Warrenton

This is not a good situation so close to early signing day.

Justin Wilcox and Kalani Sitake both turned us down. I haven't seen any reporting on Chip Kelly yet but who knows who else declined. It's shocking to be honest. Hiring an a 3-year assistant who's never been a head coach may have been one of the few real options after MC torched the place.

Not sure. MC couldn't beat Shaw or Whittingham on the field so we bring in a kid in his 30s with no coaching experience and think he'll be able to do it. I like all the optimism around here but I think it's a long shot. We'll find out soon.

Sorry, just not seeing it. USC hires a coach who took his team to the CFP three times. We hire a rookie with only three years experience as an assistant and never been in charge of anything. Just call me concerned.

I'm not sure you're being objective. The Oregon job is head and shoulders above coaching in the likes of Waco, Morgantown, Lubbock, etc. for a multitude of reasons. Have you ever been to any of these towns?

Not sure if you pay attention to leadership in the PAC-12, but PAC-12 Presidents want to affiliate with other institutions with strong academic credentials. That's always been important whenver the PAC-12 condsidered expansion.

Also you would have to be brain dead to want to coach Cincy, Okla St, West Virginia, BYU, Texas Tech, Baylor, etc. over Oregon.

An HC hire can't be about one game, especially an OOC game. Also, the Big 12 is losing Texas and Oklahoma so it's basically morphing into a glorified G5 league. The PAC-12 will be a lot more attractive moving forward than the Big 12. There's isn't a school in the Big 12 that wouldn't jump on it in a second if the PAC-12 invited them. The PAC unlikely to invite any of those schools, however, because they don't bring much to the table and they're garbage academically.

Cincy about to get beat by Alabama though. That's going to make a coach like Fickel do some thinking.

Good post. I'm sure there will also be some more guys jump into the portal after this like Noah.

Head coaches absolutely matter. A bad head coach can set a program back for years, even big-time blueblood programs. Look what happened to USC after Carroll left.

It all depends on what type of system and what type of offense Lanning's going to want to run.

My mistake, I thought Chip had been the HC at New Hampshire. But like Riley, Chip took over at Oregon already an assistant here with the culture and system in place. He didn't need to rebuild.

Chip Kelly would disagree.

What's more, Riley was an assistant at Oklahoma when the previous HC retired. Riley took over a program that was in very good shape and already had almost everything in place. Riley didn't have to rebuild or reshape at all.

The great head coaches of this era -- Saban, Meyer, etc. -- went to small schools to learn to become good HCs before winning natties for big programs. Meyer coached at Ball St. and Saban at Toldeo for example. Going from assistant straight to a big-time program -- not only running it but rebuilding it from the ground up -- is a very tall order. The odds are against this guy.

D+

He's never been in charge of anything. Plenty of assistants kill it at that level but are a joke when they're in charge of a large operation.

Luke Fickell

It's strange at this level to hand the reigns over to an unknown. I know it works at times but it's extremely risky.

Are you sure anyone's worried about a guy most people have never heard of with little head coaching experience? I don't know....

Sorry, that's just how I see it. Lanning has no significant head coaching experience and now he's going up against guys like Lincoln Riley, Whittingham, Shaw etc. This ain't ideal....

I remember that season and Fentress sticking up Helf. I also remember Fentress getting into Twitter wars with Wazzu fans and Utah fans after those teams beat us telling those fans their team wasn't very good and to stick it. I still think that was kind of strange and unprofessional.

Atlanta Journal >>> Fentress

I know it's ultimately Phil's decision, but I wish he would at least consider what the fans want before making choices that are so huge for the program. C'mon Uncle Phil, don't live in the past by going back to Chip Kelly. Listen to us. The fans are the lifeblood of the program.