Smith72

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.

I've seen this myself 13 Years ago. A high school athlete is told they're NFL talent by private coaches. This over-inflated ego leads to transferring when first college experience is not starting! These private coaches and 7 on 7 teams tell their clients what they want to hear. Their income relies upon this. I've had numerous students sold on this dream. Whether it was Classic soccer, AAU basketball, or 7-on-7 football, the sad truth is only 2% of high school athletes play college sports. And only 2% of college athletes have a professional career.

Wow! You stated so perfectly the conditions of college Football as it stands now. And, you proposed solutions that keep College Football as a student-athlete endeavor not a professional farm system for the NFL. Order, ethics, and integrity are too important to do nothing! I would nominate you as the Commissioner for this Run For The Roses Alliance. The perfect leader to return Real College Football!

Er....rubber BBs on the synthetic turf!

The sum of the parts is greater than the whole! TEAM That's why Helton at USC was never a complete team. Excellent points Haywarduck! I always appreciate your contributions to the Forum With Decorum.

I was impressed by the constant and various pressure on the QB in the championship game. That will be a welcome change from the passive defense of the Cristobal years. Hopefully no more successful 3rd and long conversions! Will the defensive backs do more man coverage? Does Oregon have DB's with the talent to execute man coverage? Giving a 10 yard cushion to a wide receiver in a soft zone coverage was not a good pass defense! Oregon has had lock down corners in the past. My favorite Ifo (IEO). What are the strengths and schemes of the defensive passing coaches? It would be another good article to add to the previous ones. Thanks for helping me to Understand the Lanning defense!

Easier to read is always welcome! Thank you Charles!

"Over the past four years I was trying to convince people of the reality of what Cristobal intended over the long term with the Oregon offense, but the typical fan was unconvinced. " Charles you were correct! You can take comfort in knowing that a prophet is seldom honored in his home town. You weren't alone in your evaluation of Cristo-ball. This off season will be exciting with all the articles about the offense Dillingham will bring and the aggressive schemes of the Lanning defense. Spring practices will be exciting to see, read about, and find out how Exciting Duck football will look in 2022!

Thanks for posting the link Principal Duck. I think the court ruling never imagined these kind of consequences to their decision. Humans take something the players deserve for their talent, hard work, and entertainment they provide. Then turn it into something ugly and crass. I for sure will be rooting for every team that plays against Texas A&M and the University of Texas. "Oh what a tangled web we weave when at first we start to deceive." Sir Walter Scott in the poem "Marmion" 1808. The beginning of the end of college football! Get ready for AAA farm club football system just like we have in baseball. I guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts! Just my opinion. Feeling sad for the future of student athletes!