Smith72

A very good friend of mine worked for one of the three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Oregon. One of his last jobs before semi-retirement was to teach the company's new managers and top level employees the "Culture" of the company. In other words "what to expect" and the "company way" to do things. A very important task! The articles that covered the culture that Dan Lanning is bringing to the Oregon football team leads me to hope for his success. Those articles give me hope and something to look forward to as Spring practices unfold and we get to see the "Lanning Culture" developed and revealed! Go Ducks!

Nakobe Dean got in the face of Tindall, who then responded to the defensive leader by pinning the ‘Tide back. Every team can only hope to create a unique player such as Dean, but also have players who will react in a positive way to such leadership. Another example is when linebacker Nolen Smith explained… “I do exactly what he (Dean) tells me.” Great players will do great things for great leaders. Excellent article describing real leadership. Built upon trust and respect developed over hours and hours of working together "doing the right thing" for the team! The goal of every organization, group, and family is the love of each other for the common good. There's no greater feeling than being part of something that is greater than the sum of its parts!

"These Georgian conditioning runs were seemingly built to either break players, or create leaders who push and pull their teammates to the finish." Conditioning is tough! Doing it is hard. Without it you can't prevail. Talent and scheme will only take you so far. Against equal or better teams you have to be in great condition! You are correct Charles in reporting that some players may not want to pay the price. But the rewards are worth every second of gut wrenching conditioning!

Great second half with good ball movement and passing. Good effort on defense in the 2nd half. But what was the final free throw %?

Team building, connection, bonding - the secret to TEAM. I remember when Mike Bellotti turned around the Oregon team with a similar approach. Great article Charles! Kirby Smart's “return on investment showed up almost immediately on film, with the camaraderie and bonding between this squad.” You identified the key to success in team sports! Thanks for doing all the research talking with Georgia fans!

Thank you 30Duck for the updates!

Thanks McDuck for info on Buttetfield's comment! I wondered where he was.

Great pictures of coaches and players! Dan Lanning era begins on the field as Oregon Ducks open spring practice WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM The Ducks opened spring practice outside at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex for the first of two helmets-only practices before a two-week...

Another excellent article Joshua! Football fans get ready for Spring practices and discussions here on Our Beloved Duck Forum. I'm looking forward to speedy open receivers, runners attacking the whole width of the football field, and an up tempo offense from Dillingham! The era of Dan Lanning Duck football starts tomorrow! Quack!

Darren, thanks for writing all these great articles! Another excellent piece today. You said, " When, in reality, the best thing you can do for your brand is to leave everything you have on the field. Otherwise, you are just putting the cart in front of the horse." I couldn't have said it any better! Let your actions on the field speak for who you are! There is entirely too much talk aka "self promotion" in the world today.

Thanks Hayward Duck! You hit the nail on the head concerning talent. God given talent isn't enough. You're correct in noting "curiosity" as very important to develop that natural talent. May I add to your excellent discourse by suggesting "competitiveness". It also is within an athlete. The desire to never quit until you have prevailed. I believe it can be helped by the right coach, teacher, or mentor. In high school and college I didn't have it - good but not great. For me it was a good friend who helped me to develop that competitive spirit. Nothing like an early morning handball court fighting for every point to turn up my " fire". An hour twice a week for months did it for me. I saw "it" watching my granddaughter during a gymnastics practice. The end of a 2 hour class culminated with a competition - who would be the last one hanging on the uneven parallel bars? I could see it on her face - no one was going to beat her!

Air Raid or Ground and Pound? Neither! Successful offenses can do both. They have to be able to do both. Balance and being unpredictable is the best. Keeping the defense confused, and scheming for mismatches preferred. Please no more "prevent offense"!

Attacking not reacting. Quick explosive not catching blocks. Creating havoc not playing soft waiting for an offense to eventually make a mistake! Sounds like a philosophy that our young guns will love to play! I will be excited to see this development in Spring drills! Thanks for introducing us to the concept Charles!

Cooper Kupp was slower than many in the draft. Speed is great but explosive cuts and knowing how to get open made him MVP of the Super Bowl! Cota's experience will help the Receiver room.

Chase Cota looks to be a competitor with good hands! An asset for the Ducks! Welcome!

The low scoring offense the last few years along with a head coach adverse to the risk of letting our talented backups get playing time was a problem. Hopefully a higher scoring offense under coach Dillingham will allow the backup to get live game playing time. This should help with future player development!

Thanks for another wonderful article Eric! You really did whet my appetite. I can't wait to see the improvement to Oregon's offense from Coach Dillingham. Imagine actual!y "scheming" instead of just being tougher! "...a balanced offense with plays that are built around its playmakers." "This idea of scheming an individual open actually extends to every eligible receiver on the offense. That goes for the running backs and every one of the wide receiver positions. Yes, there will be a progression that the quarterback goes through, but each play will be called to get a certain player open." WOW! Go Ducks!

Super bowl LVI was a winner! Defense can win championships. So looking forward to the Dan Lanning era!

Two exciting complete teams - offense and defense! Cooper Kupp good hands, explosive cuts, and fantastic receiver! Tough defense wins championships! Cincinnati has a great defense too. Aaron Donald put the game in his hands to win and he did! Excellent game to watch ! Super fun!

Thanks jrw! You said, "I wonder, too, if "filling the sleeve" came at the expense of flexibility in conditioning". A few years back a new coach at McMinnville high school had his team of players doing massive amounts of pushups. Several players were hospitalized. Much concern from parents! It seems that "filling the sleeves" can have serious consequences! Oh how I miss the functional strength coach Jimmy Radcliffe. He wrote the book on Plyometrics! Strength is important but flexibility and ability to move quickly is also important.

A result of Cristobal’s emphasis on Physicality or Bad Luck? I wish I knew. My internal ponderings lead me to conclude that there were too many injuries to Oregon football players during 2021 to attribute to bad luck. When reading practice reports from https://goducks.com, it seemed every practice began with one-on-one match ups to develop “Physicality”. Too many Oregon football players were unavailable to play this season. The Alamo Bowl at the end saw many starters sidelined and replaced by walk-ons. It is always a fine line for coaches to walk. My experience as a high school coach was to have one day of the week as a physical practice. We called it Tough Tuesday. On other days drills and scrimmages were conducted with less physicality – against bags or thud tempo. I know there are coaches who take this approach. The NFL limits contact during the week. They are gifted athletes who know the fundamentals. Of course there are many coaches who believe that the more physical you are the better your team will be. Common Terms for type of activity during practice: Full contact – Live game simulations where live action occurs (11-on-11). Live action – Contact at game speed where players execute full tackles at a competitive pace, taking players to the ground. Air – Players should run unopposed without bags or any opposition. Bags – Activity is executed against a bag, shield or pad to allow for a soft-contact surface, with or without the resistance of a teammate or coach standing behind the bag. Wrap – Drills run at full speed until contact, which is above the waist with the players remaining on their feet. Thud – Same as a wrap but the tempo is competitive with no pre-determined winner and the players are not tackling to the ground My personal opinion is that bodies that have been stressed to the max with full contact can lead to an injury later in a non-contact drill. I recall that happening to several starters this past year. If players are demanded to physically push their bodies through contact drills and scrimmages daily something has to give. Here is a collection of recommendations of football practice activity. The first one is from the Alabama High School Athletic Association, followed by Texas University Interscholastic League, the Ivy League, and the PAC-12. Here is a study published in May, 2016 by a team of Harvard researchers. Full-Contact Practice and Injuries in College Football These researchers concluded that increased exposure to full-contact practices and scrimmages contributed to an increase in injuries. What do you think? Was Oregon the recipient of an inordinate amount of bad luck? Or did beating up on each other daily to prove how physical you were lead to the large numbers of injuries during the 2021 season?

Wow! Awesome interviews! I finally got the time to listen to complete video. We Oregon Duck fans are blessed to have this group of coaches and and staff!

The ability to use 12 personnel in various positions coupled with up tempo prevents defenses from situational substituting. Stress is put on the defense as they adjust their call to account for the new formation. Then mismatches are created. Advantage Offense! A major improvement in offense from the previous 4 years. Tight Ends are big multi-talented athletes. Thanks for researching and sharing this article Coach Eric!

Canzano writes a good personal article about one of my favorite Ducks of all time! Excellent look into this outstanding man!

"Finding high-quality talent and enabling them to earn their money based off their performance is a far more sustainable long-term investment..." Excellent summary and article David! "Are their 3,000 high paying NIL deals? Not a chance. If only 2% of high school athletes get scholarships then these youngsters have already hit the lottery. " I agree with you HappyToBeADuck, there will be many disappointed portal players! Greater character for most portal players is shown by working hard, learning as much as you can by staying, and contributing to the building of a TEAM! Life long attributes that you will appreciate.