Haywarduck

If the portal is like tinder, then the recruiting circuit is like a bar scene late at night. Anyone eligible is getting hitting on non-stop even after they have made a decision on who they want to be with. Until there is a ring on the finger the pressure is relentless. I can definitely see why some recruits shut down their recruiting early. The student athletes who allow themselves to be propositioned endlessly actually make me wonder about their character. I get wanting to visit the campus and having an in home visit from a coach. Kids going through a relentless barrage of offers can't be healthy for anyone.

Agree, the Dye family has been the heartbeat of the Oregon Football Program for a while. Seeing any Dye in another uniform just wouldn't be right. I do agree recruiting is telling student athletes about the opportunities within the program. That opportunity is to compete against the others at your position. I don't get where the ultimate competitor isn't ok with that scenario.

Same with Dick Vitale, and I love the guy and his passion too. So many stories of Dickie V giving away basketballs to kids and even sending them to kids. T Recently the great John Madden, who also epitomized this passion in football passed away. It is important to embrace those you love when they are around!

Walton has been peddling this line for a while, it is a pretty funny, and a valid way of looking at it. Tinder portal and Dana Altman

I disagree. Football is all about working through distractions, just like my life is everyday. Many would look at what I deal with everyday as unnecessary hardships, but it is my job to try and mitigate that adversity. Like football players I could look at my pay as inadiquate, but I just work harder, and give more to my craft. In the end I live a very full life, which I am grateful for. Nothing has come easy, at least that was worth it. There are plenty of legal cartel type businesses where I live. Life isn't fair, and like Stetson said, you work through it. I hope our football team has his attitude. Those with that attitude will have the best results. Those with distractions, hardships, and are intrinsically motivated create amazing results. Those who live a distraction, adversity free life where money is easy often meet hardship, distractions and need motivation they just can't find. Thanks for the discussion, great stuff.

"Keep your mouth shut. Work hard. Life is tough. Work through it." I just hope more student athletes learn this lesson type of lesson as they work through the Oregon program. The lessons you learn from adversity are invaluable. With the portal and NIL money I wonder if working through tough situations is becoming rarer in college football. I suppose those who go into the portal without a plan are going to see life is hard. It does seem most successful programs have a tough situation they are working through. Utah was on a mission, incredible adversity. I can see Utah as still playing with a chip on their shoulder, a purpose next season. Stetson was definitely one of the engines who drove Georgia. What will it be for Oregon? Which uniform to wear next week certainly isn't a driving force.

I remember my sons coach saying these kids are too good for kids their age, needed more competition. He signed them up to play a group of older kids. What went wrong, the younger kids go injured. If you don't stack up size wise there is the potential to get hurt. I will be happy if we just don't get run over, demoralized and injured. I doubt there will be national champ let down, more like a hungry, healthy team ready to play in front of their crowd. Interestingly the last time Georgia won a national title in 1980 Cal came to Georgia to play them the second game of the 1981 season. The soon to be 2-9 Cal team played them decently and lost 27-13. I would be ecstatic with that type of outcome. In Georgia first game of 1981 they waxed Tennesse 44-0, yikes.

Knowing 'oregone is in the pac-10' is pretty good for the rest of college football. This may have been followed by the wife saying, 'don't they wear those cute uniforms?' An even more knowledgeable husband might have added, 'they used to be a pretty exciting team, I actually used to enjoy watching them.' I think most fans would ask, 'who decided to schedule Georgia in Georgia as your first game?'

Pretty realistic take, and I could see the record tipping either way a bit depending on the transfer portal, and how that oblong ball bounces as the season progresses. I do think the transfer portal is the biggest way to impact a team in the short term. It does seem Lanning has had his eye on the talent within college football. The first step was putting the coaches he wanted on the sideline. The next step will be going after the transfers he wants to see on the field next year. The Lanning recipe is coming together. What that recipe will look like, taste like to the fans is just mental nourishment, and hopefully palpable soon enough!

The kid has speed and the hops you can't teach. If Lanning thinks he still has raw ability and is coachable bring him on. Being from Texas, it isn't as far as being from Georgia. https://bulldawgillustrated.com/sports/uga-football-2/first-year-look-jalen-kimber/

The Ducks are flying above and beyond the rest of the Pac-12, who are just stuck on the ground much like a dawg, beaver, bear, cougar, buffalo, bruin or really any of the other mascots. It will be nice to see the Oregon Program again take flight under Lanning, that is where we should be!

The interesting thing about Mario is he wants to bring back the glory days of Miami, but his time at Miami was Dennis Erickson's time. That was a time of an over weighted passing attack. Mario isn't a Dennis Erickson disciple, at all. Mario seems to relate to the old Alabama teams where the big RB's would pound the ball. If he can recruit a Derrick Henry type running back, with Kamara as the backup he just might be successful. I don't think that is what he sold Miami on, and it will be interesting to see how his vision of football unfolds for the hurricane faithful. The other statistic about Mario that isn't analyzed is he took 6 years to get his bachelors degree. He wasn't the Josh Urschel (math genius) type of O-lineman. He was just the grinder who wasn't academically inclined, focused. Those two aspects didn't allow him to go too far in football. I think those two attributes have also, and will also hold him back in coaching. There is a disconnect between what he says he wants to do. There is also a disconnect with what he is capable of doing and what is expected. He is a good guy, but the line between the greats and the also rans is defined by really having a genius type ability both on and off the field. Those who merely grind can get lucky every once in a while, but they won't develop a program we wanted, nor what Miami intends to have. The question is will Lanning have that type of ability, a rare combination, stay tuned. Lanning is being sold as a grinder, and an incredibly smart football mind. Merely hiring great assistants has been seen before. A program excited about what they think they will see on the field has been experienced before. It is an exciting time, but the data to substantiate the excitement is just trickling in. There is nothing more exciting than the unknown which isn't quite in focus. You can create whatever you want, and are easily swayed toward what you want. I think the excitement is warranted, but the Lanning Affect has to be turned into the Lanning Effect. An affect is what we feel is happening, the effect will be what we see, and the data we begin to analyze as a real impact on the program we all hold so dearly.

I think it takes more than players and scheme. I wonder if Lanning and his team of coaches can create what is needed over time? We had the game plan, and not enough players. Recently we had the players, but didn't have the strategy. Is there something else we also need to really get over the hump? It is a complex dance a program must put together to win it all. I agree Lanning is a different candidate to move the program to the next level. The idea he has what it takes is a more multifaceted question than has been discussed so far. What are the elements, and what is most important? Is it just scheme and the top players we should be focusing on?

Interesting if you go to the article Oregon doesn't lose it's lead to sc, or anybody until you total 45 years. As somebody whose total years exceeds this amount I am shocked at how the totals add up. The Oregon Football Program is the dominant program over many, many decades. We really are the only program in the Pac-12 which knows how to fly! Time to take to the air again, and build on that lead!

The bottom of the depth chart at RB and QB are looking to the exits. I wouldn't be surprised to see Delgado head that way. If student athletes are not playing then many are seeing the portal light on. I hope we don't lose too many as we need a full roster for the long season ahead. I do wish them all the best of luck with where they end up, and don't forget about that ejukashun!

The difference, Bonds was a pompous, selfish, grade A, A..! I think Tosh made some mistakes, and is an effort grinder, fits right in.

Looks like the first head to head sc, Oregon recruiting battle for a SoCal product with the new head coaches. Let's go Coach Dan Lan!

Or a lesson from Notorious B.I.G.

What is this? Is FishDuck branching out in the offseason?

When too much money meets immaturity, nothing good

I would add acceptable, no actually.............. expected down south, for decades.

And our second game is against a team that waxed PSU last year. The schedule can be looked as favorable, but there aren't any Portland State type games until we play the dawgs in November. I will also say an embarrassing loss can't be looked upon as a good loss. The game against Georgia will be watched by many, and will begin to define the Lanning era. It is a chance to get off with a very good first step, but that isn't guaranteed, at all. I continue to wear my green glasses, but am trying to be as realistic as possible. We need have an upside to our expectations, says the 12-0 prediction guy!

Reflect on that one, your first game as a head coach, on the road, #1 team in the nation, your old team, with a team you have no connections with, and an all new coaching staff. Any of those variables would give anyone in Vegas caution, but many are thinking Lanning has a chance. I never pick against the Ducks, but I never bet. I hope we are understanding of Lanning's learning curve and the road ahead. I really wonder if anything is going to be huge for Oregon going forward. I tend to think there will a lot if incremental moves forward, and a few backward. I do think the program which has helped create multiple great coaches is still alive and well. The question I have is, do we have a fanbase which understand the process and will support it?

Both Oregon and SC need to put a compelling team on the field. Under Cristoball we were at risk of turning off the Oregon identity and brand, sc's was on life support. Georgia is all about their stifling defense. Alabama has become an offensive juggernaut, along with a compelling defense. The tosu program is just about having swagger, and it is a pretty good school. Oregon needs to create excitement about who they are going forward. Do student athletes want to be the next Anthony Brown, or really any of our players on offense? Same can be said about the sc offense, maybe a receiver for the trojans, but no longer do they have a top RB. I agree it is about recruiting and balancing the recruiting, but it is also about turning the lights back on with our program. If the light shines bright enough people will want to watch no matter what time the games are on. Lanning's job is to get the talent, and turn the power back on with the program with an exciting product. The rest will take care of itself, that is the Oregon way! The focus on recruiting is great, but turning the product on the field back into can't miss tv has to be job 1. Recruit, develop and create a compelling product on the field, and keep it growing!

It gives Dan Lanning a bit more validity. The next big step is to win as a head coach. There are two things you need to have, a story you can tell, and a bomb proof story no one can attack. Right now coaches can state the obvious, Lanning has never been a head coach. Saban and Smart are bomb proof, no one can attack them for their lack of winning or experience. I look forward to Dan Lanning's continued development as an extremely viable head coach. Being the DC of a National Champ is just one step. Congrats to Dan Lanning, now it is time to continue to be the hardest, and smartest working head coach we have ever had!