latracey

Outstanding observations Haywarduck, and I think it gets to the heart of what "loyalty" means in 2021. When I was a kid, my dad worked for a company where there was true mutual loyalty. His bosses treated him with personal concern and respect. If he got sick or was struck with personal hardships, they tried to understand and work with him to help him because they truly valued him. In return, he ran through walls for his company. As he got older, his loyalty to his company was appreciated and honored by his employers. Fast forward to 2021. We now live in an age where corporations are all about the mighty dollar. Kim's book store and Bob's coffee shop are probably out of business, or certainly struggling. Lower level employees at the corporate replacement stores are paid as little as their companies can get away with. Tornado heading for the warehouse? Too bad. Keep working. The higher up the ladder you are, the more you are looking over your shoulder because there are always up and coming young folks who want your job. Heaven forbid that you get sick or have to miss work because we live in a "next man up" society now. Loyalty from the top down only goes as far as your latest success and if you can't get the job done, there is someone else who can. For you, it's "see ya, wouldn't want to be ya!" Time invested and loyalty to the company mean next to nothing in this "what have you done for me lately" brave, new world. Football? It's Amazon and Starbucks Football as far as the eye can see. You'd better darn well win and keep the cash flowing because one bad season, and you'll be sitting on a hot seat looking over your shoulder at the latest and newest hot young assistants at an SEC team.

Not so strangely, you Steven A. are CORRECT. I'm so glad he's NOT Oregon's coach.

Strangely, there were a lot of Duck fans clamoring for Mullens to hire Urban Meyer as Oregon's next coach. Can you imagine that? Thankfully, neither Mullens nor Knight could.

I'm not going to lie. I really like Mycah Pittman and I hated to see him go because I know he loves it here. I've been following his video adventures at Oregon for a while now and he won a place in my heart. Although he was hardly targeted at all this season, he has proven over his Oregon career that he is an outstanding receiver. Just as problem child Carrington did when he transferred to Utah, Pittman will prove his worth at his next stop. That all said, I read what Mr. FishDuck wrote and I have to agree with him that Mycah leaving before the season ended could be seen as an immature and selfish thing to do, in spite of the fact that he wanted to red shirt early in the season but was strongly discouraged to do so by Cristobal and B Mac. There was also another meeting that he refused to go into detail about later in the season where I'm sure he was read the riot act ( Think Kris Hutson. My way or the highway, baby !!). As he alluded to in the video, I think his treatment and broken promises by his coaches resulted in some mental issues that also played a role in his decision making process. It's true that he was selfishly looking out for himself and avoiding injury, but it's also true that he had a terrible attitude that snowballed as the frustrations of the season mounted and he didn't want to be a negative influence on his fellow players. We often encourage men and women to tough out relationships that are abusive to the point of resulting in real and lasting damage to the victims. This is not good my friends. "Be tough" or "Be a man" or "Honor your commitment" when someone is dealing with an abusive relationship that is hurting them is neither right, good, nor healthy. We should be singing the praises of people who are brave enough and strong enough to make the decision to walk away from mental and physical abuse. It's not easy in this "take it like a man" society we live in. Mario liked to talk about his "real relationships" with his players, but I think that many of them were as frustrated as Pittman. We know the WR room is a mess, and I'm sure the QB room is as well. Had Cristobal stayed, there would have been a portal exodus unparalleled in the history of Oregon football. It's clear that there were many players who didn't have their heads into either of the games against Utah. Like Mr. FishDuck said, we dodged a bullet with Cristobal because things were going downhill fast. That all said, Dillingham will be Oregon's new Offensive Coordinator and Pittman has developed a very positive relationship with him. I wouldn't be surprised if Pittman is convinced to switch gears and stick it out at Oregon, much like Seven McGee. Has anyone else noticed how young this new staff is turning out to be? Young and hungry. I'm loving it people!

Looks like Kenny Dillingham from Florida State has shown some interest in Mr. Pittman. Guess who Dan Lanning is trying to hire as his Offensive Coordinator? That's right, Kenny Dillingham. Hmmmm.... I'm really excited about the future of Oregon football my friends.

It was edited A LOT. I imagine it was because he said some things either he didn't need to say, or perhaps that he felt he shouldn't say. You can tell he was pretty emotional about the decision. He loves his team mates and the school, he just has to do what he has to do to achieve his dream of playing in the NFL.

You hit the nail on the head. Nothing Pittman said was the least bit surprising. What good is it to recruit some of the best skill position players in the country if you aren't going to develop their talent and use them. I'm so glad Mario is gone.

All I know is that I'm glad to see the RPO offense (just plain run offense considering the limitations of the quarterback) that Oregon ran in 2021 getting smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. The time has come to open things up and to utilize the great amount of talent Oregon decided to squander this season. Now that Mario is gone, I'm interested to see what Moorhead and company do in the bowl game.

In the following Youtube video, Mycah Pittman explains why he decided to transfer. It makes me wonder how many other players felt extremely frustrated with Oregon's offense, as well as being frustrated by being promised something different than what actually happened. It's just one of many reasons I'm glad to see Mario leave, and why I am very excited about what's ahead with Dan Lanning.

The letter was written close to the very beginning of the search for the new coach. It expressed concerns with the last two head coaching hires of people who had no connection with Oregon's football history from people who were intimately involved with that history and who are still passionate supporters of their team. I am also a passionate supporter of my Ducks and I completely understand and sympathize with the sentiments expressed in the letter. I'm sure most of you do too. John Canzano has a job to do and, love him or hate him, he does his job very well. He is a columnist for the Oregonian and a big part of what he does is to shine a prickly light into the dark corners and controversies of sports in Oregon. He is well connected and he digs deep to get his stories. The more he is able to raise controversy, the better he is doing the job he was hired to do. The only bad part about the letter being released, aside from the fact that its authors had no intention of it going public, was the timing of the article which made it seem like an attack on Dan Lanning's hire. The updated comments and posts of the author/authors make it clear that they are all in support of "Lanning Strip's" hire. Anyone who was surprised by the content of the original letter hasn't been paying attention to what people like Joey Harrington and other former player media talking heads have been saying since Helfrich was fired. Most of us can relate to the thoughts and ideas they were expressing. That all said, I don't understand the need some feel to demean or disparage Justin Wilcox. He's a wonderful person and an excellent coach, and I'm honored to count him among my friends. He was interviewed for the Oregon job, looked at it in comparison to what he is doing and building at Cal and, allegedly, decided to pass. If you feel the petty need to criticize him for that, you didn't want him anyway, so what's your problem? Although he is from here and he loves Oregon, he realized that the Oregon HC job wasn't a good fit for him. He should be commended for making a wise decision. Just in case you haven't noticed, it's never been an easy task for Oregon to "kick Cal's ass" since Wilcox has been head coach there, and I don't expect that's going to change any time soon.

I'm with Grandpa Duck. The timing here isn't good, but it is what it is. As many of the past and current players I've heard have said, Oregon, in and of itself, is a pretty special place for many reasons. The Ducks have a pretty solid roster at this point and none of the recruits in waiting are going to make or break the team. Some of the really good recruits will sign on Wednesday, and others will wait until February to see how Lanning's staff shapes up. As Grandpa pointed out, the ocean is vast and filled with big fish in addition to the fact that there is more talent in the transfer portal than ever before. Do as well as you can to add to the flock, but concentrate on keeping the current roster intact. Oregon is going to be just fine.

I'd be surprised if Lanning's starting salary is 6 to 8 million a year. That said, if Wilcox was even actually offered the job, he considered everything involved with the University of Oregon job and realized that he was satisfied where he was.

Canzano has his connections, that much is for certain. From the outside looking in, it's hard to believe that Justin Wilcox would turn the Oregon job down, but we don't know any of the things going on inside of Justin's world. Justin has been at Cal for long enough that he understands the system and expectations there, likes the staff he works with, and loves his players there. He lives in a nice house in a beautiful part of the Bay Area, and is able to lead a fairly low key life at a college where academics are world class and clearly more important to the university than sports. Not everyone dreams about coming home. Some are quite happy and satisfied with the the life they have made for themselves away from home. I think he likes what he has at Cal. I'm also certain that he noticed that a good percentage of the Oregon faithful all over social media were not excited about him coming back to coach the Ducks. Following "The Beast" who put in 90 plus hours a week every day all year would be hard enough without having to deal with disgruntled fans who weren't happy with your hire. Truth be told, I think he hit it out of the park when he interviewed. He's super smart, he knows Oregon football, he is personal friends with Oregon's biggest boosters and legendary former players, and I'm guessing he checked every single box that RM and PK had. It would definitely be a feel good story that they could promote to high heaven to have him come home, but he is a low key, salt of the earth kind of person who isn't a rah-rah, break out the T-shirts kind of person. He realized that life in the fishbowl as the head football in the Eugene wouldn't work for him. As it turned out, I think Lanning will be a much better fit as Oregon's football coach. I'm really excited to see what he brings to Oregon's table.

I've heard and read all about Kiffin in the last couple of days. The man has a train load of baggage. Although he showed interest in the Oregon job, rumor has it that Phil Knight wasn't interested. I've heard that Phil was more hands on with this hire than any before. Quality of character was one of the big boxes that needed to be checked.

I have no idea who Lanning has in mind, but he has quality people in mind that he thinks he can get for OC and he communicated those names to Mullens and Knight. I wouldn't be surprised if Lannning announces his OC and his DC in the next couple of days.

I've read on here that some believe Lanning should forego his chance to coach Georgia in the CFP, but I don't agree. Winning a national championship only adds to this young man's credibility. In addition, the goal in college football today is to make it to the CFP and win. It the the primary objective and the dream of every football coach and staff, and getting a chance to coach in it will only make Lanning better in every way to lead our Ducks back there some day. I'll be rooting for Georgia. Listening to Oregon Twitter Spaces yesterday gave me a finger on the pulse of what the players and recruits think of this hire. The short answer to that is that they are ecstatic. Lanning is enthusiastic, young, hardworking, and by all accounts a great coach. According to Mullens, he has been planning to be an HC for a long time and he has a list of of competent staff members, offensive coordinators most importantly, that he believes he can hire. Mullens and Phil spoke with and interviewed many candidates for the job who covered a wide range of experience and success. Each laid out their plan to maintain or supersede the success Mario, who is perhaps the hardest working man in college football, had at Oregon. Lanning came away heads and shoulders ahead of all of the other people interviewed. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, Mullens and Knight think they hit a grand slam home run. Who we now have at Oregon is not the "Dan Van", it's the "Lanning Strip". Think sleek jet airplane taking off to bring the very best and most talented recruits back to Oregon. I feel like we are heading into some very special days ahead for Oregon football. You know that makes me want to SHOUT!

It's wild who has been popping in and it's very addictive because the people who pop in know their stuff. It also seems to be going 24 hours a day at this point.

The Oregon Twitter Space chat has been nothing short of absolutely fascinating to listen to. Former players, coaches, current players, parents of current players, Lanning's brother, and Oregon fans from across the nation and the world have called in to weigh in. You don't need a Twitter account to listen in. If your interested, you can find it here: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1DXxyDnZbzyJM

About a week ago, some Oregon football fans started an Oregon Twitter Space chat room focusing on the coaching hire. If you haven't listened in, it's been fascinating. Rob Mullens called in and talked about his hire of Dan Lanning. Here's a link to a recording of what he had to say:

By the way, if you guys haven't listened in on Oregon Twitter Spaces, it's absolutely fascinating. They have Oregon players, Oregon players' parents, local media folks, former players all commenting on this coaching hire. It's absolutely fascinating! You don't have to be a member of Twitter to listen. You can find it here: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1DXxyDnZbzyJM

I have to disagree about this being a "lousy hire". I think it was a great hire, and I trust that Rob Mullens and Phil Knight know what Oregon needs to be successful and who is needed to maximize the likelihood of that. I'm told Phil Knight was more personally involved with this hire than with any other coaching hire at Oregon. We are talking about one of the most successful businessmen in the world. If Phil Knight, with all of his experience, can't identify someone with the "IT" factor required to be successful in another human, then no one can. As difficult as it is to fathom, not all of the people who may have been on our dream coach lists may have been available. No amount of money can replace the happiness a lot of today's successful college coaches feel in their current jobs. You can only go after people who are actually available and interested. Mario and his coaches put in more jet miles to recruit than almost any other college in the nation because we don't have a big talent pool in our back yard like they do in Los Angeles or Miami. Coaching at Oregon comes with very high expectations and it's hard work. I'm sure that Mullens and Knight went in with a check list, and I'm sure that the only box Lanning didn't fill was HC experience. Otherwise, the guy knocked their socks off; and I must say, the more I learn about him and hear people who are familiar with him sing his praises, the more my socks are knocked off as well. I'm told when Mario got the head coaching job at Oregon, those in the know called him "The Beast" because he is such a hard worker. I'm told that the same people call Dan Lanning "The Beast 2". I think we are all going to end up really liking this guy.

I think this is a great hire. Lanning is the DC of one of the best defenses in the country. In fact, his Georgia team could be the National Champion this year. He is one of the best recruiters in the country, and for someone like him, Oregon is going to be an easy sell wit the recruits. I don't agree that we will never see another 5 star quarterback again, but the fact of the matter is that we already have one in our stable just waiting for his turn. Defenses are what wins championships, and I haven't seen great defense at Oregon since the days of Nick Allioti. The next key will be getting a blockbuster OC hire. I think this is going to work out really, really well for Oregon. I'm interested to see how many recruits, especially defensive players, jump back on the Oregon bus.

It's the beginning of a new era. Now to get back some of those recruits who opened their commitments back up.

Yup. Canzano just tweeted that it's a DONE DEAL !!! Lanning is Oregon's next coach. Defense wins championships my friends. This is the kind of home run hire I think Mullens and Knight were going for.

What did Dan's brother have to say?