CO Duck

Thanks, Charles Fischer. If only I had more time…work, wife, and kids seem to command most of my attention. Responsibilities are the worst.

Or truly cedes control to an X and O guy…

He’s elite at some things, but not all. It could be worse, he could be average at everything.

That seems to be what most of the reports are saying.

I hope not. But that’s what happens in college football. Look at Texas, USC, Miami, FSU, Nebraska, etc. All big-time programs with winning traditions relegated to mediocrity for years (decades?) because finding a good coach that is elite at something is really, really hard.

Completely agree. But he can learn, or hire guys that are Xs and Os guys. In which case he will need to cede more control to those coaches. I think his biggest weakness is he’s too stubborn. For example, he stubbornly stuck with AB when AB obviously was ineffective.

Exactly. He’s still a work in progress. But, how many college coaches are actually elite at anything? Recruiting, Xs and Os, player development, etc.? Not many, and even less are elite at more than one of those skills.

Following Oregon’s second humiliating loss to Utah in as many weeks, I found myself drawn to the growing mob of Ducks fans calling for Coach Cristobal’s head. I even rummaged through my garage searching for my pitch fork, but alas I could only find a plastic rake. It’s understandable that so many Oregon fans are upset. We’re disappointed that this year’s team ostensibly underachieved. We’re frustrated and bored with an offense that looks like it was stolen from Nick Saban in 2007. We miss the “Oregon brand” of football. And so we call for Cristobal’s firing. We hope and pray that Miami makes an offer that he can’t refuse… …We should be careful about what we wish for… Coach Cristobal is an elite recruiter. Being elite at anything is very difficult. Does he need to evolve as a coach? Absolutely. Does he need to make better personnel choices? A resounding yes. But how many college coaches are really elite at anything? USC spent the last decade searching for an elite coach and finally made a marquee hire, but only after pulling off one of the biggest coaching coups college football has ever seen. Coach Cristobal’s coaching chops, or lack thereof, are well documented. But he’s learning, and he will learn from this season. Hopefully, he hires a offensive coordinator that will help implement a dynamic offense. I have my doubts, but we will see. In any event, with MC at the helm, Oregon will continue to be pretty good by playing a boring brand of football with top shelf talent. Oregon will be competitive most years, and every so often they will put it all together and be included in the national championship conversation. If the alternative is roaming the coaching wilderness for the next decade looking for a coach that is elite at anything, is that so bad?

MC doesn’t learn. He’s also stubborn and unimaginative. That’s why he usually gets out-coached.

Thanks, Charles Fisher. I have followed this forum for most of the season. I suppose writing my own post was more cathartic than anything else. I don’t really blame AB. He is what he is at this point, and we all know what that is: a mediocre running quarterback with no arm strength or accuracy and poor decision making ability. Rather, I blame the coach that stubbornly sticks with AB despite his obvious limitations.

Lincoln Riley benched Spencer Rattler for true freshman Caleb Williams in the Red River Showdown after Texas jumped to a 28-7 first-quarter lead. At the time of his benching, Rattler had been totally ineffective—completing 8/15 passes with one interception and one fumble. Williams led Oklahoma to a 55-48 come-from-behind win over Texas. When an AB led offense failed to score any points in the first half against Utah, why didn’t MC bench him for TT? AB was totally ineffective against Utah (17/35 (48.5% completion rate) for 231 yards; 9 carries for 8 yards). The Ducks needed to score points (in a hurry) in the second half. That means they needed to throw it. MC stuck with AB and they scored 7 points. Why didn’t MC do what Lincoln Riley did and bench AB? Is he just too stubborn? Prideful? Conservative? It seems MC’s unwillingness to adapt, inability to make difficult decisions, and lack of creativity/flexibility is starting to have a negative effect on the program. The receivers are obviously frustrated. The fans are frustrated. I suspect the defense is also frustrated. It’s obvious to everyone, other than MC, that something (namely, the starting QB) has to change.