FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted March 14 Recently I posted the beginning of a planned multiple article look into Dan Lanning’s goal to elevate Oregon Football from Good to Elite in the OBD forum. Today I want to begin focusing on areas of improvement, starting with the external. When I spoke to Mr. FishDuck about this topic, he took time aside from his fun at IPL betting ... Dan Lanning’s Pursuit of Elite: Areas of Improvement | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Recently I posted the beginning of a planned multiple article look into Dan Lanning’s goal to elevate Oregon Football from Good to Elite in... 1 1 2 1 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 2 Share Posted March 14 Duckster, great article, direct and to the point. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The right players that fit the scheme who are developed to execute that scheme is just one step in the progression to being elite. Annual top 5 recruiting classes, coupled with key portal transfers will help create a 2 deep roster of future NFL players. This year 3 departing Ducks will be drafted in the first 2 rounds. Thsy number needs to grow. Georgia and Bama have had years that saw 10 plus players drafted! To be elite and win a Natty, you have to field a team thst can beat The Dawgs, Bama and other elites. It appears that DL is heading in that direction........ Last step to being elite is to win THE BIG GAMES. DL and staff have not done that, yet. Beating Michigan and tOSU and winning the BIG will be a great start. And for goodness sake can we please beat the huskies. 3 losses in a row to those........? GO DUCKS! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 3 Share Posted March 14 Agree about development of abilities and culture. A coach has to develop the abilities and culture of a program and that was sorely lacking with the last coach. I also agree the chasing of stars was misguided. One only has to look at the 2020 class where we recruited extremely well at WR, but missed Odunze as a lesser recruit. The key to me, he was a track athlete. Rome ran track and was a grinder. We went after more highly sought after recruits, who proved to have less of the 'it' factor. What I see on the team now is speed, at most all positions. You have a Devon Jackson who ran a 10.5 in high school at LB. He was rated as raw, and that is what we need to see developed. We also need to see that grinder mentality from these new guys. I see the talent, speed, we need, but the question is can Lanning pick the hungry guys, and keep that craving within the players, or do they just get comfortable with all the NIL and comforts our program has? I think the trick will be Lannings ability to negotiate through this new phase of fat and content college players. Saban left because of it, and many programs are struggling because of it. Will Lanning be the guy who knows how to maneuver through the new college football landscape? 1 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDuck No. 4 Share Posted March 14 Numerous studies in Leadership and the corporate world show that a bunch of average brains will outperform a group of MIT, Cal Tech, Harvard, etc. elites, if they work better as a team. Fit for the scheme, development, etc. blow away a high load of "stars". Coaching continuity is important. Saban had a culture that could sustain that despite losing coordinators and assistants annually. A testament to why he truly is the GOAT, hopefully Lanning can replicate that culture, and perhaps retain assistants at a higher rate. $$$? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 5 Share Posted March 14 I do want to say that Duckster pointed out the recruiting differences and results superbly, and it was both informative and fun to read his article. Duckster is actually someone who wrote articles for FishDuck years ago, and has been in our forum community as well. He wrote an outstanding post a week ago that as Jon Joseph said, "is an article in itself." Very true, so let's make his posts as articles again! I want to thank him, and say that I was very pleased to get in touch and chat with him about his articles and Our Beloved Ducks. Duckster is truly a great Oregon fan as are the readers. 4 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 6 Share Posted March 14 And...I appreciate everyone being patient with the gambling site reference sentence at the beginning of many of our articles. The one today is a gambling site in India, and the SEO Marketing company setting this up and paying me by PayPal is in the Baltic country of Estonia. (City of Tallinn) As you know--these are real articles created for our reading audience, and by slipping in the backlinks--it helps their SEO profile with Google, and helps me pay the bills of the two sites. Tallinn, Estonia 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 7 Share Posted March 14 Thank you, Duckster. Terrific article right out of the starting gate. IPL betting cricket? I sure hope Charles can avoid all of those sticky wickets. IMO, Nick Saban is the CFB head coach GOAT and it isn't that close. One measure of his greatness, Saint Nick went 5-1 vs Kirby Smart. In the number of appearances and championships, Bama dominated the 4-team playoff. Saban's teams excelled year after year notwithstanding annual turnover among the assistant coaches, many of whom have done very well in their new jobs. And reaching out to help rehabilitate 'fallen coaches.' Kiffin, Sark, Locksley, etc., benefitted Nick no doubt but also helped resurrect many a career. Good critique of Mari(o.) Recruiting champ and coaching chump. 2020 was a lost class. Robbie Ashford is now playing ball at USC(e) and is in the running to start for the Gamecocks. Danno already showed me coaching chops. Dilly left for his dream job. Stein came in from the G5 and the O posted better numbers. 5 losses in 2 seasons. 3 to UW by a total of 9 points. Fisch has his hands full in Seattle. Zero starters return on the O side of the football. I think Oregon will give Ohio State all that it can handle when the Buckeyes visit on 10/12. 11 wins a spot in the B1G champ game and a playoff bid are all in the cards in 2024. In the first 12-team playoff I think we will see Oregon with the B1G 1st round bye or a 1st round home game. (IMO, there will be two 12-team playoffs and 2 only.) Thanks again, Duckster, and as noted above, it's great to have you on board the good ship OBD. 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 8 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2024 at 12:31 PM, Charles Fischer said: And...I appreciate everyone being patient with the gambling site reference sentence at the beginning of many of our articles. The one today is a gambling site in India, and the SEO Marketing company setting this up and paying me by PayPal is in the Baltic country of Estonia. (City of Tallinn) As you know--these are real articles created for our reading audience, and by slipping in the backlinks--it helps their SEO profile with Google, and helps me pay the bills of the two sites. Tallinn, Estonia The Wide World of Sports. Where's Jim McKay? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 9 Share Posted March 14 Great article Duckster. True college football fans who really scrutinize the details appreciate the in depth analysis of what made those recruiting classes truly succeed or not. I was in a debate on a YouTube video regarding what Cam Ward's upcoming season would potentially look like and oh boy, those Miami fans are a special kind of delirious. You'd think Mario was some kind of deity to them. Despite tons of proof that QBs regularly regress under his regimes they put their heads in the sand. Poor Cam, unless some miraculous change happens he has probably cost himself a lot of NFL money when he finally goes to the draft. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike West No. 10 Share Posted March 14 Another juicy article Duckster!!! So much to chew on... simple, direct, precise. I have to think this one over a bit. I recall the nail biting be we all felt before the last PAC12 title game he ever. I had an all 22 look from one of the endzones. I was worried sick all game because I saw a familiar flaw that resembled a throwback to Chip versus David Shaw back to back years. Might write an article about it. You're on point though...NIL is running the show. Culture, identity and talent really matter. Philosophy, and game chops matter as well. You hit the bullseye on Sewell. He was a fish out of water in Lanning's scheme. As was Mase Funa. Lanning has his boys on defense. The body type, the athletic type etc. He only pursued two baddies on the interior defensive line. He has to replace four very stout guys. Is that a sign he believes he's got the boys he needs to execute his scheme? A title team needs a money QB, and a monster front seven. Check and IDK. The one thing those Fuskies had over us was they controlled the line of scrimmage all three games. It's a wonder Bo and company dropped thirty plus all three games. It seemed like the secondary was the weakness. But in actuality, Michael Penix rarely hit the turf. I have my preferences for running a defense, but it's not my call. But the QB can't be comfortable all game. His butt needs to hit the ground...often. For me, OBD needs to keep a powerful offense at 21-23 points. By any means necessary. Lanning is a defensive guy, who was smart enough to hire a powerful OC. Let's see if he can give his offense the opportunity to score 23-28 on an elite defense. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 11 Share Posted March 14 Mike, if you or ANYONE has an article in them on these tasty topics-send it to me in an email! charles@fishduck.com Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster No. 12 Share Posted March 15 Thanks for the great replies fellas. Happy, Hayward and J-Duck, agree that Lanning is (at three years in) starting to build the roster in his image as opposed to trying to mix and match the pieces left to him by previous regimes. The "speed kills" emphasis is apparent and will be one of the good sub-plots to follow in the spring game. Also, 100% agree on the need for some grinders to give the lineup some salt. Can Lanning find that next Nick Reed? Lion hearts like that are sometimes harder to acquire than 5 star's ... the rarest of breeds. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster No. 13 Share Posted March 15 Hey Kirkland. Yes, our boy Mario will once again win the offseason and get his fan base all fired up for next season. Problem is, this is the very same rinse/ repeat Mario that will have that very same fan base at Miami tearing their hair out by week 4 with all his boneheaded coaching blunders, questionable schemes (the Pistol Plunge!!), and overall undisciplined yet never addressed level of play by his entire team. So, so glad that chapter of Oregon football is over. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster No. 14 Share Posted March 15 Jon and Mike ... good to be back in the fold fella's. Big Charles ... (dare I channel my inner Andy Bernard and go full on "Big Tuna?") ... he'll likely ban me. But while boarding his flight to Estonia, Charles reached out with a generous offer of his time and skills and got me writing again. Much has changed since I last wrote for the site, but the people here are the best, and I missed being part of the FishDuck community. I like your confidence Jon and am hopeful our first year in the B1G mirrors what you have predicted. I'm always more the doubting Thomas type by nature so am concerned with the degree of travel next year and the overall schedule. You outlined a few weeks back that 8 game gauntlet of games the Ducks must navigate without a bye. Daunting task! I fear that they may not have the roster depth this year (because you know injuries will spike with all that travel) to weather that storm. They could possibly be a better team with a worse record? And Mike ... you're spot on brother. I was making some notes to feature in my next post around this topic and the D-line was high on my list. Tosh and Dan still have some major work to do on the D side of the ball. Time for those guys to shine. And lastly, those Stanford losses ... they STILL STING!! I live about 20 minutes from the farm, and brutally had to attend a seminar at Stanford the Monday after one of those debacles, forced to listen to all the high minded conversations ( aka' Gasbags) about the "Greatness of The Cardinal." Still haunted by the memory ... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 15 Share Posted March 15 Thanks, Duckster for the reply comment. I love it when authors respond to the comments. In the nine-game 5/4 home and away B1G game rota, Oregon does have five in Autzen in 2024 and one of the five road games is in LA (Pasadena) vs UCLA. There is no trip to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, no trips to Rutgers or Maryland. What is difficult about the travel? Not having two home games back-to-back after Michigan State on 10/5 and Ohio State on 10/12. And having to travel every other week in the last six weeks of the 8-team gauntlet beginning 10/19 Purdue, then 11/2 Michigan, and 11/16 Wisconsin. This yo-yo has the Ducks playing twice in the Eastern time zone and once in the Central time zone. The game vs Wisconsin on 11/16 is a weather alert game. This is NFL 'stuff;' except, late in the season NFL teams for the most part are playing division foes in the same time zone or once removed. Ideally, the first Idle week should have come after the Michigan State and Ohio State games, games five and six, and not after game three. Traveling to Purdue after Ohio State makes the Boilermakers game a trap game. I am optimistic. The Ducks Blue Chip Roster will be better than every team on the schedule except for Ohio State. When was the last time the Buckeyes experienced a conference game in a 'small' rowdy stadium? There are smaller stadia in the B1G, but not one of the smaller venues has an Autzen Zoo atmosphere. Mega-conference intra-conference strength of schedule will vary widely. In the B1G, every team misses eight teams every season. In the SEC it's seven teams missed. To wit, in 2025 Oregon plays neither Michigan nor Ohio State. 2024 does feature a very difficult schedule and you are spot on regarding injuries rearing their ugly head. And what could have been eight home games? Like Ohio State plays in 2024. Oh, well. Vandalize the Vandals! Thanks again for the terrific article. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster No. 16 Share Posted March 16 Great intel Jon. Didn't realize Ducks miss both OSU and Michigan in 25'. Maybe that's our year, with Donte Moore leading the Ducks into immortality. A week three bye, along with the unbelievable, head scratching scheduling by Rob Mullins, with his late shoe-horned "away" in Corvallis, are both annoying. I think Mullins bowed to the external political pressures surrounding the Duck's departure from the Pac-12, and ultimately felt Oregon would be best served by throwing the Beavers a bone. Otherwise, that game makes no sense. Personally, I think they the two schools should have taken a year off and let things cool down before re-establishing a workable resumption of the rivalry. Many will cry "Tradition!" ... but tradition died with the demise of the conference. I expect a lot of bad blood and cheap shots in this years edition, above and beyond what constitutes a vintage rivalry game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
