latracey

I read about a couple of guys that did just that. One bet a substantial amount and made a king's ransom.

I must say that I'm extremely impressed with the OC and DC Cristobal ended up with. I'd love to know how he got Kevin Steele away from Maryland after Steele had only just accepted that job a couple of days prior. Josh Gattis is another great get who seems to fit Cristobal's need for someone skilled with Xs and Os and also a great recruiter. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

On one hand, it's a real head scratcher as to why Mario wouldn't have immediately prioritized the hiring of his coaches the minute he got to Miami. That makes the most logistical sense and seems to be the way new head coaches roll. It's what competent head coaches do and it is certainly what Dan Lanning did. You paint your vision of the future with the coaches you hire to help you to make that vision a reality. On the other hand, we are talking about the Mario Cristobal we have grown to know; a lot of hot air and coach speak with little to back it up. In that respect, much of what we are seeing isn't surprising. It begs the question about his competency to even be a head coach. He fell into a great situation at Oregon where the table was pretty much set for him from the get go. His top down, Navy Seal, management style was probably not a lot of fun for his assistants evidenced by their jumping at the chance to escape. This gets more and more interesting as time races by. The longer he waits to make the critical assistant coaching hires, the more difficult it is going to get. Have I mentioned how thankful I am that Miami swooped in to take Cristobal far, far away from our beloved Duck football program?

If you are part of the Miami faithful, you've got to be concerned at this point that Cristobal hasn't managed to secure an OC or a DC after a month trying. None of us who have watched Mario operate at Oregon are surprised. Letting Ken Dorsey slip through his fingers is an omen for things to come. Recruits aren't going to do you much good if you don't have the necessary coaches in place to coach them, on top of the fact that valuable time spent aligning an overall strategy is slipping away. This is looking more and more like the sequel to "Willie takes his dream job at FSU". Whether Cristobal manages to be successful or not, he will still ride off in the sunset a multimillionaire, but I don't see how this ends well for the University of Miami football program. That said, I'm thankful they rid us of Cristobal and that the stars aligned enabling us to secure Dan Lanning. You know it makes me want to shout!

I like all of the changes except for one. It seems the default font size is now smaller which makes the comments more difficult to read. My vote is for a slightly larger font size. Otherwise, this remains the best forum on the planet.

Herbert is phenomenal. The final drive that ended with a TD strike with no time left in regulation was one of the most amazing series of plays of the year. The time out by Staley at the end was understandable, but going for it on 4th down from deep in your own territory is unforgivable; especially in such a big game. Taking 3 points in the red zone on 4th and short, and punting the ball on 4th when deep in your own territory would have changed this season. I truly hope Staley has learned his lesson about analytics vs game reality. My question is about the pass interference call at the end of the first half. How in the world is that not a horrible call? The pass in question was being thrown away by Carr and was not even close to being catchable.

These grades are ridiculous because it's almost impossible to predict how any of these coaches will do in their new jobs. Lanning is graded down because he is young and unproven as a head coach. Lanning is a coach on a team that has a chance to be a national champion, which is something none of the A graded coaches can say. To accurately grade these guys, a key data point would be to include the quality of assistants each coach has hired which it doesn't appear has been done. I really like what Lanning has done on that front. Only time will tell us which of these hires was good and which ones were not. Perhaps Mario is an A hire and Lanning is a B. I guess we will find out. One thing I do know, however, I'm a lot more excited about next season than I would have been if Mario were still head coach.

And they missed the expired play clock by Alabama and the face mask tackle by Cincy. Ahhhh... but the night is young.

Pac 12 officiating crew. Stay tuned for some thrills and chills on that front.

Cincy's offense is pretty good. The game will come down to whether or not their defense can stop Bama.

As David so astutely points out in the article, "A good kick is a win and a missed kick is a loss, and the kicker has no control over where the ball will be located in terms of range or between the hashes. They just need to go out and kick the ball and score." One of the things that frustrated me the most about Mario and other Oregon football coaches is the refusal to offer scholarships to the kickers they recruited. Kickers are perhaps the second most valuable players on a team and having a great kicker is extremely valuable to a team's overall success. Being able to kick deep into the opposing team's end zone on kick offs saves field position and eliminates the possibility of the other team scoring a touch down on the kick off. Being able to be almost automatic from 40 yards out or closer results in victories more often than not. Recruiting 5 star kickers and punters, and offering them scholarships, should be a top priority every season.

As I become more familiar with the rules over time, I find it easy to abide by them. There are plenty of forums where almost anything goes which is why I find myself not even bothering with most of them anymore. I really appreciate coming here where intelligence, kindness, and respect rule the day. There really is no better forum available to fans passionate about Duck sports in my humble opinion. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my fellow Duck fans far and wide. We have many blessings and much gratitude to celebrate.

Ah Machiavelli. Now THERE was a man who understood how the world truly works.

This is going to be a fun pissing war to watch from the sidelines.

As you say, Haywarduck, the bureaucracy and litany of rules in USA and international track is ridiculous. It's a long history where much of what they do takes advantage of athletes as opposed to helping them. The list of banned substances is extensive and include things that everyone agrees are NOT performance enhancing. That said, elite track and field athletes and their coaches are well aware of what is on the list. In spite of what some athletes have said, it's hard to inadvertently and accidentally consume a banned substance. That said, the name of the game is to find a competitive edge and there are individuals around the world searching for ways to administer steroids and other performance enhancing drugs that don't show up under what have become rigorous testing protocols. The movie Icarus is a fascinating look at Russia's long and sordid doping process. When it comes to Alberto, it's hard to know what is going on. Everyone in professional track and field is looking for ways to find a competitive edge, and Nike wants to be on the cutting edge of all of that. Alberto has certainly experimented with alternative training techniques and substances. He has also rubbed some of his athletes the wrong way and, fairly or not, they are going after him. The fly in the ointment for those trying to prosecute him is that there has never been any real evidence beyond hearsay that he actually broke any rules. Alberto is most definitely a legend in track and field. Unless there is tangible evidence that he has done something wrong, the fair thing to do would be to drop the charges. Regardless of Nike's backing, however, that probably isn't going to happen. The sad part is that we will most likely never know the details because of the cloak and dagger nature of the International Track Federation.

Why can't McClendon just tell the truth? The truth will be revealed soon after the Alamo Bowl is played. Integrity matters.

It's going to be really interesting to see what The Gator Bowl decides to do. I can't imagine they will easily find another opponent wiling to prepare for a game that is only a week away. The game is scheduled to be on December 31.

Yeah. Joe Moorhead is definitely older than 48. I believe I read in a previous article that he is in his mid to late 50s. I also agree with Mr. FishDuck that his move to Akron was an escape. I think he would have taken that job regardless of what Mario decided to do regarding Miami. The only reason he would stay is if he could have gotten the HC job at Oregon, and I think he realized that wasn't going to happen.

I think the fact that Nix knows Dillingham's system is a big plus, although the other quarterbacks in the room who have been patiently waiting their turn may not not agree. It's also a good sign that the Auburn faithful are hating to see Nix go. I'm really liking this new coaching staff. Have I mentioned that I'm really excited about the future of the the team we all love so much.

Another thing about Nix is that Dillingham coached him in 2019 so he is probably going to be familiar with the offense that Dillingham will want to run. Nix can hit the ground running.

There were pictures of Pittman and Dillingham together after Pittman hit the transfer portal, but before Dillingham was hired as Oregon's OC. I was wondering if Pittman would return when I heard that Dillingham was Oregon's new OC. I'm wondering about adding Nix to the fold. Dillingham is certainly familiar with Nix since he coached him in 2019. Statistically, he doesn't look a whole lot better than AB. I guess the new coaches want to make sure that have experience at the QB position.

It's a shame to be losing McClendon, although it was hard to evaluate how good a coach he was given the fact that our wide receivers were so rarely used in Cristobal's offense. We do know that the players love him and many have said that they wished he would have gotten a look see for the head coaching job. We will see if that would have made any sense at all in the upcoming bowl game. I understand McClendon wanting to get back closer to his home and his roots, but I also find his decision to follow Mario somewhat curious. A lot of what I've been hearing from my friends with behind the scenes knowledge is that Mario was a bit of a bully at times with both staff and players. I'm sure McClendon experienced that as a wide receivers' coach who most directly worked with disgruntled players who were told one thing and handed another. If we can assume that Mario is the person and the coach he showed us that he is, I don't see smooth sailing ahead for him at Miami where a hurricane is already brewing behind the scenes. What I do see are a lot of parallels with Mario and the man who brought him to Oregon. I'm interested to see how things work out for McClendon in his future at Miami, and I wish him well.

Great article Charles! While I yearn to see the young quarterback talent show their stuff in The Alamo Bowl, it will be a national showcase where Moorhead's reputation will be on the line. Short of Brown getting injured, there is no way a freshmen QB plays in this game. As you astutely pointed out, this isn't going to be a "practice game". That said, however, even though Brown's skillset is limited, he has shown that he excels in certain areas. Now that Cristobal's wraps are off, I'm interested to see what Moorhead can do to more fully utilize the things Brown can facilitate with his highly talented cast of fellow players at the skill positions.

While Cristobal left A LOT to be desired as an actual coach, he is a master at schmoozing recruits and their parents. He knows how to work a living room demonstrated by the fact that was recently able to turn a highly ranked Alabama commit to sign with Miami instead. That said, Lanning and his staff know that the proof is in the pudding as far as Cristobal's record goes in the area of player development. There are already rumblings from underpaid professors and staff at Miami regarding the exorbitant amount of money being spent on the football program which is going to put even more pressure on Mario to produce immediately. There could even be an NCAA investigation coming up for recent Miami sins which is not a good look. I like Nike supported Lanning's chances in the future going head to head with Mario. We will lose out to Mario and others this year as Lanning has to first focus on building his staff and getting his program revved up (I sure hated losing T Mac to Arizona), but Lanning is putting together a staff that will truly be a force to reckon with on the future recruiting front.

This is like a home remodel (which I just happen to be doing right now) where we get to tear off the veneer and look behind the walls to see what was going on in the bones of Mario's program. He certainly talked a good game, but he and his coaches left a lot to be desired. Lanning has a little black book where he's been collecting names of talented people he's worked with throughout his career. It's clear from the hires he's made so far, and Malchow has me as excited as anyone he's hired, that he is a good judge of talent and a very sharp guy. He really has been visualizing what he knew would be his head coaching opportunity and the components he would need to make it a success. As Mr. FishDuck and others on here have said, however the hiring process might have gone to eventually arrive at getting Lanning, getting him was a wonderful way to start the holiday season for passionate Duck fans everywhere. I think we are going to love our shiny new football program when the remodel is finished.