CalBear95

Here’s the truth: you finish top 3 in the B1G or SEC, you are in the playoffs. Finishing 4th isn’t even automatically disqualifying The Ducks are a top 4 team in the B1G and maybe even top 3. If DL gets his defense where he wants it they are going to be fine (i.e., won’t look like Iowa or Penn State)

A little of topic but DeBoer made end of game decisions that should have cost his team the game. It was serious cognitive dissonance to see someone who is such a good coach (1) not force Texas to burn their second timeout knowing that recovering the imminent onside post a Texas score would enable victory formation and (2) running any non-kneel down thereby enabling the injury stoppage risk. Flat out terrible coaching and he got really lucky to escape

Wanted to pull this out to expand on thoughts. If you hang with foodies they will say sous vide is played out and...that's true in terms of the pros. Everyone was using sous vide on everything and it got a bit overkill. But it isn't any less magical for us home chefs with the 'pick the temp and nail it' goodness. Fish? Check. Pork? Yessir. Even custards and duck confit. Never overcook again and tackle things that are really hard to get right from a temperature standpoint. And it still renders fat which is a huge deal. As I mentioned in another thread, the only issue w/sous vide for anything that requires a good searing is the water content the process imparts to the meat. Even if you dry off the steak post water bath, there is still a bit of moisture on the surface and that causes the pan to lose heat when boiling it off. That loss of heat slows the onset of the Maillard reaction ever so much causing it to kick in at a slightly non-optimal temp. Reverse searing offers the same temp control but better browning as there is no moisture on the outside steak's surface. The downside of reverse searing is the timing and that isn't an immaterial concern. It isn't an exact cook time making it hard to land any other dishes concurrently with your steak. Sous vide, OTOH, has a very definite, chef defined end time which allows for easy side dish coordination. Ultimately, I find it comes down to what you are willing to trade-off (timing and managing a full 3+ dish mean is probably the hardest thing to do especially if you are the only one cooking as everything tends to culminate at the same time). If you do try the reverse sear, I would definitely suggest a Bluetooth thermometer like the Meater which helps reduce some of the ambiguity around the cook time. But given the choice between cooking in a pan or on a grill end to end, I'll definitely take sous vide.

@DrJacksPlaidPants if you are grilling then absolutely the simpler the better. A couple things to suggest (and I’ve done) when cooking steaks. Reverse searing and finishing off (i.e., searing) however you like. The science on this cooking method is literally undeniable. Keeping the cook within the temperature band that enables a tender and juicy steak for as long as possible cannot be beaten. Also, for pan, induction is far superior to open flame because the temperature control is insanely accurate. And if there isn’t a sauce you are making with the pan drippings, butter and aromatics are the way to go (and bear in mind any sauce will have some type of dairy cream so you’re getting it one way or another). I used to own a BGE and am definitely a fan of using that to sear off the reverse seared or sous vide steak (the major downside of the latter method is the moisture on the steak’s surface which will rob the heat source of its initial temp as energy is expended to boil it off. Reverse searing, by contrast, yields a dry surface and immediately initiates the Maillard reaction and optimizes its outcome). Total aside, the best Prime Rib of your life is to salt and pepper it 24 hours before cooking, let it dry on a wire rack in the refrigerator, when you want to cook it put it in the freezer and let the first ⅛th inch get to ~36 degrees, pan sear it for texture and then cook it at 275 until about 120/25 internal. It works for the very same reason reverse searing does. All about the staying in that enzyme temp band for as long as possible. Do I spend a lot of time on this and the science of cooking? Yes. Yes, I do.

Slow your roll there…a pan fried steak can blow the doors off one cooked on the BBQ. Ever had Onglet or the piece de resistance of pan fried, Steak au Poivre? And since you opened the door to this question let’s talk best cuts. For me the top 3 are in ascending order: 3) Skirt 2) Ribeye (especially the lip) 1) Hanger If you don’t know what Hanger steak is you need to get yourself educated. It is a blend of the best aspects of Skirt, Ribeye, and Filet. Easily the best steak on any list, walking away

@Just Ducky No way do college coaches put in more hours than their peers in the NFL. And even if we were to agree the total hours invested were equal (and they aren’t), those hours are not made equally The NFL is a full time business ranging from player evaluation, roster construction, player development, motivating well paid men with huge egos, scheme development and, of course, game day coaching. Outside of the game day coaching, that’s the job 365 DaY. And bear in mind the salary cap and the degree of parity it enables makes that job all the harder The NFL is just at another level of intensity and it’s why I think college coaches can’t make the transition and why the coaches in the league come from within that system. My take anyhow

So, so many successful college coaches have gone to the NFL only to come back with their tails tucked between their legs. Kirby’s mentor is exhibit A of don’t forget how good you’ve got it. I would be shocked if Kirby went to the NFL. He’s got a sweet gig.

@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)