CalBear95

@Charles Fischer Treating a victory over the Bears as an accomplishment is akin to patting yourself for a job well done for brushing one’s teeth. Categorizing that win as a small victory is an insult to small victories My uber point wasn’t to denigrate the Ducks’ great recruiting relative to the Huskies nor to suggest the Huskies will be OK with a string of classes like this year’s. It was to highlight that the Ducks have out-recruited the Huskies for several years now but that hasn’t translated to victories as yet. To be scrupulously fair, DeBoer is for all intents and purposes playing with Petersen’s team. As those last classes age out it will be interesting to see what the Huskies look like.

Jonathan Smith is case in point that it’s what you do with the talent you recruit And if I am not mistaken, the Huskies have won the last three games against the Ducks despite the recruiting gap. I think that between DL and the staff’s ability to develop the people in the program, this discrepancy in recruiting will probably really start to show up in 2 years or so. A lagging indicator, if you will. But DeBoer can really coach and he gets the most out of the talent he has. Those Dawgs still have some bite.

So I guess Colorado is an ATM now?

This ties into the ‘is there a DeBoer problem’ post by @Haywarduck Coaching continuity matters and the more successful the program the harder it is to maintain (I suppose a better problem to have than the opposite dynamic). Hopefully folks are right that DL has some good folks in his network

Is he good? I keep thinking Spencer Rattler with the quality of OU quarterbacks (total aside, if true, Gabriel just inverted his school acronym: 1/OU for those mathematically inclined) which is probably unfair but it’s a thing.

@Haywarduck I think your take is right. Continuity of staff plays a massive role and one I would argue isn’t greatly appreciated. To your point, having coaching staff that intimately know a coach’s system makes it much easier to get up and running. And the coach having a staff he knows and trusts from a working relationship spanning years enables massive efficiencies DL OTOH didn’t have that. Some coaches have been newly promoted and are learning their roles (e.g., Lupoi) and most of leadership are learning how to work with each other That’s all a function of experience which is a derivative of time. DeBoer has advantages on all of those fronts much like Whittingham does at Utah. Coaches will get poached which means DL will need to also build a bench. But all told, this is something DL and his staff will traverse and the program will get even better because of the efficiencies gained in both identifying, ingratiating and improving their players (as well as their game planning and in-game/situational execution)

The B1G and SEC will regularly be putting three teams each into the playoffs. The Ducks have the talent, coaching and program to be a consistent top 3 team in the B1G. I do think the Ducks get past the Huskies next year. This was UW's year. They had a lot of bounces go their way this year and certainly last night (half second earlier and Penix fumbles vs incomplete pass and the entire game changes). The Ducks just never got the break they needed to make the Huskies chase the game which is entirely due to their slow start. The Huskies played out of their minds last night and that deserves a tip of the cap and an acknowledgement that isn't a sustainable recipe. A ton of teams in the B1G will have new QBs new next year so the Ducks won't per se be starting with a big disadvantage. Next year is year 3 under DL and the D will be even stouter (this is why we should all be bullish on the Ducks. Thier offense will still be good which will make them a force but defense wins championships). I don't think the DL and the Ducks have a UW problem. This was just UW's year. Everything that had to go right for them did. Magical seasons are like that. I earnestly believe this is the last year for the Huskies. It isn't that DeBoer won't field really good teams down the line but rather that DL is building a sustainable monster. It took Georgia a few years to slay the Alabama dragon. I'll conclude by saying this feels different. The Ducks' success is built on a sustainable formula the results of which are only getting better. Last night was hard but take heart in seeing the progression of DL. He learns, iterates and improves. If you gave me a choice of which program I would take between UW and the Ducks (set aside the animosity of rivalry and be objective) it would be the Ducks. And here's the thing, I would bet you deep down inside so would a lot of UW faithful.

I can't say one way or another if the loss was beneficial for the Ducks. It seems like they got more focused and determined but they seemed that way going in. What I can say is that UW seems to have been negatively impacted by their win. They just haven't been the same team since almost like they were playing not to lose and haven't handled the pressure of having to be perfect as gracefully as they could. My guess is that is all behind them now that it's done and the rematch is now in front of them. If for some reason UW still plays like it has of late, they are going to get destroyed by a Duck team that is so focused and *clearly* champing at the bit to avenge the loss in Seattle.

If you have a manager you love because, among other reasons, they are good people and support you in a way that allows you to perform your job at a high level, and you are pretty well compensated, I have no idea why you leap into this kind of opportunity. It's more money and likely access to better talent but you would be working for a manager who has no business being in the same sentence with your current one. IDK Yogi.

Remembering Mario's tenure with the Ducks, I feel like you could replace TVD with any starting QB and the sentiment would still ring true.

That kind of felt like an effort to reestablish the killer instinct post USC. Yes, it is a bad ASU team, but good teams do this to bad teams.

When your offense tends to look like/break down into backyard football, eventually one of those plays isn't going to turn out well.

Is there some rule that the Ducks aren't allowed to have a reliable kicker? Maybe it's selective memory but this seems to be an historical problem for the Ducks.

I read The Athletic's comment boards so you don't have to. Basically, TAM fans think they can get Lanning because 'oil money' can buy and sell Oregon at will. They will pay whatever money is needed to get their guy. I'm sure that last statement is entirely accurate. What they fail to mention is that money comes with huge strings in the form of boosters who think their money has bought them a seat at the table when deciding how to run your program. I don't know how many coaches would be willing to deal with that type of setup. Someone will take TAM's money but not sure DL is wired that way (nor Jonathan Smith for that matter).

@OregonDucks I agree you shut it down ASAP. I think the AD can make that super easy by him by giving him a raise and upping the buyout this week or early next.

Extending some comments…why coach at TAM when you can just poach their best players in the portal! In all seriousness, IIRC, didn’t DL ask for the $20MM buyout clause? If so (or at least spiritually accurate) that doesn’t sound like someone waiting to jump for the next shiny, high paid gig. The Ducks do need to crank his salary to that of a top 3 B1G coach (my logic is that you can make an argument the Ducks will be the third best team in the B1G next year, certainly not lower than sixth. The margin in that range IMHO is super thin)

@Log Haulin Quote feature not working on phone… I know the nature of the beast is to never shoot down a rumor that can lead to you getting paid more now or in the future so I won’t be shocked for him to let the chatter go unchallenged Have to figure TAM hires a coach before December to get in front of the portal opening. Or not. Either way it’s going to be an annoying few weeks

Because #5 in a road game at #12 isn’t all that interesting (conference championship implications make it even less so). The last two weeks of the PAC as we know it are going to be insane, must watch football (especially if UW loses and the Ducks win at ASU)

This is indeed something the Ducks will need to get used to. But it doesn’t make the take any less lazy. Oregon is rolling in talent, recruiting pipeline, NIL backing and will be in a conference that has as many paths/slots to the CFP as the SEC. DL is on the cusp of creating a perennial powerhouse. And he’s going to leave that for TAM? It’s honestly annoying. Of course it will be further fueled by DL not commenting on rumors blah blah blah (though it would be awesome for him to just come out and say ‘not happening’ to avoid the distraction of palace intrigue)

This game is really hard to read. My guess (fear) is it's going to go down to the wire with USC's offense breaking the Duck's D and USC's D rising up and playing just inspired enough to let USC hang around with the opportunity to snatch the game away at the very end. Or it could be a repeat of what ND did to them earlier this season. That's what you get with an insanely 1-dimensional team that is really, really good at one thing (scoring) and really, really bad at the other (defense). Even a slight departure from either norm has massive impact on how the game will go.

Ah, that I didn't know. That is definitely not a way I would want to show up (it isn't consistent with my value system)

Williams gave everything he had in that game and I am sure he is down on himself for the two mistakes he made that ‘cost’ his team the game (only because their D is beyond porous). He clearly wanted that game and a shot at the P12 title and because he wasn’t perfect he didn’t realize that goal. I can totally understand his reaction. To want something so badly and to give everything you have to get it only to fall just short would gut anyone. I can’t think of many people that age with the emotional control to hug it out at the end of the game.

Very true. Wilcox was certainly a divisive choice versus a consensus messiah. But there was a very powerful minority that fell victim to it (and IIRC, almost won out. Not sure if the ‘offer extended/not extended’ story was ever verified’) Anyhow, all’s well that ends well!

It makes me think of that Dr Pepper commercial where people are freaking out/rending their garments only for someone to note it was just the first play of the game

Perfect example of confirmation bias and nostalgia being the handmaidens of poor decision making The powers that be at Miami saw what they wanted to see in Mario and seemingly disregarded the obvious red flags. Had Mario not played at Miami I don’t think they hire him. Now those flaws that were always and quite plainly visible are showing up as we all told them they would Lest we get too high on schandenfreude, there was a very vocal effort to hire Wilcox for not too dissimilar reasons. Thank goodness that didn’t happen