CalBear95

Probably. But we won’t really know until we see some data points. I suspect as much as most here he is going old school Tide football. Problem is that even Saban chucked that overboard in favor of high octane offense. My gut, as with most, if not all, of yours is that Mario is stuck in another era and seems unable to change. But I am open to the possibility he learned something from his time in Eugene.

At this point, I am viewing all attrition via portal as good. The new staff is implementing their scheme and on D that’s Georgia’s system. As Dawg fans have noted, it isn’t for everyone. Based on Georgia’s on the field product, better to free up spots for fits than for those who likely won’t succeed for lack of fit.

I hate pre-season rankings for the very reason it creates a relatively arbitrary list that teams that are undervalued need to climb to even get into January contention. And because teams in that same conference may be OVERvalued, when they are shown to be so, the rest of the conference takes a perception hit rather than the prognosticators admitting they misread the actual situation. Utah will be good because they are consistent and experienced. But Oregon and USC were down last year creating what I believe is, to some extent, an artificial view of Utah’s true ‘value.’ If Utah doesn’t look like a top 6 program, the conference will take the hit right along with the program. I get why there are rankings and they will always exist. I just wish they were tempered by a media willing to acknowledge their own valuation errors rather than project that into a “well, the entire conference is probably down because I can’t be too wrong” framework

Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. I think the first few games will give a read on what, if anything, he learned from his time at Oregon. Until then, why speculate (other than because it’s a Duck forum, the off-season, and fun)?

Anyone but Duke. Everything about that school is fake, all the way down to the worn down stone steps leading into their buildings (seriously, look up the story of Duke’s architecture history).

Say something so that I know I should never take you seriously

What’s crazy here is that with this open market for paying players (and even if there we some ‘salary cap’ which I doubt would be legal but that’s another topic), schools are going to seriously need to think about hiring the equivalent of a GM. There are going to be misses and a $20MM miss is going to anger boosters funding the talent fund. Or at least there will be pressure to have more ‘hits’/ROI. And if you accept this premise, how does this impact a coach’s ability to offer and pick players. Totally wild and I kinda hate it and love it all the same time

I would think the Buffalo Bills are a good example of what this might look like

Joke or no, the huskies have been pretty highly ranked over the past few years. As I noted earlier, like it or not, you want them to be going forward as well. A strong UW is good for the P12 (obvs a strong USC and UO go without saying).

For sure. You will get no argument from me on that. I take an SEC view of these things which is conference brand perception and on field performance trump any non-conference game hatred/rooting interest. With this filter in mind, Stanford is the all time worst P12 school we have. They beat a conference heavy weight and then get rolled by ND or Shaw manages to coach his way into a loss. They are an utter embarrassment and they *really* need to clean up their act because they do tend to recruit well. Rankings this year are super super skewed. If you look at what UA and furd have high rankings, a lot of it has to do with their total points vs avg value/recruit. USC and OBD are way behind them in total recruits. But despite being ~10 short of furd and UA's haul the Ducks are pretty close from a total points POV. Given the coaching upheaval this year, I caution anyone from running with 2022 as a proxy for predicting the future rankings and quality of the top tier programs' classes.

We'll see if this is a trend or an aberration. My guess is the latter. The chaos around the program this year probably really hurt them in terms of having a deep pool of recruits to try and save. Further still, given their school of origin, I imagine the staff lacked existing relationships w/highly rated recruits they could bring over. So, a bit of a perfect storm. For reference, Utah has historically run between 5th and 7th in conference rankings (usually low 30's nationally) and they just beat the living daylights of a much higher ranked talent pool on OBD. IOW, coaching and development are indeed the keys. Potential is useless if unrealized and poorly leveraged in that process. I really doubt the dawgs will stay in the bottom quartile of the conference and even if they are in the bottom of the upper half, Utah is a great example of how that isn't a sentence to purgatory/irrelevance.

I don't think people are denying credit for the personnel side of what MC did for the program (or maybe some are but I would not share that view). But his offense also served to churn out some of those good players he brought in. He had hit peak, IOW. It makes me wonder if AB was the #1 QB because he had no idea how to develop Ty or any other prospect. And it makes me wonder how much AB underperformed due to that (see Shough, Tyler). The QB play was so bad that the run game almost had to dominate. A self fulfilling prophecy of MC's own creation. And so, yes, thanks for the personnel. Now please move aside a let us put them under the tutelage of a staff that knows how to use them to their maximum capabilities.

So cruel...

Yeah, Cristobal reverse mortgaged that history and I'm glad to see we are buying back the deed to that IP.

100 on all of the above. When I heard the 80 play aspirational target for the offense, my immediate question was how the D would hold up. Chip pretty much sacrificed that side of the ball. There is simply no scenario I can imagine a coach coming from the defensive side of the ball doing the same. So really curious how you get big and nasty on D and yet run tempo. My initial take/guess is this is what he meant by 'efficient.' Long drives with tempo yet always happy to take the big play.

Das Gleiche!

Totally dating myself here but I was a newly minted Cal grad living on $21K/year in the City (if you have to ask, you don't know) when I saw this at the Embaradero as a sleeper film. I then went to LA for a year and hit every single one of these bars. Yep. I'm old.

My wife is watching Murderville on Netflix, I live in Seattle, and am a Cal grad. So this should surprise nobody. In my corner, I go with my alltime favorite player and person: Marshawn Lynch!!! Who is better on the Ducks side? [Hint: nobody though I do love me some Justin Herbert and the 'he's too introverted' craziness when he was coming out] Taste the Rainbow!

In all reality, we need 4 good teams. And we need one of those to be the huskies. USC & Utah (UCLA? LOL!!!). OBD and, well, you know who per the previous sentence. Do you remember what husky stadium is like when packed? It's electric. I get goose bumps thinking of it (not to mention it is hands down the stadium with the most beautiful vistas (don't start w/me on Memorial...you have to peak your head over the bowl to see the GGB which doesn't count. And I *LOVE* that view so I'm giving a lot here in this sentiment)). BTW - double parens is a bad sign as a writer...suggests I should have broken the paragraph down a bit more but...meh. True facts - I love husky stadium. Not as much as Autzen which is the best college sports venue on the planet. But on a Spetember/early October day with the flat light over Portage Bay, a little crispness in the air, and the waves of volume coming down from the stands...peak Seattle. [Going with an edit] - 42 degrees, sideways rain because PNW baby!!! That's cool too. I'm not advocating they ever win, mind you. Just be really good. Like 10-1 good. Come at me!

Don't hate on the Cox. Those people work their tails off (steering that boat can add or shave 1 - 2 seconds which is all the difference when you get to the uber elite levels). Rowers love their Coxes. Total tyrants that in any other situation would be seriously over their head. I've had my family lineage and general worth as a human being called to question by my favorite Coxs. For a split second, you contemplate gunnel walking but ultimately you love them all the more.

Dan Lanning, I can't quit you! I mean, the guy is nails, right? Have the Ducks *ever* been this organized and driven? And the immediate results are just stunning. I am willing to live with his growth curve because you can just tell this staff loves being around each other. An esprit de corps I don't ever recall seeing in a staff anywhere in a long while.

First, can I just say how much I missed the lovely confines (in which it never rains) of FDF? Anyhow, this is way late to the party almost to the point of making 'belated' a euphamism. I was bonding with my best co-worker friend who is also an avid FDF consumer (AlexR - hiya!) in early January about how much of a weight it feels to have been lifted since MC decided to take his talents to South Beach (I mean, that joke writes itself. Amirite?). The metaphor I used is a relationship where you really love an enjoy aspects of what the other person brings but there is a lot of other stuff you feel not right about or outright settling for because you fear losing the aformentioned good thing. I have to imagine that at some point in our lives we've all had one of these relationships (In the department of TMI, in my younger days I was a buyers club member in this category. Issues!). If not, a tip of the cap to you. Anyhow, eventually the relationship ends, usually with the other person breaking it off. In legalese, this makes you the "Dumpee" and the other party the "Dumper" but that is for another post. And you are totally freaking out because the fear of losing the thing that you loved and perhaps never finding it again is running your lizzard brain emotional center. But deep down, while you are flailing externally in a panic to fill the hole created in your life, you are kinda glad it is over. And then you meet someone who is so much better in all categories and you are just *relieved* the other person left. It doesn't make them a bad person, just the wrong person for you. And further still, you wonder how you could have put up with that all that time. I mean, you are money, right, and you don't even know it (reference trivia?). Now you are feeling good, not because that person is externally giving you that confidence where it would otherwise be lacking, but because you know you are where you deserve to be. So, MC, I say this with nothing but respect, I really love the fact you are gone. I haven't felt this good in years. I will always look fondly on our recruiting classes but I know now I need never settle for a meddling coach again. I CAN have it all. Also, Mr Wilcox, sorry about that rebound thing...

As a rower living in Seattle, this comment is much closer to the truth than one might believe. It has been a few years since I've been out on the water since I've moved away from Pocock to West Seattle but I can tell you that watching those guys fly by is truly awe inspiring. The joke is - largely because I think it's true - one rows because of a lack of coordination and fast twitch (I can assure you, I lack both in high quantities). Yet, if you have never rowed, it is hard to communicate just how grueling the sport is with its combination of soul crushing, Geneva Code banned anaroebic thresholds (read: oxygen debt) and raw power balanced against insane demand for flow and grace. If you can't tell, I love it so. God help me, I do. Anyhow, as a Cal alum I have a fiduciary responsibility to cast invective in that program's direction, but truth be told, you have to respect the bejeesus out of them. Love the rivalry between two of the most elite programs in the country.

Wait, I want to make sure my reading comprehension skills didn’t just go kaput (notice a pattern in my posts? I am learning Deutsch as a precursor for working there in 2 or so years. So, expect to come along for the ride ). furd and …I can’t even say their name for reasons having nothing to do with the Bears last year…are the top 2 in the P12???!!!?? was that of yesterday evening or something because, cognitive dissonance, that hurts to read.

USC v Oregon should and could be really interesting w/the new staffs and philosophies. I think it is safe to say the Ducks have a really good shot of being SEC-esque on D and O. Riley has yet to prove he can deal with that and has yet to put together a solid D despite being talent rich on that side of the ball. Short story long: I really hope the Ducks become absolute terrors for the rest of the conference.