Jon Joseph

As you so noted, someone just opened the wallet Big Time for the new DC. "Just Do It?" How many teams in this conference have the means to just do it? 2, maybe 3? Look at what SEC teams spend on football. There is no way this can be capped = there will never be parity in CFB as it is currently structured. People in the SEC aren't bored. The SEC just bores the rest of us. So, have a playoff with the ACC, B1G, Notre Dame, Pac-12 and perhaps, the new B12?

Great take. I will not be surprised if Utah on the road is favored to win the game in The Swamp. Rob Mullens, if Utah can get a H+H series with Florida, CAL with Auburn, UCLA with LSU, Arizona with Alabama, why are the Ducks playing UGA in a 1 off game in Atlanta; the same year Oregon plays BYU OOC and plays 5 conference road games?

Thanks MTD. Oregon proves again that it has the desire and the money to compete at the highest level of CFB. Whatever recruiting violations Tosh may have had in the past are no longer violations. My guess? $1.7M for a DC is the highest by quite a bit being paid to a DC in the Pac-12?

Thanks for the article Alex. But "all time great recruit?" I think that is overrating Robby Ashford who could bot not beat out a journeyman QB for the starting job at Oregon. A great kid and a terrific athlete but let's see where he ends up and then see if he starts there? Lanning and Dillingham did not bring Nix in without taking a long look at the talent in the Oregon QB room. I'm certain that Ty and Butterfield will given a fair chance, perhaps a fairer chance under this staff, to win the starting job. However, only 1 guy in the QB room in 2022 will have had 3 starts vs Georgia and won big games in front of big crowds in big stadiums, including a W against Alabama.

Kid nixed his commitment because he don't know Bo? Mario Cristobal and a Natty? Never going to happen. Where would Mario have Bama today if Mario and not Saint Nick was the HC? The guy is 62-60 and the players who 'loved him' consistently showed up unprepared and played down to the level of the competition. A 'Natty Coach' does not lose to 3-7 Stanford. Does not get blown out twice in three games by a team with a roster not on par with his. Does not win a Rose Bowl with the NFL Rookie of the Year at QB by 1 point over a 3L team. Does not get blown out by Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. He won a down conference in 2019, went to the Rose Bowl when he should have gone to the Final 4. He won the COVID conference title in 2020 with a 4-3 record. In 2021 he failed to win a conference that went 0-5 in its bowl games and lost more than two thirds of its games vs FBS out of conference competition. Natty? Miami just bought a pig in a poke. Mario winning a Natty at Miami is as much of a pipe dream as is the idea of building a new stadium in Coral Gables.

Dennis Dood and Pac-12 football reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's, 'East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet.'

Thank you. I watch a lot of 'Dorf On Golf.' Doesn't seem to be working.

Let's hope that in 2022 the Pac-12 rolls no more postseason gutter balls.

Charles, please, no one deserves any more recognition and kudos than do my much needed editors.

I am tired, not less so than any of you reading my 'stuff', of being the Jeremiah Prophet of Pac-12 doom. Especially, expressing same on this great site created by Sir Charles. As a newer 'prophet,' William Chaucer once said: 'No matter the ladies he adds to his list. No matter the times a knight wins on the list. Like all men, even heroes must stop for a piss." If folks are OK with the Pac-12 standing still, so be it. If folks believe that the conference as currently exists is a Playoff player, so be it. If folks believe the conference is on the rise, who am I to demur. It's a game. A game that is meant to be enjoyed. Whether I believe the conference as exists is a Playoff force: well, it simply doesn't matter. Looking into the future my crystal ball is as clouded as is any crystal ball. I do not see doing the same 'thing,' and expecting a different result when it comes time to playing ball time in September of 2022, providing a different result. But that's just me. I view Oregon and USC spending the money to compete at the top level of CFB and the rest of the conference not doing so. I think 4 power CFB conferences instead of 5 would have been a boon to the Pac- 18/20. But that's just me. I most fervently hope I am wrong that the Pac-12 is down and will stay down. And that the folks who see the Pac-12 as being 'on the rise,' are right. I don't see the current Pac-12 yeast turning into Playoff and NY6 bowl bread. But I possess but one set of eyeballs and one opinion. So, play ball and let's all enjoy the games.

And likely chuckling regarding the 'NIL' money the kid is going to make?

Comparing the last media deals the B12 and Pac-12 made is apples to oranges. First, the Pac-18 to 20 would have dropped the big time media rights bidder to 4 and not 5. And with the ACC locked in through 2036 it would really mean dropping 4 to 3. And picking up markets in the central time zone and especially in Texas would have helped the Pac-12 media wise even without OK and TX. And it possibly, perhaps probably, could have saved the Pac-12 network and the money Pac-12 schools invested in the network. Standing pat. AZ, ASU, CU, this version of Stanford, CAL, OR ST and WA St have no chance whatsoever at competing for a playoff spot. Utah is marginal. UCLA is way in the red. UW does not seem to spend the money needed to be big time. For example, hiring DeBeor and not a big name coach or a top assistant from a playoff contending program. Tough for SC and the Ducks to carry the conference; to spend far more on football and get the same ROI as teams that spend far less. To date, no team that played 9 conference games has won the playoff. Yet next season the Ducks will play 5 conference road games. How hard is it to figure this out and make the change?

Dan, this would help immensely. Go to Atlanta and beat the defending champ or runner up and take out BYU in Autzen. These will be nationwide watched football games. And play big ball and not small ball offense. For what my advice is worth. Put more than 4 DL guys on the LOS vs Bama and disguise where the pressure is coming from. This what A+M, LSU and Auburn did vs Bama. Only 1 won but all 3 shut down the Bama O. If you and Smart stay stubborn and play your base D all game long in the champ game, best of luck.

AMEN. This could be a game changer that returns more kids to playing junior and HS football. The military has been working on 'this' for over a decade. This will make the game safer until nano-tech arrives and virtually eliminates all head injuries and CTE.

Where on vacation? Athens, GA, Oxford, MS. or LA?

With so many guys in the portal why would you not add transfers to get to 92?

I have advocated for this. And I would consider including the 'new B12' in the mix. Have the games broadcast by FOX, CBS, NBC, TNT, etc. Unless something like this happens and there are rules regarding NIL pay, the transfer portal free agency, a cap on what can be spent on recruiting, etc., a CFB professional Super League is inevitable. The Pac-12 but for 2 and possibly 3 teams cannot compete today at the highest level of CFB. That's the reality and not the myth of the 'good old days' returning for the Pac-12.

Any player out of the portal that the coaching staff believes is better than any player on the roster must, if a scholly is available, be offered. Even if a scholly is not available the 'inferior' player should be so informed and the staff should find a portal place for the displaced player will he can compete. If need be, spread some sugar to get the new guy on board and the former guy to depart. THIS is the name of today's game. CFB is unregulated. It is pay for play under the ruse of the NIL. It is open free agency via the portal. And no one is in charge but for the NCAA imposing a scholly limit. If you do not want to play hardball drop down to FCS. Where the majority of Pac-12 teams have dropped to whether they realize it or not. CFB is no longer an amateur sport. It is a big time business and those without big time money will not be competitive. I hate to keep sounding like Jeremiah when it comes to the future of the Pac-12, but you are either going to compete like a member of a big time business enterprise or you are not.

And NFL owners do not allow open free agency like the portal and every team gets an equal cut of the media money. When CFB has a super league of 32 teams it will have a draft, someone in charge and open pay for play not hidden under the ruse of NIL. Very few Pac-12 teams will be invited to join the Super League.

CFB will go to a Super League and there will be a draft. Maybe 3 Pac-12 teams will qualify for the Super League? SC, UW and Oregon. We are in a pay for play world and the Pac 12 cannot pay what teams like Bama and UGA can pay. The teams with the best rosters win CFB games. 247 in preseason 2021 ranked the Bama roster #1 and the UGA roster #2.

Great take. Great! Recently it was stated by a number of Ducks fans that the Pac-12 should stay as-is because quality means more than quantity. Really? Baylor won the Sugar Bowl and last season won the NCAA basketball tournament. OK ST defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Houston beat Auburn. Texas Tech demolished MS ST and a few years back won the CBB title. K State just blew out LSU. Kansas, no bowl but an improving CFB team and always a top CBB team. Bowl eligible Iowa State lost a close bowl game to Clemson. TCU, no bowl in 2021 but a win over CAL and more importantly, the Dallas, TEXAS market.

Please let us all recall that what was once a recruiting violation is allowable today and compared with 2012 , the NCAA is a toothless tiger. Have you been to College Station, TX.? I have. Don't go. How do you think Jimbo rounded up the best recruiting class in the country? A+M last won a title in the 1930's and Jimbo has a title because he recruited Jameis to FSU. A+M is one of the 4 AAU member schools in the SEC, but I doubt these recruits focused on educational opportunities when committing to Aggie land. Every OL guy who now signs and plays with Texas is paid $50,000 a season. Every guy on the roster at Miami is 'paid' $6,000 a year. Every walk-on at BYU has his tuition and cost of attendance paid for. And these are the deals that we know about. I don't think many the fan out west 'gets this?' There are less than a handful, if that, of schools in the Pac-12 that have the money to recruit at championship level. The Pac-12 is not playing playoff quality football and is not sending guys to the pros like the SEC and the B1G. So, if you have offers in a better conference, why play in the Pac-12? SMH that a number of fans think that a new commish playing a dead hand is going to turn things around for the Pac-12 in CFB? USC will be in the playoff in 2024? Media is going to pay big money because SC might come back? I don't see it. And BTW when Pete Carroll was at SC, for the most part he was not competing against the LA Rams and the LA Chargers. And the SEC had yet to cement its spot as the It Conference. Let's compare Pac-12 champion Utah with South Carolina. Utah set a school record with 52,000 fans attending to watch the Utes/Ducks regular season game. As Stewart Mandel recently noted the Utes are generally unknown nationally because of the location in the mountain time zone, bad starting times and having to play on the Pac-12 network. South Carolina, a team that has never won an SEC title routinely draws 85.000+ fans to every home game. Routinely draws more eyeballs to media broadcasts of its game than do 10 of the Pac-12 member schools. For Oregon to have a chance in this recruiting environment it has to play the pay for play game. Has to. Oregon has the money to do so. USC has the money to do so. UW has the money to do so. SC and Oregon spend far more on football than the other Pac-12 teams. Yet SC and Oregon get the same share of the proceeds as their 'partners' investing far less? Why? Why remain in a partnership like this? Remaining would not happen in the 'real world.' Big boy CFB is real world business and should not be treated differently by the top partners in the Pac-12 enterprise. CFB is no longer collegial. No longer regional. It is a big time nationwide big business and the 'leaders' of the Pac-12 not seeing this should not blind Oregon to seeing this.

And I don't know how without a move into the central time zone these late KO times can be fixed. Youngsters not watching and not becoming involved today will most likely not be fans down the road.

ACC's position was confirmed yesterday by Brent McMurphy. Dabo and Mack Brown among other ACC coaches do not want more than an 8 team field. Of course Dabo and Brown have both won NCs.

Yes, teams are allowed 92 scholarship players in 2022.