Haywarduck

All I can say is that the Covid-19 pandemic has raised the vaccination issue to a whole new level. I side with the fact that it is your right to not get vaccinated, but it is not your right to have all the freedoms a civil society has. Societies have norms and if one of those norms is to be vaccinated to enter Autzen, so be it. Have a well thought out opinion, disagree, agree to disagree, but be part of civil discourse and root for the Ducks. I will also state, Charles, you are pushing expectations by inviting discussion on this topic.

The qb makes all the difference. I mean the qb position is cumulative, in a way no other position effects the team. It can be a multiplier and the team can be much greater than it's parts. The qb position can also be more than merely negative from a mistake or turnover. When a qb doesn't have confidence the team is no longer a team, just a divided group of individuals trying to do their individual best. This is where our team was at the end of the year. We didn't have strong leadership on the field and the mistakes were multiplied by a lack of confidence at the position. So yes Ty Thompson, or somebody else can save Oregon Football by providing strong leadership and skill at the position we didn't see this season develop. I say develop because we may again see mistakes, but how does the qb react, will be the question? We need a qb who inspires, while doing all the little things a qb needs to do. Who that will be is the most exciting question of the coming preseason.

Knowing how to recruit highly touted talent is important. Boise State has always been very good at identifying and developing under appreciated kids. He better not take his eye off what has made BSU successful up to this point. I too wish him well going forward, except for those games against our Ducks!

I think it is great when one of our coaches is up for a move up the food chain. The last thing we want, a bunch of coaches nobody is interested in, and the reason why. Cristobal's job is to put coaches and players in position to succeed. When a program has success putting kids in the NFL, elite talent often follows. When coaches have success meeting their goals, talent follow also. For us fans it all leads to wins on the field and success in the big bowl games!

Love Alliotti, but he isn't the right coach going forward. It is interesting that he is still in the game after retiring from the Oregon staff. Hire somebody from within, if Cristobal thinks they can elevate the program. If not hire somebody who will create synergy and get JTT to commit, pretty simple.

Agree, the job isn't like taking over the Duck defense after Helfrich's tenure. The right choice should have no problem making this group one of the best in the country. I am grateful for what Avalos gave to the program, but the candidates should be making calls, not just taking calls for this job. I can actually imagine the next DC being a guy who actually calls Cristobal and inquires about the job. This would prove his recruiting chops and show just motivated he was to coach at Oregon.

In our scheme and many college programs, TE's mostly block. If you watch the pro game the OC's use them as receivers more often. I will never understand why we don't follow the pro game and get the ball to the TE, one of my pet peeves. Oregon use to think outside the box, maybe we will again and start using our bruisers for more than blocking. Let the TE give some bruises while running with the ball, Mario's dream, right? I still remember watching Dante Rosario and the matchup nightmares he caused, but we rarely got him the ball.

Oregon has a new preferred walk-on with legit, 4.33 40, speed. I love a walk-on, because they come in with something to prove. I also love the little guy with speed, because nobody can stay with the guy. Having big, tall and fast TE is a great threat, but little quick guys are deadly.

Chip Kelly took over a program that was a fine tuned machine and won big with an innovative offense. He has struggled elsewhere as he isn't taking over the support structure he had at Oregon. This support structure was destroyed by Helfrich and then slick with his 'do something' mentality. There are two types of programs one with a solid structure in place to put all the pieces together, and the other is a program with that developing. Too often programs don't recognize the time it takes to develop the structure. Oregon has always been a program which has more patience for this to happen than other programs. Think back to the Brooks era where Oregon stood by as Brooks built a program, and OSU went from one coach to the next. I think what Leavitt did when he came to Oregon was amazing. He turned around a defense that was the worst, but there have been burps along the way. Our offensive coaching staff has been a completely new set of coaches who don't seem to meld together well. Hopefully we will see Moorhead take more control of the recruiting, development and play calling and we will see more of what Leavitt did with our defense. In the end Cristobal is much like Brooks, a very good person, leader of men, and a coach who is getting better and better. We may not be as easy as a group to appease as we were in the 80's, but I think we all know we don't want to be the OSU programs of the 80's, and push for winning by creating a revolving door. I think Cristobal will work it out and the coaching system will blend over this year and the next. It takes time to create what Brooks and Bellotti developed. We were basically starting over after many years of success.

That is how you become an NFL talent, hard work. I hope we are seeing they type of leadership this Oregon Football Program will be getting in the coming year, love this young man!

Believe me when I say I want speed and love the tempo game, long for the old days. The problem is Cristobal isn't a speed guy, doesn't long for making the Oregon Football Program look like CK's or Helfrich's. I actually thing this may be the issue, he wants the Oregon Football Program to be his and his only. What I am trying to ponder is what could become acceptable to Cristobal and the tough, win it in the trenches mentality. Too often I see people trying to convince others how they are wrong. What ends up happening is both parties are disappointed. What I have had success with is asking the question how is what your trying to do working out? That is a great idea, but if this isn't working how can you apply the same goal in a different way? This is what I see with Cristobal, he wants power football, but it doesn't work with little RB's. Maybe when we recruit an Earl Campbell or a Derrick Henry we can play the pound it game he so loves. For now we need to put our TE's to better use when he wants to pound it. Unfortunately Moorhead didn't bring Saquon Barkley, until the next one comes around time to use our multitude of amazing TE's. There is no position with so many guys doing so little, IMHO. Unless he wants to unleash Noah as an RB or sell JTT he could become our bruising fullback?

No comparison needed with Marcus. I hope Marcus exceeds what he has done so far, but they are, were in different situations. The future looks bright for Justin and I hope his flame continues to burn bright. A Eugene native, Oregon alumni and another amazing representative of what Oregon football is all about. I just hope the legacy of Marcus and Justin keep the qb talent rolling into Oregon. Who is going to be the next great qb at Oregon!

We don't have the explosive WR's like we had in the past. I would love to see track speed on our team, but it isn't there. Right now there is an opportunity to punish other teams like Cristobal wants, in a more functional way. I would argue Oregon has always underused our TE's. We have had some amazing talent at TE, but it was never used like it is in the NFL. Cristobal needs to do something different, use the TE's! In the coming years get track speed back. I would love to see the fear in the eyes of opponents DAT brought. Let's make that a priority, but until then let's get on with the Cristobal Crush.

I think he also saw what works, as far as smash mouth football, with Iowa State using their TE's as weapons. If Cristobal wants to be tougher than opponents at least give our players a chance. Sending small RB's into the line of scrimmage doesn't prove anything other than your stubborn and uncreative. Send the TE's out and let them punish somebody their own size. Oregon isn't just speed, it is innovation. It is time to be innovative again, not just with uniforms. A TE centric offense is what worked for the Patriots for a long time. If you want to change Oregon football change it in a way that is functional.

When over 50% of college football players think they are going pro and only 2% actually make it, the transfer portal becomes an active option. I hope they all realize that 100% of them need an education and will need to work the rest of their lives. They will even have to work if they make it pro. I wish them all well and hope they realize the benefit they have in the Jaqua Center, probably the greatest academic center in the nation. I could see some LB's transferring, some of the young bucks are going to be making noise.

I would say the surprise standout was Tyler Shough. He passed the ball well and unexpectedly ran the ball extremely well the first few games. But like a baseball player with a flaw at the plate, the pitchers figured him out, and his presence at the plate deteriorated. Tyler showed some true talent early on. His problem was he just couldn't make all the throws. Once the defenses saw this, they new he couldn't get the ball over the defense, nor see all the defenders and expected the run. This then turned his season from hopeful to doubtful. I hope we are surprised next season as he addresses those weaknesses and comes back strong. The real surprise standout was Katleman, great story! My favorite surprise was Dollars. Sean seems to have the shiftiness of Dye and the strength of Verdell. He was fun to watch this season, along with the ball sailing through the uprights!

It is great that Oregon fans can ponder all the amazing candidates for Avalos DC position, but I think it is best to give the exact quote from Mark Twain in response to the article. He said: ‘I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead. James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration. ’ Maybe, but not yet,

Number 1, 2 and 3 is you have to have a qb who can make it all work. Moorhead had Trace McSorley when he was at Penn State, along with Saquon Barkley. It is time for Oregon to find their QB and RB. I think we will along with a few more weapons.

A years work into developing Oregon's defense is going to yield something truly special. A years work in Boise, maybe not so much. If I was Avalos I wouldn't go anywhere, but I enjoy green and yellow more than blue turf, just me. I do love Avalos, he is a class act, and wish him well with whatever he chooses!

And come spring we will all be excited about spring ball, anyone know which freshman will be available to practice. Herbert won the staring job and missed spring practice, but it would be nice to see Thompson start the competition early. My concern with the football program are still there, but it is time to move on. I truly think we are one player away from being extremely competitive once again.

I would say the Ducks had too many questions before the Fiesta Bowl, and those questions continue. The first question is who is going to lead this team. This question goes deep, as the leadership question isn't just behind center. The qb posiition will figure itself out. With an offseason and talent coming in, the cream will rise to the top. We will have a qb who knows the offense, can lead and will develop into a great qb. It was obvious we didn't have a qb who truly won out the qb competition. We then had a loss in confidence that fed off itself. From what I saw we also don't have a qb who can throw the long ball, nor get the ball over a defense. This is why we saw so many curls. The last interception, as the broadcaster stated, was going to hit the LB in the head if he hadn't caught it. That has to stop, get the ball I think the problem with the defense is we need both leadership and everyone to be on the same page. As Ryan stated there may be leadership on the field, but it isn' t getting the defense to jell. I am not too worried about this one as the talent level is so high, the defense will continue to grow. Even without Avalos we will see a defense that can help win games. The real question on leadership is game day decision making with Cristobal. Can Mario give the ball up on game day? What we saw in the Fiesta bowl wasn't an offense that had evolved. The offense was way too predictable. The other question is can Cristobal make a special teams move? Two onside kicks were successful against us, we looked like the keystone cops out there at times. We also aren't a threat with out special teams like we have been in the past. This needs to be solved in the offseason. Not too much, but some critical questions need to be answered, or figured out. For now we have an amazing basketball program, Go Ducks!

I think the coaching staff was trying to see if they had one qb who could lead the offense. Right now we don't have a true leader at the qb position. Since Marcus we lucked into Herbert, but haven't had much luck since our Heisman developing, or recruiting the next great one. Maybe he was on the bench or is headed to Eugene this spring, but the next great qb didn't show up today. There is hope, and that will have the biggest impact on the season, at least the biggest thing we can change.

By the way, we lost 42-17.

Can Shough turn it around, not against a guy he was 0-4 against. This is another telling sign of the recent Oregon recruiting failures. We haven't picked the right guys. Whether it has been the RB's or QB's, we go after the rating services star ratings, rather than ratings and intangibles. Same thing has been happening with our kickers. We are getting talent, but not the intangibles at key positions on offense. Go back to Tua, where we again didn't see a guy with the 'it' and a drive to bring 'it' to Oregon. We should have fought for that guy! It is time to adjust our recruiting to better reflect, the it, we are looking for to lead our team. I remember a buddy talked about how he would test people, put them in tough situations just to see how they performed. To me this was brilliant, don't just look at how they win, hit the perfect play, at the perfect time. Look at how each recruit reacts when things go wrong. We want guys who never give up, problem solve, bring guys together and make them better. I think that was one of the strengths of the Oregon Program under Brooks, Bellotti and even CK. That trait has trailed off, time to go after that again. My season ending observation, and again, I know I am not completely correct, but that is the feeling I get.

Congrats to Iowa State that was fun to watch a well coached team with a very good qb. They are also the type of team I like to watch be successful. They are a lot like the Ducks and show the future can be bright. They have the same very good coaching staff with a group of players who have been together longer. Now we can be frustrated we didn't pick Purdy as our qb, but that is not how Oregon rolls anymore. We pick the elite talent and sometimes get the elite play. Next season we may get that elite talent with our 5* recruit coming in. We no longer look to the diamond in the rough. I don't think we even signed one guy who wasn't lauded by the recruiting services. We either have the elite guy who makes it big at the college level, or just a guy who has some very good measurables. Believe me I was frustrated, because I still love an underdog. Unfortunately we still lose to underdogs and we aren't an underdog anymore. Also we lost 4-0, that was what mattered and the final score was 42-17, not 34-17