Washington Waddler

Pretty common for high schoolers to make uninformed statements about things they know nothing about: no life experience. Wait and see following a Eugene visit. I’m not a big fan of immature media darlings — no matter how talented they are — who are still heavily influenced by mom. That’s a whole lot of ego massaging to do while still trying to deliver the message as to whose in charge. Big balancing act with high potential to distract from what’s important — the team. On the other hand, 46 of the best programs have offered, and no one is backing down. Life is a risk.

There will always be an element of doubt to any situation requiring referee choice (was the helmet lowered intentionally or not?). The grounds upon which a flagrant (as opposed to a common) PI foul would have to rest on the referee’s decision as to wether or not there was a choice being made by the DB to intentionally accept the less costly alternative of a yardage penalty as opposed to the potential for a touchdown, which the play situation should clearly indicate.

When I saw their bowl game on the schedule, my first response was, “oh good, I hope they lose.” Then, I thought about the bigger picture of a PAC 12 win, and I thought, “oh good, I hope Texas burns their kennel to the ground.”

Agree. He’s learning to see and apply his athleticism and length to the disciplined requirements of each play. You just love to see someone as raw as he’s been beginning to put it together. He has the potential to be a monster. Now, if he could just master the art of intercepting? (I know, that’s why they’re DB’s and not WR’s) On a related note, I’m no longer tolerant of flagrant and intentional pass interference calls on DB’s who have been smoked and are just trying to save a TD. I think it was Franklin on two occasions where an NC DB just ran into him? (I recall the look on his face - the smirk - as if he’d just gotten away with murder) There needs to be a price paid by any DB for flagrant pass interference that reflects the value of what has been denied the opposing offense. Common PI should remain a yardage penalty, but flagrant PI should move the ball to the spot of the foul (if not the 10 yard line), and the offender given a warning after which another flagrant removes him from the game, and the 1st half of the next game. Just my opinion.

Give him a half healthy ankle, and Bo becomes unstoppable with the game on the line. What a competitor!

Who flipped the switch? Hope the D is on the same circuit!

Okay, but this invites the opposing view, so I’ll play devil’s advocate in order to help move this conversation forward and towards a relevant solution. Yes, games will often be tougher and further away without the comforts of home, but that’s the price you must pay if you expect to play for a contending team in a relevant league that contends for national championships year in and year out. Yes, you can choose to stay behind and play in the comfort zone of a league now being considered by national media as an afterthought, and take the chance (like a mid-major in basketball) that you’ll win the league championship every year and get their one invite to the play-offs. Or, you can step up and into the big leagues and have a real shot at realizing your dreams. What’ll it be? Something like this is what USC/UCLA coaches will be stuffing in the ears of elite SouCal recruits. What do we do, and what do we say to counter that?

In addition to a stronger run game in 2023 that could make the power/read formations out of the Tempro pistol more dynamic and formidable, it’s fun to consider how Franklin and Jurion Dickey could create mismatches both on deep and mid routes if defenses are forced into cover 1.

Bellotti would disagree. It’s his contention that we actually lost decibels as the result of the increased seating which forced the south side roof to be raised, thereby diminishing the rebound effect.

Program fit has always been a major theme in recruiting. But, because of the increased mobility and independence afforded players by the portal and NIL - outside of talent - fit now becomes just about the only thing of importance that can bond a recruit to your program. Since coaches can no longer count on the rules to make a player tow-the-line while the maturation process takes place, it has become increasingly important to create a clear vision in the minds of recruits of what they can expect from a program’s culture once they’ve become a part of it - an image that has the potential to hold a player in place much as the old rules once did. DL appears to be ahead of the curve in understanding this new emphasis in the recruiting wars.

That’s why paying more attention to sites like Rivals, as opposed to 247, seems to give a more accurate * picture. Without knowing exactly their criteria, they appear to take into consideration the environment in which a player performs as much as the player’s performance.

The inmates are in charge of the asylum? Perhaps an unfair assessment of both the mental/emotional stability of portal candidates and the environment they are about to embark upon; however, athletics — American style — has long been a charter member of a cultural betrayal by those who should know better, but no longer have the desire or courage to maintain responsibility for institutions we all care for and rely upon. Ever since the 60’s: let the kids run the show. I’ve washed my hands of it.

Can’t say it any better than he said it himself, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Where ever you are Mike, don’t ever stop keeping them surprised and guessing. We miss you.

You have to buy the groceries if you’re going to cook the meal . . . now that’s good stuff! Let’s buy him a big shopping cart.

Programs that are beginning to feel desperate take risks. Feels a bit like Arizona State rolling the dice on Herm Edwards, or Washington spinning the wheel on Rick Neuheisel. Might work; might not. Like Edwards, Sanders has a self-serving mouth; like Neuweasel, he appears to be a narcissist who respects only what serves his own interests. A bit of advice to him as he enters the P5 picture: don’t try to play the game beforehand in the media. No one in the PAC 12 is going to be the slightest bit intimidated. You’re going to be just another celeb among many: get in line.

Advice is cheap; that’s why it’s so rarely taken. While the automated response system undoubtedly was long over do, I’d nevertheless reserve, on rare occasions, the private email option for those instances where your instincts tell you this poster is worth a bit more nudging. Just a thought. Glad you used the article to vent and not vacate!

It’s difficult to grade a first year head coach who is going through a ‘sorting-out’ season, characterized by establishing his own culture, and allowing the safety net (otherwise known as the transfer portal) to catch those who perhaps are realizing they’re now going to have to work harder for their stars than previous head coaches had demanded of them. Because that process affects team focus, I’d give DL an A for effort, and a solid B for results. Does make me yearn at times for the cultural stability of the Brooks/Bellotti years when players knew what to expect and felt they could trust it to stick around. Hope we get to see something akin to that again!

Yeah, part of me wants to step-back and say, is the road to elite success that duh OSU and that other hand-full follow really where we want to end up as fans? On the other hand, two losses in a row to the Beavers?

Nothing lasts forever; at least that’s worthwhile. I’m admittedly old school, so I value the Rose Bowl just because it’s not like the new stadiums that cater to new habits of convenience, and try to replicate your temperature controlled indoor living room with 80” screen, cushy chair and frig just down the hall. For that matter, I like any decrepit outdoor stadium just because they’re trying to sell only one thing: football.

Once again, a great example of why winning teaches you one thing, and one thing only: you like it. We all do, and we suffer when it doesn’t happen. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, “We feel your pain.” But, unbelievably painful losses like we just experienced are also golden opportunities — if you’re willing to seize them — and I don’t see Dan Lanning as the type who backs away from a hard challenge. As much as we hate losses like these, they open the door to what we need to do, and where we need to go. The thing about the past is you don’t have to have lived it to learn from it, and if you know anything about the Ducks, you know we’ve been here before, learned from it, and got back on track — many times. It’s that type of Oregon smarts and tenacity that makes me cling to that old cliché when we hit bumps in the road like this: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Thanks for some greatly needed perspective Eric. While inexperience can become too easy an excuse for poor performance, I still feel any first-time head coach who lacks any working knowledge of the league he is about to do battle in is at a great disadvantage when it comes to understanding the unique nature of what it’s going to take to win those inches and seconds in that league’s biggest rivalry games. Understanding the focus required from similar situations in another league certainly helps, but it’s only by experiencing the distinct nature of these new emotionally-charged rivalries that instills in a new head coach what it’s going to take and how to prepare. Lanning will get there, but you don’t walk into Washington or Oregon State games for the first time knowing what to expect.

Because of the loss of players to both the portal and injury, Kelly’s team remains in a ‘wait and see’ development stage as both Philly and the freshmen gain real time reps and get up to speed. I think Graves would agree with that. Kelly’s re-tooling of his recruiting philosophy — moving towards a leaner and faster approach that forces a higher degree of focus from a bench that knows it’s only minutes away from live action — has me excited as it appears to be gaining traction; but, unavoidably remains a work in progress because of the ups and downs of developing freshmen into consistent contributors. As AM suggests, the continuing offensive development of Kyei will greatly effect the focus of opposing defenses, and further free-up our veteran guards who we must rely upon for the foreseeable future. On my wish list is to see Philly develop a pull-up 5 footer that would freeze opposing bigs, and further disrupt attempts to contain our guards. She has a nice shooting touch, so practice could add that to her tool box.

I think anyone who finds themselves more engaged by the NIL process than by the process of finding high school students who identify and want to be a part of your university football program probably identify much more with the NFL process than they do the traditional college football process.

It’s never easy to gauge the effect on a coach who is being offered the chance to ride into his home state and alma mater like the cavalry come to save the day. You could call it the Mario effect. It probably tugs at such a guy like a magnet. And if enough money is being thrown at them it can tip the scale. You just hope that KD is as smart as they think he is, and lets the emotional pull and money wash over him until he can come to a clear understanding of what is at stake. If he does that, it’s hard to imagine him walking into that mine field.

It’s one thing to be an assistant coach focused on your own group in the super-charged atmosphere of a big time, over-heated rivalry game, and another being the head coach responsible for not letting those emotions take charge, and losing touch with the calm, cold focus which is what wins games like these. It’s likely Lanning experienced this type of atmosphere quite a few times with Smart, and observed how his head coach handled it — sometimes well, sometimes not so well. But in either case, it can’t really prepare you for the first time when you’re in charge of keeping a firm grip on the bull’s horns, and just how tough a task that is to do. But that’s how the good ones learn, and I’m in agreement with others: give Dan a bit more time in the saddle while assembling his pieces, and he’ll get there.