invest time and money in developing talent, only to lose them to the portal. Players will use the portal seeking potential greener pastures. High school recruits will be looking at coaches and their schools with a whole different attitude. WOW, welcome to the new college football world.......

Boyle, it appears, is strong in all 3 areas of kicking. He can punt, handle kickoffs and kick field goals. In case of injury to Snee or Lewis, he should be a strong back up. Nice to have a good backup. Snee and Lewis could transfer out at anytime. Snee could head to the NFL after 2022. Glad to have a HC in place that is building depth.

Thanks DiscoDuck for posting this. It was refreshing to actually understand what Coach Lanning was saying. No Florida Boys confusing coach speak....... Coach Lanning comes across as humble and sincere. Taking note and recognizing the genuine love he and his family have felt. Recognizing that the bar for Oregon coaches, players and fans is a National Championship. Just remember that these young players, in all Duck sports, need to feel love and appreciated, too. Like the boomers clinged to the telephone, television and popular hang outs for social information these youngsters get it all on and from social networks. Consider being thoughtful when and where you post. These youngsters are certainly connected. Go Ducks........

Nothing like having potential world class track athletes see thee world class track facility. Nothing like having those potential world class track athletes be 4☆ football players who can see world class football facilities..... Nothing like having 5☆ QB's who can put the ball into the hands of a wide open speed burner 60 yards downfield..... Make it happen Coach Lanning!

Well for me, it is difficult to guage the intent of the tweet. These youngsters are 16 and 17 years old. Youngsters on a fun, fast paced, whirlwind weekend. Youngsters who are trying to determine if they want to spend the next few years in Eugene. Social life is a critical component in that decision. No way any of us can truly tell if that tweet was a notice me I am special or come and say hi. In reading the replies it appears that other recruits were just welcoming others to come say hi, too. Turn the clock back to high school and for me a hello and a smile from a cute college coed would have been epic. Legendary perhaps..... Last decade I had 6 teenage grandkids go thru college. Didn't always understand their texts sometimes. They spoke a different language. This decade brings 7 grandkids thru college and their older siblings from last decade don't understand the new language. It is so much fun to watch them interact. The only common denominator was they love each other. Each new, young Duck will communicate in their own way. In the way they know how. Not how I want or feel they should. So I am going to enjoy them and show Jahlil and others the love. Come be a Duck and thru trial and error we will show you the love. And have fun. Hope you met some great fellow students this weekend.

Just an observation, but if you take Clemson, Florida State and Miami out of the ACC and into the SEC, B1G or BIG12, what do you have? A top level basketball conference... The academic ignorance displayed by the narcissistic, know it all presidents in the ACC is only surpassed by the narcissistic, know it all presidents of, well the PAC. The 2 weakest conferences making non business like decisions. Decisions that continue to weaken their positions. The ACC leadership ignorance is matched by the PAC leadership arrogance. Both conferences had an opportunity to change the landscape of college sports and failed. Now the SEC and B1G, If they want, can form 2-24 team Super Leagues (Jon Joesph Choir Master) with 4-12 or 8-6 team divisions. You can guess who their members will be. The rest, per NCAA, can form their own division. Say goodbye to non revenue sports both men's and women's in that division. Their is no Alliance. It's every school for itself. Those unwilling to change may get trampled.

I believe that Mario is at a crossroads in his career as a HC. MC is at the beginning of his 11th season as a head coach. Not at the beginning as Coach Lanning is but ELEVENTH season. As for evidence, that MC will or will not get to a CFP appearnce, well I have none. But I do have eyes and a thought process that can assimilate what I see. 1. Did not see any change or improvement per in game management from his first game at Oregon to his last. 2. Did not see him turning over the reigns to his OC or DC. Everything became predictable. If the fans could see that, well other coaches could. (Wittingham, Shaw, Smith) 3. Did not see the team, under MC, stop losing the games they were supposed to win. (ASU, Stanford (twice), OSU). Cannot make the CFP if you lose games you are supposed to win. 4. To me, the Ducks finished 20 and 21 on losing notes. Once Shough lost his confidence the 20 season went down hill. In 21, losing 3 out of your last 4 games is telling. My eyes saw players who were tired, not motivated who had lost the will to win. The best recruits in Duck history and MC could not get them over the finish line. From what my eyes saw, my brain tells me that unless MC is willing to change, he will not get to the CFP. If he does, even with 5* Florida talent, he will get out coached.

Just an observation but Jahlil does not look happy in this picture....... Maybe, as a young person, he may be a bit overwhelmed by the recruiting process. Or simply torn between 2 great schools. Play close to family and friends or be taught by a top notch defensive coaching staff. Unlike many high school recruits, for Jahlil the right choice may lead to the NFL. Tough choices start early for top talent......

2 top PAC teams playing 2 top SEC teams, what could go wrong? Truly love these high risk, high reward games. If the Utes and Ducks win they can reside in the top 10. Take care of business and their late season game will position one team for the CFP. Lose these games and there's still a chance for redemption if they run the table until their late season match up. Odds are the Utes and Ducks will be playing for the Fiesta and Alamo Bowls. But with these high stake games a victory certainly raises the expectation bar. Thanks Jon for listing these potential big game matchups.

Best of luck and continued success at the next level and in life to CJ. He had some big time runs that we will remember. Closing out Utahs quest for a CFP appearance in 2019 and P12 Title game. And silencing tOSU crowd in the once invincible shoe. The CJ/Dye Era apparently has come to an end.

So much click bait going on it has become difficult to separate facts from fiction. Both these players would be great recruits if they sign their LOI's. Not sure that even guarantees that top players will stay put with the program. Because the landscape can and is changing daily its difficult to even get excited about a player becoming a Duck. Let alone a sportswriter who heard it from a friends brother in law, whose sister in law once dated an assistant coach. It seems with NSD fast approaching we seem to know more about what isn't happening than way may actually occur .........

JJ.....Eventually one of the three conferences (BIG, BIG12, ACC) will determine expansion is in their best interest. Someone will ask how do we capture the West Coast audience? How do we expand our footprint for recruiting into California? How do we make ourselves more attractive to our network partners and advertisers? How do we give our NIL partners a better ROI? How about USC, Oregon, UCLA, Utah, ASU, UW(Barf, get your head out of the toilet)? It's going to happen because it makes smart business sense to expand. Then 6 presidents are going to be outside looking in... Serves them right. Mike West......This conference still matters to the fans. This conference still matters and has value to the networks. But this conference does not matter to the Presidents. Their stand pat inaction has left the conference weak and vulnerable. Took the puppy (the conference) out to play in the fenced front yard this morning. Fortunately, I noticed a hawk (other conferences) in the trees less than 50 feet way. The puppy was not aware of the hawk. The hawk was definitely aware of the puppy. Our puppy (the conference) is only concerned with itself. The hawk (other conferences) are aware of what's in their best interest. Look what the SEC did to the BIG12. Only the 12-PAC presidents, full of academic arrogance and narcissistic ignorance didn't see it. It was up to me to take care of and protect my puppy. She didn't feel or understand the potential danger. The PAC presidents either don't understand or don't care about the potential danger. You decide which it is?

David, as the article mentioned MH inherited talent, scheme and culture from Kelly. The culture was built steadily, with Brooks and Belotti establishing continuity. A long, slow climb to success. Coach Lanning inherits great talent from MC. The talent that transferred or moved on to the NFL most likely will be replaced. But the last 3 HC 's at Oregon let the culture slip away. How confident will the returning players be after 3 beat downs in 4 games? Can Coach Lanning and staff restore their confidence? If the players buy-in to the Lanning culture then 2022 could be special.

Does the PAC put a compelling product on the field? IMO, not very often over the last few years. Of course it depends on what you find compelling. It's purely subjective to the fans but not the networks. Past ratings play a big role in future TV contract negotiations. Ask yourself what games in the 2021 football season were compelling to the networks? tOSU/Oregon, LSU/UCLA definitely. Maybe Oregon/UCLA? I only watched Oregon games because of my love for all things Ducks. Moving ahead. USC/ND, Stanford/ND, Oregon/Utah (1 and 2). Those games had potential but 1 team in each game failed to show up. The TV entertainment potential never materialized. When given national exposure the PAC failed to deliver most of the time. The PAC had terrible OOC losses and as a result we had very few games between 6-0 and 5-1 teams. You know the kind of games that are compelling to fans in other regions. Half full stadiums, no energy and multiple games that meant nothing do not attract the networks. The last 2 seasons I found myself watching BIG and BIG12 games because they were compelling. The weak ass leadership of the PAC in 2020 allowed fans and the networks to look elsewhere for programming entertainment. In 2021 I continued to watch the BIG and BIG12 games. Ask yourself if Wisconsin/Penn State, Iowa/Minnesota, Baylor/Texas Tech, Iowa State/OSU were more compelling than Arizona/Colorado, Cal/Oregon State, WSU/Stanford. Even if fans around the country wanted to watch those PAC games, they would find it difficult. The PAC 12 Network has poor distribution and the Networks don't cover most of those match ups. However, if the games were of interest or compelling the narrative would change. It takes consistent winning by all PAC partners to change the narrative. How many partners are committed to winning? Ask yourself if PAC games were must watch TV? OOC and conference games sure are in BIG and BIG 12 country. Then ask yourself how exciting were PAC games. Not many PAC games equalled Baylor/Oklahoma, OSU/Baylor, The Red River Rivalry, Michigan/MSU, Iowa/Penn State. Just think some of those match ups would be in the PAC-20. Conference games starting at 9:00 am and lasting thru early Sunday morning. Baylor, OSU, TT, Iowa State fans would stay up late to watch their team play Oregon, USC, Utah, UCLA. But guess what, the networks would have those games on in prime time. Just a side note, ESPN covered the BIG12 men's BB games all day. National exposure. You could make a case that a PAC-20 would rival the ACC in men's BB It's not to late to change this mess. The Presidents need to pull their collective heads out of the academic ignorant b...s. Then on bended knee, with a mix of humility, invite the new BIG12 to merge with the PAC12. Form the first 24-team super conference with all 4 time zones covered. Forward thinking and bold moves to leverage the changing landscape.. 24 teams, 4 time zones with Oregon and USC as anchors would be impossible for the networks to ignore.

If Butterfield is 3rd on the depth chart after spring ball, I would look for him to transfer. Depending on how close he is to getting his degree may alter his time table. JB committed to Oregon in May of 2019. He took no other visits. He wanted to be a Duck. Not sure of his enrollment date but he should have put a dent in his credits toward a degree. When he came to Oregon he was listed at 6'6" and 180 pounds. 2020 season did not count against his eligibility. Assuming he takes 2021 as a redshirt year, then he hits the field in 2022 as a redshirt freshman. With 4 years eligibility left. He was listed in 2021 as 6'6" and 218 pounds. Another 12 pounds and the boy who enrolled will now have his man body. NFL man body. Once he garners his degree he could move on to a NIL deal and a coaching staff who wants give him playing time. Good for Jay and others who have this opportunity before them. Or he could earn his field time and remain a Duck.