Kurt Rambis

I'm not sure how you rank new guys like Lanning and DeBoer against experienced coaches like Shaw, Smith, and Wilcox. Or how you rank the new guys. I mean, DeBoer over Lanning? Based on what? And based on what are both ranked over Wilcox? These rankings are just silly, for the most part (which, of course, is why I'm taking my time to read and comment on them).

Brett Favre was the very definition of "ill-advised interception" and he turned out to be decent.

I wonder. I'm going to guess it would hit some recruits that way - he's real, he's down to earth, he doesn't think he's better than everyone else, etc. But others? It might communicate the guy's not a winner, isn't successful, isn't here for the long term, etc. I wonder when I see a guy like Sauce Gardner at the draft with all his bling how a $300,000 house would fit the mindset of a kid who thinks he'll be an NFL millionaire in four years (or fewer). I just have no idea what % would fall into each category.

Well, to be perfectly frank, this ISN'T a football forum. There are posts on here about basketball, softball, baseball, golf, etc. I don't happen to follow those sports at Oregon, so I simply don't read those threads (other than to serve as moderator). Charles, I guess no more gifs for you - unless you can find gifs of cats playing football.

This list is similar to the stars assigned by various recruiting rankings - it's their "value" based on social media followers, program visibility, athletic accomplishments, etc. So for instance, they've assigned one kid a "value" of $1,100 per post, essentially saying that's what he should be paid if Under Armor wants him to post a picture of him working out and visibly wearing Under Armor gear, for example. Is it realistic at all? No clue - any more than those "happiest countries in the world" or "best places to retire" lists are realistic. The Nordic countries are regularly touted as the "happiest in the world" - but they also have the highest incidence of use of anti-depressants in the world. So take all these lists for what they're worth...

Huh. Lived there for 27 years without regret. You get used to the heat in the summer and readjust life so you mostly go out at night - but we used to laugh at people in other states either waterlogged or freezing their tails off November - April. As for traffic jams and strip malls - been to any other city recently? Yeah, strip malls are pretty much all over LA, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Houston, etc. And traffic jams? Try LA and Atlanta - far worse. Most major cities have serious traffic problems. Heck, I live now in a city of 180,000 people, and in rush hour certain places are at a complete stand-still. It's all in what you like. Many people love Seattle; I couldn't live someplace with dreary drizzle 250+ days a year. Many love Portland; last time I was there the homeless problem was so severe with so much trash, graffiti, and odor I just wanted out. Obviously many love LA (I lived there many years as well) - I was glad to get out because of the traffic, crime, graffiti, taxes, property values, etc.

And how many guys get drafted into nearly hopeless situations in the NFL because the teams drafting them have no stability and poor leadership? I wonder what guys like David Carr and Joey Harrington would have been had they been drafted by teams like the Packers, Steelers, Patriots, or Ravens rather than the Texans and Lions?

I have to admit I'm a little lost here...if a kid wants to leave because some coach offers him more playing time, a better system, more NIL, or whatever, and that's not allowed, isn't that restricting the flow of labor? If kids should be free to go wherever and whenever they want, what makes something "poaching"? If I have a job and decide on my own to start looking around, or if I'm not considering a move but another company contacts me to offer me something, I'm free to leave in both situations. If college athletes should be treated as "labor," shouldn't competitors be free to make them better offers?

Coincidence that this happened in the same month I joined as a moderator? Hmmm... Kurt Rambis always did instill a certain level of fear in others...

Canzano: Inner sanctum of Pac-12 buzzing this week WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM Some thoughts for your Tuesday... He covers the UW spring game "attendance," NIL and transfer portal turmoil in CFB, and all those Ducks going undrafted - all stuff we've been kicking around here quite a bit.

If he does leave, with the uncertainly around Tom Snee "not being with the team," what options do the Ducks realistically have?

Canzano: Undrafted Oregon Ducks got 'horrible' NFL agent advice WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM Underclassmen should have returned to UO. And on this topic...

As always, depth and numbers are a complex issue. No significant injuries during the season? This is probably too many RBs for everyone to be happy, particularly since they're mostly young and I'm sure all came to Eugene with the expectation of some playing time. Two guys go down for significant stretches of the season (which is not at all unrealistic)? This may not be enough RBs. Tough balancing act...

I see this same thing happening in LOTS of areas. We used to live in a world where certain people or institutions were simply trusted and looked up to - sports stars, film stars, clergy, the military, successful businesspeople, journalists, etc. Now we know that some sports stars were awful role models (e.g. Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth), many film stars were awful people in general, some clergy were using their power to destroy children's lives, the military was troubled with racism and sexism, many successful businesspeople were bending or simply breaking the law to enrich themselves, many journalists were happily reporting slanted news, etc. Innocence destroyed - but at the same time, light began to shine on some practices that simply shouldn't be. College sports is no different. Yes, we've lost our innocence, and the benefits of the current model for all parties are questionable. But how many kids in the "old days" got out of school with no real education, because someone else was taking their tests and doing their homework? How many were getting money under the table, with "bag men" and "hundred dollar handshakes"? How many couldn't even afford to eat decently because they had no money and no way to earn it due to asinine NCAA rules? How many were used up and spit out by universities that had no use for them once their knee was balky or a new coaching staff came in and told them to beat it? How many were recruited by a certain coach to fit a certain scheme, then that coach left for a bigger contract and they don't fit the scheme of the new staff and have little recourse? I'm not sure whether we were better off in a world of innocence where we simply didn't know all the problems that were going on, or in a world of lost innocence where we now know some ugly details and some of those problems have been curtailed, but other problems are popping up. It would help a lot if there were some rules or standards, and I have to assume those will be coming eventually. When you've got even guys like Saban and Swinney saying this is unsustainable, I'm guessing Congress will get involved sooner or later. Of course, if there's one institution even less competent than the NCAA...

I feel sorry for them the same way I feel sorry for a teenage girl with an unplanned pregnancy...or a kid who tries drugs...or 21-year-old who quits a good job because he's mad at his boss. Yes, all made stupid decisions. Yes, all have no one to blame but themselves. And yes, I made some really stupid decisions at 18 - 22 years old. Decisions which, had things gone too far, could have had life-long consequences for me. I'm guessing most of us can say the same thing. So I feel sorry that life is teaching them some hard lessons and their decisions, for the most part, don't look so good now. Hopefully part of the lesson is that if you make a mistake, man up, don't put the blame on others, accept the consequences, learn from it, and move on.

All the draft "experts" were full of it, and not just on Oregon players who were expected to be drafted. All I heard was how the Steelers were in love with Malik Willis but he wouldn't be available for them at #20, how all these QBs were going to go in the first round, etc. etc. The Steelers drafted a different QB, and guys like Willis lasted until the third round. One Penn State O-lineman I saw mocked in the first round by multiple people finally got drafted toward the end of the seventh round. I consistently saw McKinley mocked into the 3rd or 4th rounds, and look what happened. The draft is just like recruiting and the transfer portal - lots of kids who think they're better than they really are or constantly get told they're better than they really are - and find out the hard way. And lots of "experts" who rate guys with 4 or 5 stars...and then those guys end up entering the transfer portal because they're third on the depth chart. It's all such an inexact science (more guesswork than science, really). When I saw the 40 times and other measurables for guys like Verdell and McKinley, I figured they faced long odds of getting drafted.

I lived on a golf course for years in Phoenix. I got balls in the yard. It's part of what you get. You don't want balls in the yard, don't live on a golf course. It's not like they built it there while I wasn't looking...

I know it's not exactly a representative sample, but it always is fun to kind of get a feel for fans of various teams through interaction on these boards. Years ago I was very active on the Pepperdine basketball chat boards (when we were consistently one of the top teams in the country). We faced Indiana in the first round of March Madness, and IU fans just flooded our board with all kinds of garbage - how we were going to get beaten by 50, how we didn't even belong on the same floor with Indiana, how our sad little team was just an embarrassment, etc. Almost every one of them behaved like an arrogant jerk. So it felt fantastic when Pepperdine routed the fabled Hoosiers by 20, sending Bobby Knight out a loser in his last game at the school. Next game, we faced Oklahoma State. Totally different experience. The vast majority of their fans were pleasant, informed, and ready for discussion. Sucked that we lost to them, but still, what a contrast from what we faced with Hoosier fans. Glad to see that so far, UGA fans seem to be like OK State and not IU.

I've never figured out how in some people this is considered "confidence" and in others it's considered "cockiness" or "arrogance."

One of the things sports folks do that bugs the heck out of me is make irrelevant comparisons. KT is like Jordan because both went to the same school. Texas Tech will beat Wisconsin because TT is 4 - 0 all-time against the Badgers (when they last played in 1987). Love Dan Patrick, but the only person KT is like is...KT. Might as well say he won't succeed because there's never been an All-Pro named Kayvon. KT also (at least to anyone's knowledge) does not have a substance problem, and we all know what sadly derailed Jordan's career.

Not sure what the school CAN do, but there have been numerous kids who have entered the portal and then gone back to their current school, so I don't think the portal is necessarily a one-way ticket out of town.

I'll top both those options with mudbugs from down Loosiana way - I'm a west coaster (now west coast of Europe, but still...), but you can't beat good Cajun cooking.

That probably has to be the most difficult balancing act in college football. If you've got a Mariota or a Manziel as a freshman, he's going to be there likely until junior year, and possibly longer - why would any other top QB come on board to sit guaranteed for two years? Years ago, guys would sit behind the starter and wait for their one or two years in the limelight. Good programs would have a constant pipeline - the junior star and the freshman top recruit who'll wait his two years. Today, guys bolt for greener pastures if they're not starting, so if your starter goes down, there's nothing of quality and/or experience behind him. At other positions like DL and WR, backups rotate in to give starters a break or with different packages, so they're playing. At QB, the backups are usually playing only due to injury or to hand off when you're up by 35 against Washington. Would NOT want to be a college coach today.

I think that right there is the difference between whether we should want Nix to grab the job or one of the younger guys to emerge. If you truly think the Ducks are in contention for the playoffs, then Nix may be the right guy. Higher floor, more experienced, but probably a lower ceiling. If you think '22 is going to be more of a development year with a young team, a new system, new coaches, and guys who may not be right for this system (e.g. the comments here about the O-line), and we need to build for '23 or '24, then you have to hope one of the young guys will grab the reins. Make your mistakes now, learn, get that experience, and when the rest of the team is ready, we have a mature QB with experience in this system who'll likely be here 2 - 3 years. Lower floor, higher ceiling. If we have a good-not-great QB in Nix for two years, we're back to where we were with Brown, and in two years when he leaves we have a mature, ready-to-win team with an unknown entity at QB. That assumes that either of the young guys has the capability to grow into a star and actually has a higher ceiling than Nix.

Valid point, and it makes criticism of any player (not just a QB) difficult, because these are kids. At the same time, other kids at other schools are in similar positions. Caleb Williams, Johnny Manziel, Harrington as a freshman, heck, going back far enough Danny O'Neil as a freshman - all young kids, and sometimes kids going through academic struggles, family problems, coaching changes, etc. It's not terribly fair to them in a lot of ways, but it's the system we have. I'm sure LSU, USC, Notre Dame, WSU, UW, and other schools have kids struggling due to coaching changes. Some of those kids will figure it out and become solid contributors and even stars; some of them won't. I'm just hoping we have a lot of them who'll figure it out.