Drake

Fans became the victims. The cost of chasing a trophy that in the scheme of our families lives, means absolutely nothing. Another alternative was to rebuild conference with the rodents, and cougs. That keeps ticket prices lower, but….

I have been to Hayward only once since the rebuild. Loved the old, and the rebuild is amazing. I will say that season tickets for Seahawks would be around $11k for comparable seats. Duck tickets are a bargain…lol But, I get it. The $20 million NIL revenue share is a budget killer. The total budget expenditures a year, or so ago, was $150 million. Having a surplus of less than $2 million is razor thin for that size of a budget. A budget shortfall requires the athletic department to get on the phone to donors. As fans, in all of Oregon’s sports venues, we are literally inside a venue paid by the contributions of all of Oregon’s donors. ( all season ticket holders) So, thanks for contributing.

Zzzzzzzzz

Anyone that wants to play at Oregon and compete is alright by me. Those that left have goals they want to achieve elsewhere. I have to agree with Charles that the DT/DE depth chart took a beating with departures. Sorry to see any kid not realize their goal of starting at Oregon. But, sports either builds, or tears down a persons character, and I these young men land on their feet.

$150 per seat increase, is that a $1,000 per game seat? If so, really? I get that budgets can be lean for entertainment at certain times of our lives, but that is a little over $20 per game increase. Multiply that by 56,000, and it is not a whole lot of additional revenue for all sports. You have to remember that football pays the majority of the athletic departments bills. They are not arbitrarily increasing prices to see how much fans will pay. I have sat on non-profit boards. Oregon joined the BIG at a reduced payout. The reality is that the athletic department has increased coaching salaries substantially over the last few years, at least for football. It also includes increased travel costs for non-revenue teams. Add in inflation, NIL, and there is your immediate need for revenue. I get more fired up about paying $14 for a Coors Light inside of Autzen.

It probably means your starters are getting beat up because they are on the field longer. The preseason rankings probably give the SEC SOS strength but many of their teams are overrated by seasons end.

I will take the recruiting track record, and experience on defense, for Hampton as DC. On offensive , we are solid at QB, RB, TE, and receiver. Give me the play book and I could probably call games for at least 9 wins with this roster. Might be a little rough running practices though. I think that what happens behind closed doors has a lot to do with promoting from within. DL has listened to these guys break down film, and make suggestions on how to approach game situations from both of these guys. He is satisfied, I will be content to watch. But, if they need me, I am available.

Rebuilding can be done with the portal for a team that had a losing record. Creating a Championship caliber team via 40 portal players seems a stretch. Lame Kiffen abandoned his team, and I, along with every Ole Miss fan would enjoy watching LSU struggle just to watch an LSU donor meltdown.

Had DeAnthony turned his head and blocked for Mariota seems like another one of those “Dyer” moments for Duck football. Btw…after hearing Auburn fans greet each other with War Eagle for two days before that game, I did want to see that damn eagle fly out of that stadium to never be seen again. When all is said, and done, I have always thought about the difference between need, and want. I will always want to see OBD win a Championship, but I certainly don’t need them to win one to be happy. At this stage, I feel like I have gotten my moneys worth of memorable wins, and…ahem, losses.

Withdrawals from football means a couple Cactus League games, coupled with golf next month. I will then pay attention to spring football practices, and follow that with a fly fishing trip to Cabo for some Rooster fish in May. Anybody here that enjoys fly fishing, I recommend going after Roosters at least once. Nice weather, and they are a fierce fish to land on a fly rod. I use Baja Anglers out of Cabo for fly fishing, and have quality rods available if you don’t want to hassle with taking your own gear. Not a paid advertisement for them, but Cabo does have a small casino downtown, a sports book on site is doubtful, and overall seems pretty shady. Not highly recommended. Just as August rolls around I will be restless for the football season to begin with high hopes for the season.

Success when you spend millions on NIL deals redefines how much patience boosters have with their win/loss record. Top coaches are paid almost $1 million a month to win. Excuses for a coach having an average team revolve around money. At least money is not given to players in a brown paper bag anymore. The game has changed. I will enjoy what it has become, but it does seem some semblance of sanity is needed to save our precious billionaires from themselves.

The team and staff gets an A from my perspective. They took care of business at Penn State, Iowa, and Washington, and beat SUC. The coaches are not making headlines for the wrong reasons, and are quite young to accomplish what they have done so far under DLs tenure. 13 wins…Go Ducks!!!

I think the first Indiana game rattled him, and he was really working on trying to get the ball out more quickly. Unfortunately, when he had a clean pocket, he would get locked on the short route receiver, and missed several opportunities downfield. I think the game will slow down for him, and he will get better at throwing it away, and get more comfortable going through his progressions at game speed.

Our last transfer from the rodents was solid.

There are literally thousands of players in the portal right now. Finding reserve guys is not going to be a huge issue. A few of the D players that left Oregon have a shot at being NFL guys. A little more challenging to replace that level of talent.

Shorter practices are fine for a veteran team where the starters are in place, and other players have been in the system for years. When your roster turns over you need competitive practices with repetition to get players ingrained into an unfamiliar system, and still develop a two to three deep at each position.

Honestly, it revolves around recruiting. Does anyone think Mario is the second best coach in the nation this year? Coaches are only as good as the talent and depth they recruit. Mehringer is considered a top recruiter, and the same for Hampton. They are young and fit the mold that DL has stuck with since he was hired. Mehringer is not a grizzled veteran, but also not wet behind the ears. DL has hired 3 OCs in 4 seasons, and two are head coaches, with one making a trip to the CFP.

DM will be wanted by the NFL, but not the Ducks? I enjoy the fact that we are competing at this level, and it isn’t because of me that the Ducks have been to the CFP in the NIL age. I have at least bought a few pairs of shoes at stupid prices, for my son, via Division Street’s website. Anyone else donate to Division Street? If not, then every little bit helps. https://www.divisionst.com/ Nobody owes me a championship for donating. I do it because I am blessed to be in a position to do it, and hope for the best.

It is the first time that Oregon has had two coordinators hired as head coaches in the same year. DL has had to hire three OCs after 4 seasons, and two are now head coaches. Mehringer can be heard calling plays in the US vs Them videos, and is considered one of the top recruiters in the nation. Promoting a guy that DL hired that has developed players he coaches into NFL talent seems solid. I am giving DL the nod here based on his knowledge of football, his staff, the team, and 48 wins in 4 years as a rookie HC. Who would you hire if recruiting is a large component of the criteria to be hired?

When such a large percentage of D1 players hit the portal, having less than 50% leave because of expired eligibility, NFL aspirations, or portal out, is pretty good. Then it becomes a personnel juggling act. It really requires a solid player management coordinator to feed information to our coaching staff. My understanding is that our last one went to Kentucky with Stein.

Kiara Romero was ranked #1 amateur in the world last year, and won the BIG 10 title as a sophomore. If you ever have a chance follow the women if they have a match in Eugene. For those that play golf, it instantly smooths out your swing just watching them fire at the pins. My claim to fame for Oregon golf was that I qualified 10th at the golf team tryouts in the late seventies, shooting 149 (36 holes))from the back tees at Emerald Valley.

Only 40 to 50 % entering portal continue playing football. Only 25 to 30% stay at D1 level.

Like everyone else I was disappointed at how this season ended. We knew our offense needed a perfect game to win, and one play into the game that was out the window. I donate generously to the athletic fund, and school each year. However, as a realist, without Phil Knight’s generosity, Oregon is not on the national stage in football. I will attend games until traffic gets so bad on the freeway that it absurd to attend games from Portland…and that appears to be getting closer than a National Championship. As a fan i stand on the shoulders of other donors, coaches, past and current players, that really have put Oregon where it is today. Want and need are two different things. I want to see Oregon win a Championship in football, and am happy to see seasons where winning 13 games is disappointing.

Without knowing the capabilities of existing coaches why would you already replace them. Changing a major decision at the first sign of adversity is not a good way to gain much respect from existing staff, or future hires.

Been going to games at Autzen since 1976. Not on a bandwagon. We did much better tonight then back in the late seventies.