DCDuckfan

This team reminds me of the 2004 team that lost all confidence and couldn't beat a mediocre high school team by the end of the season.

This is gonna be worse than the Utah games.

I couldn't agree more with this statement...specifically the part about treating folks with respect versus how people are treating each other behind the veil of anonymity elsewhere on the internets...for me that is the key. Almost nobody would conversate with someone face to face the way that is accepted on almost every online forum aside from OBD because it would escalate instantly into something uncivilized. I appreciate the conversations on here because folks disagree, but its never personal. With that comes more intelligent conversation versus every thread devolving into a name calling "mic drop" burn competition that nobody ever wins.

Unfortunately Baylor wins by triple the spread.

Cal has no expectations to do anything in football so Wilcox can just coast and underachieve. He's basically a lazy HC that has no ambition to better his situation or his team. Bullet dodged!

B+ That grade is based on the risk involved due to lack of head coach experience. An A for me would have been someone that's already coaching a high level program and killing it (i.e. Riley for USC). That said, I have a feeling within 2 years I will be changing my grade to A+. When CK was hired, I had the same feeling that I have now....that he was going to change Oregon football and get the Ducks to the next level. When MC and Helfrich were hired I didn't get that feeling at all. Both Helfrich and MC felt like lazy hires. Specifically with MC, I never felt like he was really ever a Duck. I found myself wondering if Bama fans feel that way about Saban but that is just the way it is when you get a coach that runs the team like a corporation and doesn't really embrace the community/fanbase. If they win natty's every other year then its easy to look past...when you get embarrassed by Utah week after week, not so much. With Taggart I think he would have been good if he stuck around because he had a good staff and the Ducks would have continued to have a prolific offense . Once he left, that left us with MC who continued to recruit great players but couldn't coach X's and O's...or at least get the heck out of the way of the coaches that could.

Oregon isn't being built from the ground up...its essentially the same situation that you stated regarding Riley when he took over OU. Oregon is already on the cusp of playing for a natty....the only missing pieces were a QB that wasn't probably the worst in the nation, and a HC that could maximize the talent they amassed. I think the QB to reach the natty has been sitting on the bench all season and I think Dan Lanning could be the guy that can maximize the talent on the roster. If so, we will be in the playoffs in short order.

Since we are just throwing out names we would have liked to see hired instead, I've got a few: Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, Mike Kryzewski, Urban Meyer, Dabo Sweeney, Phil Jackson, Luke Fickel, Lincoln Riley....this hire sucks though because we didn't even try to land any of them. The fact I had to come up with some obviously fake candidates tell you something. There aren't many options out there that are a clear step up that aren't already at top tier programs. So do you hire an Oregon alum that clearly can't coach at an elite level, hire a coordinator that has huge upside, or hire a retread. I like the route Oregon is taking here.

This is a great hire. I expect many of the kids that decided they would wait to commit will follow through on their plans to go to Oregon. I'm excited to see who the OC hire will be because if they get that right....this team is 2 years away from the playoffs.

Some of these posts are getting ridiculous....I fully expect to see someone post any minute that Bill Belichick is about to be announced as the next HC.

Dabo is going to Alabama the second Saban retires. Until then, he's staying in Clemson.

I'm genuinely confused by the folks that hate the idea of CK being the coach because they don't think he can recruit or be an effective coach. Yet many of the same people are hopeful that Wilcox gets the gig. In case you forgot, one guy was a field goal away from winning a NC, the other coached his defense to take Oregon's QB out of the game. I personally could not care less that Wilcox played at Oregon. He's been below average as a recruiter and coach so what makes anyone believe it wouldn't be more of the same if he's at Oregon. It seems like folks want a Hallmark movie ending where all former Oregon players come back "home" for Christmas and coach the Ducks....then we all live happily ever after. I guess if being excited to qualify for a bowl game every 3rd year is "happily ever after" then go nuts.

If Oregon can land Chip, Aranda, or O'Brien, I think any one of them gets Oregon in the playoffs in 2 years. If it wasn't for opening against UGA next season with a brand new QB followed by BYU two weeks later, I'd say they could do it next year. That said, Oregon could be very scary at the end of the season and a team nobody would want to play with the roster coming back and better game planning and game day coaching.

Wilcox would be a disaster...he's 25-28 at Cal. If Oregon hires him, that's a wrap for competing for a NC any time in the near future. Oregon would basically by signaling that its no longer trying to compete at that level and is content being a team with a cute mascot and a lot of gumption in the PNW. Just because someone grew up in the area doesn't mean they have any ability to move Oregon football forward. I have never understood this notion that the ultimate dream is to return to where you grew up as the ultimate accomplishment. I realize life is complicated and everyone has their own story, goals and ambitions but to me that would be a total failure. All that said, I am 100% onboard with MC returning home because if Oregon gets the right coach with the roster they have (MC is not the right coach), they will roll the Pac-12 the next couple years and could win a natty.

I think Riley going to USC is a good thing for the Pac-12 and for Oregon. Oregon under MC has been able to out recruit everyone in the conference which has allowed MC to just lean on the athlete advantages he has on the field to compensate for average or below coaching. That officially ends today....he and his staff will be tested on the recruiting trail starting now. If they don't evolve, they will also get exposed in embarrassing fashion on the field in the coaching department. Oregon has a head start on USC regarding recruits, but if MC and his staff don't evolve immediately, USC will take over the conference for the foreseeable future. I fully expect MC to evolve and join the rest of the college football world with an offense that is creative and aggressive....designed to exploit weaknesses of the opponent and not just line up and run over them because we have better athletes...that's not going to be good enough anymore.

I agree that Utah isn't better than Oregon at every position, in fact, I'd say Oregon is probably better than Utah at almost every position except QB and RB. But Oregon has only beaten the titans known as Stony Brook, WSU, Arizona and Colorado by 10 points this year so I'm not buying that. This team doesn't seem to have the ability to close teams out for the most part....not sure why but every game except the Utah game was decided in the 4th quarter.

Great post....I agree with most of what you said but would offer something to consider. What if MCs loyalty is going too far to where he's losing the team commitment by players on the team. I posted earlier that I believe that the #1 WRs all asked to leave the team this week because as a group they felt that continuing to play in this offense, with this QB could only negatively impact their ability to get through the season healthy and have a shot to play in the NFL . I also noticed toward the end of the game last night, that Devon Williams and AB had to be separated coming off the field (I think it was after the 4th down pass through the end-zone). Lastly, KT seemed like he was emotionless and just going through the motions for much of the game when he was waiting to line up, or on the sidelines. My point is this, I agree that those qualities that you stated AB seems to posses are very important as is the loyalty MC is showing AB...so long as it isn't to the detriment to the rest of the team. It feels to me that we may have reached that point where the rest of the team feels that team success as well as individual player success over the long term is not carrying enough weight in the coaching staffs decision making. If so, the stubbornness of the MC could be a creating a long-term problem from an organizational standpoint, not just in the context of game time adjustments. Is he underestimating the unintended consequences and their impacts regarding the things you mentioned and now they are manifesting in players no longer playing for the team and their teammates. Just a thought...

I get the sense that all of the starting WR's quit the team this last week. Not because they're upset or mad about the coaches or ABs inability to effectively execute the passing offense, but because they felt like they were risking injury that could impact their future ability to earn money. Pittman has eligibility left so my guess is he entered the transfer portal so he could stop playing immediately. He's already had injury issues so what was to be gained by playing with a QB that can't get you the ball consistently to where you can showcase your abilities. At this point, it's just better to leave and look for a team that can use your talents which will hopefully improve your chances to get drafted after next season. For Redd and JJ, both are seniors and can't enter the transfer portal so for them, stepping down so they can start preparing for the draft now and not risk injury makes sense as well. I would guess this was a meeting with the coaches and they all agreed to state injuries for Redd and JJ so they can heal whatever lingering injuries they surely have from practicing and playing for 3 months. For Pittman, the same...let him heal up and get his name out there so he can find a new home for next season. As a Duck fan I would love to see them all keep playing and see where this team would finish, but I completely understand and don't have any issue with them looking out for what is best for themselves. They have devoted their entire lives to the game of football and playing for Oregon is a big deal, but it also is just another step to their ultimate goal of playing in the NFL. In my opinion I think all 3 made a decision based on what was best for them personally to manage risk so they can achieve their goals. They need to prioritize beyond wins/losses and fan hopes/dreams to make sure they maximize their ability to achieve financial security for themselves and their families down the road.

Definitely agree that it's time to let TT start. Now is the perfect time with a bye week and Cal coming to town....will give him 3 weeks before having to deal with the hyper-aggressive blitzing UCLA defense.

I agree with your comment mostly. My contention is with the statement that MC has things moving in a direction that you will be happy to watch. Obviously you are speaking for yourself, but for me I feel like we are as far as we can get with MC as the coach. I have hoped and been optimistic that at some point the light would come on and he would grow past these types of games being the norm where they aren't decided until the last possession. Maybe I/we were spoiled with CK because it seemed we had one or two close conference games per year and a bunch of blowouts. Now it seems we have one blowout per year and 11 or so close games with multiple losses.

I think I agree with almost every post so far and the assessments made. There are so many red flags that MC just isn't the guy and they have been showing up for the last 3 years. I feel like Oregon is where USC was until 2 weeks ago....a coach that is doing just good enough to warrant one more year but perpetually coaches the team well below their potential. Oregon wins games in spite of the coaching, not because of the coaching (OSU game is the lone exception). As much as I loved watching them beat OSU for the first time ever and seeing Oregon get ranked #3, I knew deep down this team wasn't even close to being the 3rd best team in the country. This team is nowhere near as dangerous as the teams under CK when Oregon was on the verge of natty's year after year. Unfortunately I don't think they can ever achieve dominance like we saw with Oregon back in the CK days with this head coach. If CK had this roster, this team would look a lot like Georgia....