Haywarduck

There is association and causation, correlation two very different things. Some may want to give Mullens credit for the coaches he didn't hire, and they are associated with him. The question did Mullens cause them to win and is there a correlation to his work and the outcomes, I think not. Mullens job and he is very good at it is to help get projects done, and manage the money. He isn't the lead on hiring with the big decisions, like head football coach. He is the front man on those jobs and manages all the egos, as has been discussed. If we want to give credit to someone other than the coach for the success the coaches have, it should go to the guy who makes the final decision. The guy who makes the decision on how to support the coach. The guy who actually makes it possible the coach has a product recruits want to come to Oregon play for. Giving Mullens lots of credit may be seem prudent, but I don't think it is warranted. He is supposedly made calls to talk to CK 3 days after Cristobal left, that isn't leading. He is just going through the motions while others are doing the heavy lifting.

The belly winner would be Chip, but the only fire might be indigestion. Wilcox may have some fire, and maybe some aspirational vision as an Oregon alumni. Hard one to predict, time will tell.

The only thing he knows is Mullens is in cover his ass mode, a smart move. Make people feel like they have been heard, he learned that from someone. I have no doubt he is talking to other boosters, but only answers to one booster. What we need is to know who PK has working on this, and know what he thinks. Those are the meetings which would be interesting to hear. Mullens is going through the exercise of interviewing, talking to boosters while the real work is being done. Canzano is feeding off what Mullens is doing, less important. Like with Altman, and when Kilkenny went on the jet to talk to candidates, there is real work being done behind the scenes. My bet is they aren't going to settle, but I am not betting and fully admit I have no clue. Shameless plug, if you want to put your bet down, go to the contest thread and put down what you think!

Contest, must include Head Coach Name Mike Bellotti, in negotiation with Matt Rhule who will take over when NFL season is over Day of Hiring Dec. 10th On December 15th Recruiting Class Ranking 8 Number of Transfers 7 This contest won't be judged, but might provide an outlet for some of the conjecture.

We shouldn't be holding our breathes, nor exhale too loudly. I think I mentioned a write in campaign at one point, not going to work either. What we should do is stay at about 20,000 feet and just enjoy the view. Nothing we can do, but respect the process. The only absolute is the next guy is going to be very lucky. At the least he is going to be a very wealthy man. There is a massive chance he is going to win like he has never before. He is also going to have a ready made team, which should be very competitive. The other thing we should do is be the best fans in all of fandom. This includes supporting our coach like no other program. This coach will get the assistant he needs to succeed, unlike many coaches who are hired and expected to create miracles. The fan support will include high expectations, but realistic timeframes. There will be an expectation that we win, but it will be embrace, win right, and stay competitive, grow the program. I also think there will be analysis as questions come up. There is an Oregon way, score points, and do what you say, the fans have expectations! Lastly there will be conjecture as the coach is hired. We should stay positive as his dreams and ours are at stake. Let's be ready to move forward in a positive, respectful way. We are entering a new day with the Oregon Football Program and let's meet it with enthusiasm and critical thinking, and try to keep the skepticism and criticism for another day. Something to think about because we aren't getting much done guessing here and there! I suppose we could do a contest who is the next coach, hiring day, and expected recruiting class ranking, transfer totals. Don't expect me to put that up there.

I say we get behind anything which is done. If a top DC isn't in the cards with this scenario I would be extremely surprised. I think we have to wait for the complete story to unfold.

Altman hiring deja vu. We went after some big names and came back with an underwhelming hire. Remember Cristobal was a loser, quick hire who was at the right place at the right time. There are brighter coach finding minds out there looking for the next Altman type hire. We will be fine. I do find it interesting how hot names become bad names after one trip up. People become the next great thing after one season. We have created hot coach, after hot coach, and fired one of our most successful. Our program will be just fine, I'm almost sure of it!

I think we are going to miss him, but the criticism of him was valid before he left, and after. It is just the excitement over the wins has ended. The Duck faithful have been pretty respectful and appreciative, as has Mario. Bottomline he became a winning coach at Oregon. We became a better program than when he got here, we should both be grateful and are. The problem we may have going forward is the programs we compete against may not be in chaos anymore and they were this season. Washington has hired a head coach, not an assistant. SC also hired one of the best head coaches in the nation. That is the external headwind we have, and it's growing. The temporary internal headwind is the coaching hire. I think, like with Mario, we will make somebody better than they were, not worried. Remember Mario was a very underwhelming hire, another losing coach. The Oregon Duck Football Program is on a trajectory which isn't going to be stalled, just set back. The question everyone is wondering is just how much, who knows. I get the angst, he was easy to like and helped us. It is time to move onward and forward, that is our destiny!

I personally hate teams who are preseason favorites year and year, and then let their programs down year after year. We became the program which won the recruiting battle year after year, and let their program down, lost games they shouldn't have, year after year. I am ok with doing well in recruiting, even really well, but I want to be able to win more than we should. I don't want to be a program which becomes satisfied with winning the recruiting battle, and thinking it will just take time after that, because that is a very long wait. I hope Mario does well, I just don't see it happening to the extent Miami paid him for. They may win the preseason polls, even the recruiting battles, but on the field he will let the program down, sadly.

The crazy thing is the one thing they don't need help with is, what Mario excels at. They had the #11 rated class before he took over. So player development, not going to improve. Winning close games or all the games necessary to get into the playoffs, not going to happen. They will win games, and be as happy as we were. One of the big questions is will Miami have the money to get top assistants to help Mario? He will need the help he got at Oregon and he may not get it, but he did get the $'s. Almost every Allstar who signs onto a team knows to make sure there is more money left to help him win. Did Mario make sure there was more money to help make sure they win? The stadium, oh yea! Like many programs my bet is they starve him until they see if he can win. He then loses and they blame him and look for the next great one, quick fix, crazy.

It is all part of the information loop he provides. This is exactly what we want from everyone (100 percent), and he assures us that is what we are getting from him, actually what Miami is getting from him. It is very reassuring. I am actually amazed the Oregon faithful bought it for so long. This isn't what PK likes or tolerates. 'Just Do It' is the mantra, not 'Just Say It' and that is mainly what we got on what is most critical to our Oregon Football DNA. Again that is who he is and he actually did some great things, and set us up in the end, as long as we keep it going and steer it off this cliff!

Sometimes the answer is obvious to everyone, but the one making the decision. Fortunately the one making that decision is in Miami now. I also can't help but believe it is also partly why Moorhead is coming back to help coach the bowl game. He wants everyone to know he saw it too. I might even tune in. I wasn't going to put myself through another game like the last time the coach left, but I want to know, why and maybe be provided with a little bit of an answer. I hope your son and DanL's wife tune in too and see the downfield pass come alive again for the Ducks!

It is amazing when you talk, really listen to a guy like Mario. He makes you feel like you are on the same exact page. I remember many saying he was the guy who sounded like a head coach, he is a leader! The great thing about people like Cristobal is I actually think, deep down, he wanted to do the things he spoke so highly of. He sold the kids on being the best they could be, catching balls, scoring points, winning games, and he wanted that for everyone. The problem is there is a disconnect between what he said and what he is genetically capable of. A real relationship with what Mario stated as goals is possible. The problem was he wasn't capable of making it happen. The best thing he could have done was step away. He set up these dreams, the direction we need to go and then got out of the way. It is now the job of whoever is filling the job to fill those empty dreams. I think it can happen, because he built it, he just couldn't get it to go. Time to get it to go before those incredibly important pieces leave! I am grateful for what Mario said and did, he just couldn't get it done, and for him leaving we are, again, fortunate. It is now an remarkable opportunity to finish what he started.

I wouldn't call him a huckster, but he is an extremely good salesman. What he sells is relationships, one of the most effective sales approaches. He sold us, first off, on how much he loved Oregon. The relationship was off and running, who does't like somebody who loves where we come from? He then sold us on the idea he loved our ability to score, and he was going to make it better, wow how high did he want us to jump! He was then really good at the relationship with the student athletes, a recruiter. Finally he had that interview with Canzano because he is still all about relationships and making sure he is still loved. There is nothing wrong with this type of sales, it is actually what we all love. The problem was it was a bit disingenuous, yes I said it. I wouldn't call him a huckster, because the relationship is still there. He did build the relationships with us and the athletes. What we have to do is continue the relationship with those student athletes. He sold them on a chance at going to the U of O, scoring lots of points and winning a national title. The powers who are making the decision on the next coach, just have to be in line with what was sold to get this wonderful relationship with these elite athletes. He then needs to continue that so the relationship we thought we had can begin anew and actually happen. It is a dream we believed, now can the next guy actually make it happen and mean it! I don't mean to pick on Mario, this is just the way I see it!

I think he is far better HC at SDSU, just ask Michigan. There comes a time where you begin to understand the lane, place you should be. I feel lucky I found mine early, it took Brady a little longer.

Aranda and Sitake being of a faith which may not be the predominant one on the team is ok with me. I am not an extremely religious person, but I have great respect for those who are. As long as they aren't a zealot, well maybe for the Ducks, but they aren't over the top then believing in something is a good thing. I have no idea about Kiffin's religious background, but he seems to almost be rudderless with his morals. One of the guiding principles of the mormon religion is to ask if they are doing the right thing, the golden rule. I have tremendous admiration for those who ask themselves these kind of questions and may teach that to the student athletes. I would be ok with either hire with this question in mind. I have no idea who would, will be best, but I say we wait, see and get behind them! Great comment on assistants. The staff a coach puts together and the teamwork needed amongst them is probably one of the least understood issues with creating a strong program. We need strong assistants and a functional team working toward one goal, create better student athletes, who win games and at the game of life!

I tend to think all this guessing is just causing indigestion for the masses. The way I am trying to look at it is we weren't that happy, we will end up better in the end, and we have no control. Thinking about this process too much is like analyzing the process of sausage making. I love sausage, and take no time analyzing the process, just want to know a few of the ingredients.

Brady is a great coach and is in the perfect spot. I doubt he would make the same mistake of leaving a place he is successful at, loved and try and climb another mountain, just to chase another shiny object. I mean who does that, except an OSU coach named Riley! And I doubt Oregon would let that happen.

I have always said you are either acting or reacting. Mullens is a reactor, not an actor. It seems quite evident all Mullens was doing was handing the contract offer to Cristobal with no fallback plan. We need an actor, somebody who can lead on this choice, and Mullens isn't that guy. My hope, and I think it is true, is this is too important for Mullens to really be making the decision. He is talking to people, but the choice will be handed to him. It will certainly be vetted by someone other than Mullens, when the time comes. I am comfortable this choice may make some people unhappy, but no choice should make everyone happy. If that happens I will be worried. We will have our next great coach, and the important thing is we will all be happier in the end, Go Ducks.

The Fishduck staff as head coach by committee, we are never wrong! Mariota is still under contract too. I mean we have diagnosed and solved just about every problem the Athletic Department has ever had, right?

Great catch, and well written. Just shows there are plenty of great candidates, it is just many of them are busy. This is the second time in a row we have had our coach leave at such an inopportune time, with recruiting now on the line. Alabama did wait until January to sign Saban, back in the day. Saban signed a $4 million a year contract, highest paid coach pro or college at the time. The tide waited and went big. Interesting side note Joey Harrington almost ruined Alabama's plans. He had a run with the Dophins that season, but was mysteriously benched, and the Dolphins season tanked. Saban got his only losing season and Joey again got the short end of an opportunity in the NFL. Not sure that is exactly how it occurred, but works for me, love Joey! The same scenario would have to play out now, it would seem. There are plenty of rumors, could this be brewing underneath all the 'breaking news?'

Because he has zip to do otherwise. Akron's won 3 games over the past 3 years and there is no bowl game for the zips. Actually I am very grateful for this offer. I like the guy and appreciate what he tried to do. He like AB gave there all, AB put himself at great risk, and Moorhead ended up in the hospital. It will be interesting to see Moorhead run the offense without Cristobal around. The Utah game was a real head scratcher, along with many of the games, and it will be interesting to see what Jo Mo does with the team! Thank you for sticking around and helping these young student athletes who have worked the whole year for this opportunity. It is interesting he seemed to have left before Cristobal and came back after Cristobal left, interesting...... You get it is all about the student athletes, thanks, Go Zips next year, and Go Ducks!

Pretty sure whenever you see BREAKING NEWS it should read BREAKING GAS and take cover!

Neither will their coach, thanks for the set up!

It can't be deemed punitive. Penalties aren't enforced, damages can be. Quantify the damages to the program, not just how much you paid, and you have a buyout worth more than the paper written it on. I hope ours are tied to the damages, and it is water tight, as I don't trust the whatever that Duck looking mascot is. I suppose they first tried to take our mascot, now our coach?