Haywarduck

A good guide, give away the good fortune we have all made. This doesn't have to be money, we all have much to offer. Agree PK has had an amazing impact on so many, far and wide. I mean he use to even give money to the athletic department in Seattle, didn't help there, but not much does.

This has been an advantage Oregon has had, seeing the potential in each athlete. With DAT it was seeing he could be an offensive threat, and being willing to guarantee his a chance at RB. SC saw him as a DB, and had plenty of amazing athletes, no time to see his unique talent. With this, is it Altman seeing a unique talent and thinking about having him for four years? It would also give Altman a talented kid without having to expend a scholarship. I imagine Altman has talked to him, and stated his intent, interest. I hope he gets a shot at TE if he plays football for us. He could easily go two ways and push for the Heisman if he works hard. That is the angle I would push, if you work hard and are successful, we will promote you until the end.

The heat is being turned up on the recruitment. Oregon Basketball offers J.T. Tuimoloau, the Nation's No. 1 Football Prospect by NBC Sports Northwest

I think of Brock Purdy, ISU, qb when I think of somebody with the "it" factor. I could go on, but I enjoyed watching him play and how the game, was a game for him. We have had many qb's like Brock in the past, but we seem to be looking more at the measurables now. I hope Tanner is one of those kids who is magic with the ball in his hands when the whistle blows. I also hope there is a guy on our roster, now, who has this "it" factor. This is a different skill set than being magic when a receiver runs a route during practice.

There isn't a Nike without Hayward Field. PK and Nike went all out to ensure there will be others affected by Track and Field like PK was.

I say these things sometimes to just get people questioning what is going on. The logic of questioning the moves is there. If we have already lost two pro style qb's to the portal, have another who may move down the ladder, why recruit another? I agree he throws a good ball, but we brought in an RPO OC who wants a running qb? One thing is for sure Cristobal can sell, but is it in the best interest of the kid and program. Again asking questions, not saying I know. I definitely don't know, much!

I think Altman is working towards the big award now. The small trophy's have been won, time for the big one! I would imagine he is also proud of his players awards. There is no greater joy than watching your kids win.

I would say the first question is the college game is quicker and the outcome of a hit is much greater if you can't avoid or juke a defender. If you want your qb to run, he better be pretty good at it at the college level. The difference between a Noah Sewell and a Haywarduck tackling you is huge! The second question is one we may need an answer to, if we see more pro style qb's transferring. That question is much like who is calling for the 3rd down runs up the gut? Both may be happening at a rate that it is a legitimate question.

They know Dana Altman, but do the players respect, and listen to the coaches as much as they do the pundits. If the players next game might be against a higher ranked team, they often think about that rather than what the coach says. I agree Dana's peers know what he has done and will do, but they can't get their players to do the same!

Another point is Michael Jordon was cut from his high school basketball team, didn't make the varsity. Those disappointments are what makes a man and a team player. Does a guy make excuses, quit, or does he double down on the effort and proactively listen to the criticism? That is what we need in our starter and our back-up. If a player chooses the transfer portal, good riddance. I actually wonder what is going on with our qb recruiting. It has been said Butterfield isn't the right guy for Moorhead's offense, we then recruit another qb in Butterfield's mold, a pro style qb? A guy who is limited in his ability to make defenses pay for not respecting his ability to run. Cristobal says he wants to do what Oregon has always done, but in a power mode. He then just does the power game without the innovative, dynamic play calling, with limited scoring. Cristobal then hires an RPO OC who wants a running qb and recruits another pro style qb. What is happening, and why is there a disconnect between what we hear, and what we see on the field, and in recruiting? I am not bashing this kid, Bailey or Butterfield. They both seem like great student athletes, and Ducks. I just wonder why we continue to recruit players who don't fit the offense we seem to want to build? Is Cristobal an undisciplined recruiter, proned to go after the shiny object rather than the object one needs? The question has already been raised, repeatedly, is he just a stubborn play caller? Maybe this will be a problem going forward? I mean we have already had two pro style recruits transfer out this season. We now recruit another, with only one pro style qb left on the roster, and that one may be the next to transfer. I don't know the answer, but worth asking, right?

Unranked with little respect, just like the good old days. That is except the Ducks have one of the best coaches and a program with a recent history of doing damage in the tourney. It could be an interesting post season if a few teams look past the Ducks.

Altman understands odds, and also understands compounding interest. He would rather let the interest on his capital grow then gamble. The interest he is earning at Oregon should get him beyond the final four and a national title. Altman is like many savvy investors who have enough capital that they can just let it grown and never dent the principal. Too many programs are like investors who go after momentum stocks, bit coin and other investments which look good in the short term but often end up busts. I would also say Altman is more like Buffet as an investor, gambler. He looks towards companies, players who can sustain their growth and don't need constant management. Buffet, like Altman, buys companies and then lets them produce in a win, win situation. We are fortunate to have much the same situation with the Oregon Basketball Program. There is no gambling, just growth towards what I would bet is an inevitable national title.

Hindsight is 20/20, Helfrich was the smart choice at the time. Why would you upset what was going on? Why he quit, I know this is second hand, but I heard he woke up one day, realized he was coaching the huskies, and questioned the very essence of what he had been doing up to that point in his life.

No, he should ask them if they want to buy one. Send them a signed written quote of their assessment so they can frame them for their offices. Maybe send the guys who supported him free jerseys!

He did it again, well done! Not sure we solved how he does it, but he just keeps it up.

I would say this especially true when you haven't developed an in person relationship with students, players. There is nothing like looking somebody straight in the eye from 3' away to know if something is getting through, what creates meaning. Are the players leaning in, hopefully, or somewhere else, hard to know when you are a zoom away. I feel for teachers, students, coaches and athletes, and look forward to a new day. I have extreme empathy for parents too, as I experienced this first hand. I suppose the role of parent is like the one of fan, where you just wonder what is going on, why, why, why! I also, like you, look forward to the spring game, and beyond!

I think there are questions, but the answer we want is still possible. Moorhead did amazing things at Fordham, at the FCS level. He also killed it at Penn State, but he had Saquon and a very serviceable qb. At Oregon he doesn't have a generational RB, good qb combination. The question is can he develop the offense he wants with the talent he has walked into at Oregon? I think he can, but he needs to have better production at the qb and rb positions. We will see if he develops the qb this season, and gets better production at rb. Maybe he gets rid of the predictable run up the gut? This is really the big question. This season we will see if he can develop a qb. I don't think the verdict will be definitive with a bunch of new qb's, but he needs to show he can lead a qb towards progressive development and adequate production. Seeing Shough struggle raises questions, but, to me, most of those questions were on Shough. If we see another highly rated qb struggle then maybe my observations were wrong. The other question is about the level of football he has been successful at. Is he the next Chip Kelly at Oregon, or just another OC who struggles. Chip came from a lower division and killed it, can Moorhead. I think he can, and showed good enough innovation to convince me he can continue to have success. I look forward to seeing my questions better answered by a full season of practice and installation of Moorhead's offense. I think he can make something out of the qb talent he has at his disposal. He can also get better production out of the RB, with a qb who sees a wide open RB coming out of the backfield. I also think he can out scheme the teams we will be facing. Those issues are still questions, and it will be fun to see the answers develop over the season ahead.

So much is unknown that to predict is just to do what the root dict means, say. All you are doing is saying something, without much behind it. Oregon has talent, but little is proven beyond you need to plan for Thibs. How the rest of the defense will play out, or will the offense start to click, who knows? I know I could predict, but that would be redundant, as my green and yellow glasses see the same thing, always.

"The Pit" will never be duplicated, because it was actually scary. When the scoreboard was swaying and the whole building shaking these seats were epic. I do wonder if a structural engineer would allow a full house in 'The Pit' now?

That can definitely be interpreted that way. What I was saying is he will be serviceable, useful to a team. The question is how does he leverage that usefulness and then how does the team do the same. What I was saying is he is at least at the level of Kellen Clemens who had an 11 year career. I do think he has a huge upside, but that can be limited by the team that has him and the choices they make. I have faith that Marcus will make good choices, just not too sure if the teams will do the same.

As far as impact on recruiting a qb in the future, the guy who wins the job for this season will have largest impact. Mariota and Herbert have already had their impact on recruiting. Kids think about being the next Mariota when he was at Oregon, that is what Tua wanted. If we can't put an effective qb on the field, with all the talent on the sideline, then this will make a larger negative impact on recruiting. Kids want to see people who seem like themselves living their dream. That is what Mariota and Herbert did and we need another doing the same. What we don't want is another Shough muddling through a season and then transferring. Moorhead needs to show he can manage this qb competition and bring aboard a starter and two back-ups. The disfunction in our qb recruiting and management needs to come to an end. The good news is the recruiting seems to have gotten better, now we just need to see the development of some players, small task ahead. As far as Mariota, I think he will land on his feet and become a very serviceable qb. What we saw in the past and last season is only the start of a great career if he gets a good opportunity.

Agree, but I think he is a grandmaster of the game and the players. His ability to bring out the best in each player is uncanny. His ability to see the game is also under appreciated but what he does with the players it is almost like he is a puppet master and a grand master of the game. I also agree with Drake, he deserves to win the NCAA title and so far has been a few injuries away from it. One magical season it will happen, maybe even with some or all of these players we see on the court now.

At first I thought it read pulling a DT from SEC central, another time. I can dream can't I!

Don't forget the RB's of the past. A qb is also helped by the weapon out of the backfield. What we are also seeing is a completely new group of coaches. For four decades we had, arguably, the greatest RB coach in all of college football. Beyond that we had coaching continuity. Right now we are trying to figure out the assistant coaches and what Cristobal is trying to create. What Cristobal has said isn't what we are seeing. I would say what we are seeing isn't what he wants to create. This is Cristobal's offense, and team, it will take a while to see what that actually means.

Interesting takes on what Altman does. I do wonder if he consistently has timeouts left at the end of the game. He doesn't seem like he want to micromanage the players like some coaches. It wouldn't surprise me if the players wanted to go man to man and were able to have that control. Reminds of one aspect I really enjoyed about John Wooden. He let the players play and said the time to coach them was before the game and after. Too many coaches call all the timeouts and are constantly yelling at the players to do exactly what they want. Altman seems to create a group of players bound together as a team. They look to Altman for guidance, but to themselves to win the game. I do think this is different in this day and age. Definitely one thing I didn't like about one of my sons coach's. The micromanagement took away much of the creativity and individuality within the team. The love for the game waned and it killed some of the passion for a few of the players. Altman seems to keep the whole team excited and engaged.