Grandpa Duck

“The Forum with Decorum” has class. Just like Charles and his OBD website!

Chuckling in part because he can pick wherever he wants to go. Time was there was pressure to make sure the recruit got one of the precious 85 scholarships. Now, with NIL, the scholarship limit ceases to be a significant factor for the recruit whose publicized image is worth $$$$$.

Great writing, Charles. This article needs this bump to the top of the list.

The little brothers down the road are a back yard. Oregon is a “Universe”. I have always disliked calling our program a nation.

Thank you, Charles, for accommodating my aged incompetence.

Link connected me to a female broadcaster and some ads, but no Lanning speech.

How about the obvious - getting a degree. Only a very few players go to the NFL. All these new coaches coming to build Lanning’s dream team. Every one has a degree. Want to teach school? Get that degree, maybe two of them.

Take a look at the U-Tube presentation of then #1 Army defeating #2 Navy in the 1944 thriller. You will see Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard of Army running a full-house "T" formation and Navy getting shredded 23-7, still stuck playing single wing football. Vestiges of both formations are still with today's football, with single wing direct snaps to a running back while the QB, or a sub for the QB, blocks. But does any thinking coach run a full diet of these formations? Chip Kelly's multiple-option mesh, with sign boards signalling in formations and plays, took until the third year for players to perfect, and only a very few QB's are capable of thinking that fast. The opponents' defense of Chip's teams had the disadvantage of facing that attack only once a year. Even Chip doesn't rely much on it anymore. Yes, I see it run a few plays in today's games, often with "Oops, the RB just got handed the ball and two d-linemen snuffed him for a three yard loss." I am hoping Lanning comes up with something very different from that.

While I cherish the past, and the schemes Charles’ library holds on this site, that success was dependent upon tempo and facing outdated defenses that current teams trashed long ago. We need a team that is at the cutting edge of what is happening today, not ten years ago. My expectation is that this eager young staff will bring their own innovative changes that surprise opponent coaches the way our “brand” once did so well. That surprise factor coupled with speed is the Oregon football I hope to see.

As my son, a football fanatic, texted during the game, “Hard not to be excited about Lanning.” I replied, “ I found the clip of him talking to his players very interesting. Totally engaged.” He cannot do it alone. Hopefully he is hiring a staff that duplicates his enthusiasm.

David, with all due respect, I can stand to be bored if the Ducks put points on the board every possession.

I once worked for a lousy boss and left a very good job because of him. After some others at my level also quit, the lousy boss was canned. Then the company hired all of us back. None of us picked up his offensive behaviors.

Maybe some recruits will recognize the opportunity for early playing time.

Not over til . . . it’s the end of the 4th quarter. p. s. OT not likely with missed extra point.

Hayward, I suspect there are more than a few Duck fans with emotions displayed toward players in a manner you find abhorrent. Even worse than your little league parents, far worse. From before Autzen opened until the second year alcohol was served there, I had reserved seats, the last nearly 50 years in the donor section. Parking pass, tailgate in the grass at the northeast corner where there used to be cable TV connections, the whole deal on game days. We and the rest of our group planned our lives around the Duck football schedule. Not anymore. Maybe it’s age, but the behaviors of many Duck fans is such that I don’t want to be anywhere near them. It didn’t use to be that way. But, neither you nor I will be able to silence the negative screamers. My refuge is being a TV fan. I have tried going back to Autzen. It will never be what it was, and the bad fan emotional behavior is a huge part of why it changed.

Agree with Annie. Rose Bowl is not fan friendly. Built in 1920, when people were much smaller, the distance between rows, and the extreme length of the rows between stairways, make getting in and out a people moving process. many fans at bowl games are only occasional followers of football for whom trips to the concession stand have as much or more importance than the play on the field. So you spend a great part of your game time accommodating that, not only for their food gathering, out then back in, but also the subsequent round trips to the loo for depositing the food and drinks they bought. Then there is the extremely low rake on the first 20 or so rows. Hard to see over anyone taller than about 5’ 10”. Rose Bowl is not a stadium I will again visit.

I must have missed the evidence that Justin Wilcox was offered the job. Is there a Mullins or Wilcox quote out there? Maybe the two of them allowed a face-saving rumor to circulate to also soothe the egos of the former player letter writers.

Adding to McDuck’s comment about a philosophy of an aggressive approach with explosion plays, Lanning said he would attack the entire field in offense, defense and special teams. The story yesterday about his progressive increase in linebacker blitzing is revealing. I suspect we will see innovation like has not been there since Chip was the OC. A willingness to try he unusual and surprise.

Axel, some of us have grown very weary of "gotcha" questions from reporters seeking only a sensational headline. Who really needs that kind of "news" and for what purpose?

My spouse picked up on a related comment. Like Lanning, she started as an elementary PE teacher and coached little girls basketball. She says: "Anybody who plays kick ball, dodge ball and scooter tag with third graders knows how to have fun." Watching Lanning today I felt like he was in his element, having fun, enjoying himself and like he says, not having to work at his "job".

Usually avoid posting in a thread I began, but I forgot something "If William Jewell College comes calling, I'm staying at Oregon." The guy definitely know how to soften a touchy spot with humor.

eu GENE and ORY gun So many people who have not been here fail that elementary test. This Lanning guy has a vocabulary, ideas based on experience and a presence that few people, not just coaches, acquire. The most important question was about his age. Paraphrasing, "How does a young pers like yourself get to where you are today?" He said: "I'm a good listener." Next most important question: "How will you go about chosing your staff?" Answer: "When I was a graduate assistant at Arizona State I started puting down names on that Notes App in the iPhone." We're in for an exciting ride.

Well done, Charles. Lots to chew on there. So far, Lanning bringing the whole family her yesterday is a good start.

I'm wondering just why did the Joey group bother to send a letter like that anyway? It sounds like they are feeling left out over the past several years because the Oregon Head Coach was an outsider, "Slick" and then Cristobal, who did not give them their expected respect that they got from Chip and Helfrich. They wanted a familiar Head Coach rather than another "outsider". It's not that they don't deserve respect and recognition for their past contributions. They most certainly do. It's that they are not as likely to get those acknowledgments from someone who was not part of what they did.

Nice thought, McDuck. Instead of "and offer he couldn't refuse" it was "an offer he couldn't accept" because he couldn't meet the qualification.