Haywarduck

KT raises a great point about alumni hiring past college sports figures. It has been said many times it isn't the fact that you went to college, it is which college, and which connections you got while at college. Your network of friends, gained at this time, creates opportunities. I wouldn't doubt Nike would hire many Oregon athletes over other schools athletes if they had the same skillset, no doubt.

NFL-lite? The NFL has a cap, the college game has no cap. Most of these kids will never see money like they will make in the college game with the way this is set up. 7% of high school players make the jump to college and only 2% of those make the jump to the NFL. College football just made it legal for the professional ranks to grow exponentially. Most of the these 'student athletes' will be fat and broke by the time they leave college football, with few if any marketable skills. It isn't just the college game which will suffer. It is the college student athlete who will suffer the most. The Oregon Program would do well focusing on putting money toward the education and longterm success of these student athletes. High School kids who go to schools mainly because of the money undoubtedly won't have the outcomes they think they might. I have a feeling many of the college football programs will have the outcome of the 'jailblazers' most of us know too well. I at least look for programs to suffer greatly from this move. Texas A&M will be a case study the way it is plays out for now. Think back and imagine making lots of money while going to college, not a productive picture for most, myself included. A student athlete has to be extremely productive, so not a good recipe.

Great point, and while the end isn't here, I think we can see it from here. Saban has had a pretty amazing run, but his tree of coaches is catching up to him, as stated. The next branch is already hard at work, and may be the one to finally see it all come to an end. His legacy is good and strong. I think we saw a little window into how he wants to see it end.

Let the poaching continue, on, and off the field!

Saban speaking to about the journey rather than just the destination. It isn't just about the outcome of one game which defines an individual.

I think this is the first chapter of a new beginning. The combination of elite recruiting and top level coaching should be nice book to read when it is released in the fall. I'm looking for a storyline like a western, where the good guy comes to town, and makes it all good. There is hope in little old Eugene again!

12-0 until I see something to indicate otherwise!

Just start developing more Stetson Bennett type qbs who sticks it out through the competition, and can lead a team. So far we have a couple of those guys, and don't need another transfer. Not against Bo transferring or leading the team, but Oregon needs to support, develop and play some talent they recruit. Transfer are a great tool to bring in competition and upgrade the talent level, but can't be the new way to fill our positions.

The first head to head battle between the two, well done Dan!

And the nice thing is we won't mind if our head coach has a say in how the defense is run. This is a solid staff, and Oregon will continue it's rise to where it is destined to go. A pretty amazing hire, a defensive coordinator from national champ Alabama, who then went to the NFL, and came back to the college game at Oregon to be in the same position he had at Alabama. Let that sink in for a little while, simply a stunning hire!

That is a fascinating observation. As the 13th most populace state with a long border and interstate connecting us we only have 1 walk-on from Washington. If I had to choose, I suppose I would choose beating, actually dominating, the dawgs than having Washington talent on the team. If it is a choice then we have made the right one!

The important item is he will, undoubtedly, feel like he just moved from a JC program to a D1 program. I mean the dawgs lost to Montana, and if you follow the loss trail connects them to a loss to a team called the penguins. I mean who loses to the penguins, a bird which can't fly, and can barely walk. We welcome all extremely talented football players who have made such a mistake. We even welcomed DJ Johnson who mistakenly signed on to a team whose mascot is a weather pattern. He has done amazingly well in our conversion program. Welcome Taki, which means falling water. You find as much falling water, but at least you won't be part of a failing program anymore.

I would say everything is in a constant state of change. Where I live is changing and many want to leave. Can that be said of OBD? What I find interesting is Oregon is becoming what we, once, always battled against. Oregon is becoming elite, and that wasn't what Oregon was when I went to school there. I often find it more gratifying when WSU wins a game against the dawgs, then when Oregon beats them. Same with some of OSU's wins. Seeing an underdog beat a highly ranked team does something for my soul. I definitely didn't find it entertaining to see Oregon try and hold onto their high ranking. What I always enjoyed was the program growing and over achieving as the years past and each season went on. That is no longer the case, expectations are always high, and the oftentimes predictable letdown, less than filling. I don't know that collegiate sports is going away, just going another way.

Here is another way the Oregon Athletic Department should be leveraging the new Hayward Field. The basketball program should be looking for player with insane vertical leap and ability to high jump. There is nothing as intimidating or as entertaining as a shot blocker. This guy was lightly recruited out of high school. We all know the football program should be going after track speed. Is there another way the track program can help draw talent to other programs. The new Hayward Field should be drawing talent. The other programs should use this as an added advantage going forward.

I think Utah produces the best overall football talent. These kids know how to play the game and there is a passion for the game you don't always see with some of the coddled recruits. The Utah area should be recruited without the star rating so closely followed. The other area is Hawaii, and the whole Polynesian culture should be given a renewed focus. Again the Poly players have a passion for the game you don't see with all players. They sometimes develop later too, so keep that a focus too. Will Tukuafu was one of my favorite out of Utah. A young man who went the Community College route before Oregon, and ended up having a pretty decent NFL career. We need to recruit passion and potential. With good coaching it will all work itself out.

It is hard to believe Kelee Ringo who was the #1 recruit at DB, and is an elite NFL talent has zero technique. If so then it doesn't look good for the Oregon DB's and their development. I will agree the SEC standard for position groups is higher than in the Pac-12. Going against Alabama with any weakness isn't an easy task. My take with adjustments the Georgia backfield will do just fine. The wild card will be the wily Saban. What moves is he going to make. It will be like watching another Bobby Fischer on the football field. This will be a treat after watching what looked like a three stooges act on the sideline for too long. I had a pretty funny meme of one of the stooges, but better judgement ruled.

I think Anthony was very lucky this season. It was a miracle he didn't get injured with the way he was used. I just hope we have at least two very competitive qb's, we probably will need them. The way Georgia plays defense we might need the second guy sooner than later.

I would like to see a faction of schools compete on the academic side. Give the athletes more school support and money for academics. A scholarship from Oregon could be good for 8 years, and a masters degree. Most in the real world realize a bachelors degree is like a high school degree was decades ago. Schools should push the NCAA to allow them to give even more academic help. There is always those who do well without college, but those are the exception. There could be a super league for non-students, and those who are truly into the NIL world. These kids could go to the Auburns and learn how to manage money, and just learn life skills while playing football. Both leagues could compete against each other if they wanted to, but some schools could choose to only compete against the academic schools. The student athlete league would be where kids go to school to get a degree and create a future beyond football. These student athletes could become the future of a more student athlete driven football. My main concern is students, at this age, aren't ready for the money coming their way. They need to learn how to work hard, compete as a team, and gain advanced life skills, go to college. The whole portal, NIL direction is going to leave even more kids without an education, and broken bodies. Money destroys many who end up in the NFL, just wait for what the college game does to the kids with all the money. The pension is what saves many from the NFL, and there won't be a pension from college ball. Donors will drop these athletes as soon as they don't perform, probably quicker. It would be a tough sell, but many parents would be for a safer, more academically driven athletic experience. I think there should be some creativity put into this whole formula, by the innovative schools. The academic side of the student athlete should be a focus too!

I do think the era of the dynamics of successful programs will forever be altered. This has to be a bigger shift than the lowering of the scholarship numbers. A dollar competition for players changes everything. I don't think it will be as easy as who can spend the most. The old trailblazers showed that was a failed formula. Recruiting in the new era will be a whole different ball game. A competitive culture will still be important and money can kill that.

I think a pandoras box has been opened in college football. What will that mean and can it ever be closed again? The combination of the portal and the NIL may create even more of a tiered system. I can see a bidding war for the truly elite talent. Programs may have boosters setting up NIL opportunities for any impactful players, freshman or transfers. Getting rated a 5* may mean 7 figures straight out of high school. Only the top booster led programs may be able to recruit the 5* talent in the future. Some of these kids may take a pay cut when they reach the NFL. If a kid comes out of high school as a top 10 talent he is going to get huge money. If he disappoints, becomes fat, happy and lazy, or gets injured he may have reached his highest earning potential. The portal may develop a farm type system out of the lower tiered programs. A freshman with an amazing season at a lower rated school could get a massive NIL opportunity based off one season of college football. These lower tiered programs will get robbed of their players, and be stuck as just feeder programs for the big boys. The last item is the unscrupulous donors may be the ones who have the biggest impact. Paying players large sums will be the new way to build a program. No longer will be building academic centers or rehabilitation facilities be the large incentive to go to a school. It will be all about the short term, the money payed to players now. Those who have been playing in the shadows can now rule the programs. Who knows what will happen. All we know is the future won't look like the past, nor the present. Big changes are happening, and the outcome can only guessed as to the ultimate impact. It doesn't look too good from where I am sitting.

Agree, in the imperfect world they worked in, these coaches stayed with the program, and led the team to a very resilient effort against Oklahoma. The years they gave to Oregon should be appreciated and lauded. Best of luck to all the assistants, and onward, forward, upward for the Oregon Football Program.

This is exactly what the portal will become, a player proves himself at a lesser school, then transfer to a better school. The next step is a bidding war on the top talent from lesser schools. I can see where, in the future, top schools will really only recruit the can't miss kids. The rest of the kids will come from the portal, and the lower schools top athletes. Why would a school recruit a borderline freshman, when they can pull sophomores who have proven themselves at the college level? Top school to a borderline 3-4* kid, 'go to Colorado and prove yourself and there will be a sweet NIL deal waiting for you next year.'

Makes you wonder what will happen when the students make more than the professors. The coaches are usually the highest paid state employees, now the athlete/student may be the highest paid at the university. I suppose at some schools this has already been tried, done. Is this just leveling the playing field, or is it just going to give the programs already paying athletes even more license to work the system. Stay tuned as the wild wild world of college football goes into hyper speed. It does seem to mean we need to rename student athletes, athlete students now. I wonder how inspired some of these highly paid athlete students are going to be when they are already making bank? The reason you go to college is so you can make money, what happens when you already do and don't have to work hard in college athletics?

I would add he was a Mario target throughout the Miami hiring process. Interesting he wants to move to Miami, but to each his own. He was a recent Oregon target, or Coach Lanning has just started recruiting him. I wouldn't give up on the kid. We already have one highly rated Miami DE recruit who left from the west coast and came back, DJ Johnson. Right now I am extremely happy with DJ Johnson, and we may still see Cyrus pull a DJ and flip.

I can see respect for Mario, but that should stay well below the level of reverence. Mario may have worked very hard, but it is just like Frost saying you can't recruit to Oregon to say Mario can't be beat. You can recruit to Oregon and I think you can out work Mario. You gave away the method, better coaches, and he has that. JTT never should have went to tosu. I think recruits want to come to Oregon to play offense. The difference with an elite Defensive Coach is he will be able to bring in more defensive talent. My glass is always half full of lemonade I make myself, and I mostly view things with green and yellow glasses, I fully admit. I will stand firm, I am not going to give away anything to the way Mario did it, as the best, just not going to happen.