Haywarduck

Anyone reconsider their take on Leach after all the news out on him? I personally am going to miss the guy and the throwback personalities are fewer and fewer. He did have a good heart, just new it took some tough love sometimes, IMHO.

A lemming jumping off a cliff is the perfect symbol for what UCLA is doing. Lemming don't actually often die when they jump into the water to get to where they are going. They only die when the swimming distance is too far. Joining the BIG is going to be too big of a distance for their student athletes to be expected to traverse. The academics will suffer, but what is new in this new age of opportunistic decisions. Chase after the money at all cost. With the ability to transfer and NIL money it seemed like the student athlete was going to come out ahead. With the decisions of the Universities, and their leadership some of the school aren't thinking in the best interest of the student athletes. Maybe their will be a backlash, it will be interesting to see. I wouldn't want to send my child to a university with travel expectations like those laid out.

The game changers on offense last year were the RB and QB transfers. They came along and showed the offense what was possible. Kind of like they saw a wall, ran through it and everyone else followed them. Every team needs guys like that on the field to show what is possible and inspire the play on the field. On defense we had Gonzo, but he more like jumped over the wall and everyone watched him and said no way I can do that. Gonzo's play was inspirational, but nobody followed him. Nobody on defense was like Troy Dye, playing with an incredible football IQ while inspiring everyone around him. Whether it was playing with a broken arm, or just never stopping on a play, no one wanted to let him down. The question I have is of the culture component. Who can we bring in, or will we bring in who can be the Bo Nix, Troy Dye. I just hope we aren't missing that element again next season. I do think that position may be wide open with the players coming back. We definitely didn't have that on defense as the supposed alpha dog barely barked.

One thing is for sure and troubling. We were sold a high scoring aggressive offense under MariØ, and got the prevent offense, which led to his downfall with the Oregon fans. With Lanning we were sold a Havoc defense, and have a prevent defense that is an emasculated version of what we expected. With MarØ we had the vast majority of fans giving him grace and understanding with the most used excuse, he just needs time. Now we have Coach Lanning giving us the bait and switch with his defense with, again, an understanding fanbase, for the most part. I definitely see a culture Lanning inherited which needs to change. Is this what is holding the defense back. It may also be having the right guys, and we can wait and see if that is it. Some ponder if Tosh is the problem, or maybe a position coach? I suppose we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out. For now there is cause for concern, but the jury is still out on just what is happening with the bait and switch we see happening this time.

Went from 75th to 77th, statistically not significant. I think our defense can be best understood by our 2nd highest rated recruit ever, in the history of the program being a no show. Marios guys didn't always play to their potential. Charles had a great article on the Georgia way of breaking down elite recruits. When you get on campus the fun, accolades are over. I am not sure that type of culture was ever built, and that takes time. Seeing Flowe on the bench late into the season, and then transferring out indicates to me, it has begun. Also leads me to believe if Moore falls for the UCLA story, we don't want him anyway. We need grinders, again!

Chip Kelly is 27-28 while at UCLA. While at Oregon he was 46-7. Dante might want to consider where he wants to end up a little better than Chip did. He might also want to consider why Chip didn't have him come down for a regular league game. An empty stadium isn't a pretty site.

Agree not adjusting to almost certain running attack is something to ponder and to be critical of. I keep coming back to the extremely poor passing defense. If we had changed the defense and weakened the passing D, maybe we would be being critical of allowing an extremely poor passing attack able to successfully pass the ball? What if we had lost because we couldn't stop the pass, which was our history. I think it comes down to the real achilles heal of our defense. We had a first round DB, but the backfield was a liability. Why was our pass defense so poor, and what can be done to create a functional passing defense? Was Dorlus over rated, and what can be done to upgrade the defense? He was suppose to be our alpha dog, dominate defender, but was he ever, can he be next year? What are the critical moves, coaching and player upgrades to create a functional defense. Putting first rounders at D-line and LB would be the simple ask, but not probable. What was wrong with our backfield? Did it come down to you are only as good as your weakest link?

From never having played football college football, to his fascination with pirates, he was a true free spirit who had a large impact on a broad audience. The pirate left the world a better place, and had fun while doing it, a life well lived!

I remember when I blew up a supposed expert, self assured smart guy. I remember his response, and his red face afterwards, 'what do you do, stay in your lane!' I had the desired effect, didn't necessarily want the affect, and just walked away knowing I had done the right thing. You have to pick your fights, and expect repercussions.

Love to hear Lannings unfiltered take, but Charles and Dazed is an interesting take too. Thanks for sharing, the thoughts! My take is Lanning is the opposite of MariØ, the micromanager. Lanning lets his coordinators run the show, and is learning when he needs to step in. He didn't step in and put Nix in the game on that 4th down, nor real in some of the questionable trick plays, use of our back-up. He also didn't step in and run the defense as it failed, enough. The question going forward for me is will he take over when needed, and can he make the needed changes to a dysfunctional coaching group. There are some tough choices, and I think just a little tweak to how he runs the program. I personally don't care how good of a recruiter you are if you can't coach, you shouldn't be on the Oregon staff. The development of men into excellent players, teammates, and civic minded individuals is number one, two and three.

The question will be is he MariØ PriME, or can he coach too? If he can coach he still is a guy who will reach the Peter principle sooner than most. Colorado may just be that stop, but he won't stop moving until he reaches his level of incompetence. Deion is a coach just looking to fail. There are very few Morgan Scalley's who reach a spot where they know they are very good and stay there. After 15 years he is one of the best. If history is any guide he should last about 3 years before he moves on. He did this at the high school level and also at Jackson State. Mario and slick are the latest coaches to leave Oregon and reach their PP level.

I don't disagree with the risk you highlight, but I think there are two kinds of transfers. You have the disgruntled player and the player who wants the better stage to show his skills. It isn't easy to shift out who is in each category, but a Gonzo was, pretty much, a no brainer. I think we have to compete hard in the Gonzo category, and be careful about the Nix category. I will say I think we should bring in a senior type, experienced qb transfer until we have somebody step on the field and show they are ready to lead. The qb position is just too critical. Wasting a scholarship because Moore is ready day one is a risk I would take. That transfer would probably take off the next season anyway, and we would have a reliable back-up for the season. You make a great point about the risks I think few of us considered, thanks.

I would think the qb position would create the opposite argument. Both of our back-ups have done nothing for 2-3 years. Our transfer came in, started, and likely will leave after a productive year. Has giving a full scholarship to a 5* and 4* done anything for the program. The 4* took up massive training time 3 years of scholarship and now has transferred. The 5* has been on scholarship for 2 years may hang on for another, with little to show for his time here. He may go on to another program after all our training. The college game is different from the high school game, and there is no position which shows the risks of committing to a high school kid like the qb position. I would think being able to evaluate a year or two of college ball can be incredibly helpful when committing to the time, and effort it takes to develop, and know if a kid has the college game. I do agree coaches should be careful, but if you can see that a player has hit his peak in high school while on another team, why wouldn't you. Stay away from the time and money needed to get a player ready. Use the transfer portal like triple A in baseball. Call up the players who have proven they can play at the lower levels. You don't bring in high school kids, sit them on the bench and then hope they can play. Make players earn their playing time at other schools. Just like in baseball, there are plenty of kids who look amazing in high school. Once they hit triple A it is evident who was faking it, or couldn't hit the curve. It is going to take a lot of effort to figure who can help a program. The transfer portal just gives you even more data to evaluate.

Nix was our Heisman winner, who cares about the pundits! I wouldn't trade him for any of those guys. Should be interesting to see him matched up against #10 in the bowl game. Nix just kept getting better and better.

Decent article, but the title had me,,,,,,, gag just a little. Few can compare to Marcus, on or off the field in the college game, especially the latest spoiled child.

Transfer portal is like going after frogs instead of polliwogs. Seems like there are plenty of players with legs ready to go, instead of just tales of what might be.

I think this will be a big year for the portal for the Ducks. Now that Lanning has had a full year to evaluate who he has, and he knows the type of player he wants, it is time to get his players. We are seeing the extremely talented, but uncoachable leave. I look for more talented players like Gonzo to transfer. Players who want to win and be highlighted while being part of a team. I was impressed by what Lanning was able to do with somebody else's players. I look to be even more impressed with the players he wants along with the culture he is building. I also look for some lower rated kids who have the heart and drive a program needs. I hope the fanbase doesn't balk at Lanning signing some kids who didn't have the 5* next to their name, just a chip on their shoulder like the good old days. More Bucky's fewer let downs.

After reading the many posts it is clear to me Fishduck is like one of the beautiful cabins you see and mostly wonder who owns it, what happens inside and how are they so lucky. What is even more important is how is was built and maintained. Anything that is substantial takes a lot heart, and soul to create, sustain. There are always many stories nobody knows which went into the creation of it. We all have our part, mostly small, and the big driver of this site, I would call it a being, as it has life, and gives life to so many, is Charles Fischer. That being, as everyone can see is more like a child to Charles. It isn't just a beautiful cabin people mess up at times and he has to clean. It is something he cares about more than anyone knows, and probably will ever know. I found that out recently when I had a difference of opinion on an area. I couldn't believe how important the site was to Charles. The care and concern are beyond what 99.9% of the human population could ever give to something. His passion and care is beyond compare. So in the future when you mess up his cabin know it isn't just a cabin, or place you go every once, and a while. It is something very sacred that someone cares deeply about. Take your computer driven medicine, and clean up the mess. We all want the cabin just like it is.

For every Freddy Couples, Allen Iverson, and Frank Robinson there are thousands of Michael Jordans who not only had natural talent, but also the drive to be the best, and worked their tails off to get there. What we see is the end result, but most often there was countless hours of work at their craft, and much failure which drove those players. Some talented players let failure drive them to the bench where they stayed. What would have happened if Jordan had just said basketball wasn't his sport when he didn't make varsity? I suppose the other could be said, what would have happened if Justin Flowe hadn't earned all the accolades and the Butkus Award so early? There are players who are ruined by success, and those who are made by their failures. I think in the past the Oregon program has been made by those who just wouldn't accept failure. Sometimes those guys turned out to become NFL players, other times they just made the team that much stronger. Those are the players I want to see more of, and I think Lanning does too. We want players who lean into to failure, coaching, and difficult situations. My guess, in this picture, is Michael Jordan listened, and tried to do exactly what Dean Smith was telling him. Other players were already too good to listen when this happened.

I know I have been a pain, and felt the pain of doing somethings which were extremely difficult. Doing the tough things isn't as rewarding as you think it will be, as the process goes along. I do know the outcome was always worth it. I remember coming out of those experiences shocked and exhausted. I am not sure how you do it, other than you are a better man than most. If you ever need to step away for a day, week, month, or more I think most will understand and be right back when you come back. I know few are as appreciative as they should be, myself included. Just know we are, and do what you have to do. One guiding light I try to live by is I can't please everyone, just myself, and if I am not pissing off somebody I am not being true to myself. Sorry if that somebody was you too many times. I do know many of the people who pissed me off, I learned from, in time. Others, I learned just weren't worth the time.

Agree, after becoming the coach late, Lanning tried to keep the team together this past season. We are just now seeing what you predicted. Players who don't measure up, aren't willing to work on weaknesses, are headed to the exits. The trick is to now sign the Gonzo's from other teams, not the uncoachables from other programs. This is where the real research needs to happen, and a focus on the star rating given coming out of high school needs to stop. Bucky Irving was a 3*, and our 4* is leaving. It is all about production and heart, not always the measurables, SPARK numbers. We may even end up with another 3* qb instead of the 5* we have been so proud of. Will we be going back to our roots, or just going after tougher highly rated student athletes? I remember watching Brock Purdy, with all his heart, and savvy, slice up our defense, while our qb struggled. Brock was a 3* from the same state as our 4*. My bet is in our distant past we would have gone after Brock. He would have led our Ducks and surprised everyone, but our coaching staff. I look forward to a coaching staff who can again look past the star ratings, and what everyone else says. We did look past what many said about Nix, so maybe we are moving back to just going after the heart, more than measurables. I look forward to whatever is happening. I trust Lanning to know the players he wants are going to measure up on the field. Exciting times, and maybe a return to a better evaluation of players based on the Oregon standard.

Agree integrity matters, also agree something needs to happen to upgrade our backfield. Lake would be a mistake, but it would be a mistake not to do something different in this area.

If we want to be elite, we need to have RB's like the elite. Najee Harris, the best RB in his class, waited two years to start at Alabama. We need to have that kind of competition at the skill positions if we want to compete with these guys. Bring them in and if they want to transfer because they can't compete, next man up.

Lanning hired Tosh and there are other coaches who have had issues. If Lanning hired Lake as the DB coach it would pretty much guarantee great DB's and a shut down backfield. Wins over the dawgs and beavs would be much more likely. Could this happen and what would everyone say?

Lanning met my standard for a freshman coach against seasoned coaches. Lanning beat Whittingham, that is a huge win, and under appreciated. Losing to two coaches who are experienced hurt, but it wasn't like we lost to Jimmy Lake, or some of the clowns the beavs have had coach their program. I also don't think you can just add up stars, and rating of individuals and create expectations. Too many programs do this and lose their focus on what it takes to build a program. Lanning is, now, building his program. It takes years to create a culture where the Seniors and Juniors help with the coaching. It also takes years to get in place the players you want leading the team. You might get lucky and inherit a Justin Herbert, and a Troy Dye, but that doesn't always happen. I think it will be appropriate to talk about standards in year three, and agree 10 wins would be a pretty good floor for any program.