New quotes from June, when Oregon was lagging in recruiting and USC fans were loving it.

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"Are Nike’s sales down? Uncle Phil’s impact/clout seems to be diminishing."

"Nike U never wins anything except changing uniforms combinations…."

"Yes, other schools are upping their NIL to match what Oregon had been doing all along in recent years. If the Zeroes are not in position to up theirs even higher in response does possibly place it as NIL related. Just very unusual for them to have so many misses on bidding wars with USC, Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M to name a few recently."

"I think Oregon has been slow to adapt to 2025's recruiting budget norms with so many schools now having large warchests, and it's possible they've been conservative due to the house settlement. Hard to say, but it's glorious to watch."

"I think if Phil was pulling back on NIL, the zeroes wouldn’t have grabbed 3 of the top OL, top safety and one of the top RBs in the portal among others. I’m only speculating here but I think Oregon’s recruiting failures are more about a change in strategy around HS kids than a lack of funding. I’d love to be wrong."

Trojans Feeling Their Feminine Energy....

They go to a ton of trouble to 'diss us! (But I guess I'm nobody to talk)

If Championships were won in August, SUC would rival the 60's Celtics! We are coming down to the final month of Delusion Season and SUC once again reigns supreme. Last year they were just one, two maybe five, six or possibly fifteen, twenty plays away from a glorious playoff run. I wonder what 1,2,5,6,15,20 plays it will be this year. They have a mine field to get through just to reach .500. Here's a look at it.

Georgia Southern: Their old coach returns with his scrappy little team. I expect Riley to get out coached as he costs his team a few times trying to prove himself. I'm calling giving up a pick six on 4th and goal right now.

Michigan State: Jonathan Smith year two will be a dangerous animal. Again expect Riley to be way out coached and possibly even go down. Bring back Helton chant is heard for the first time.

At Illinois: On the road against a potential top 15-25 team. I'd book this one as a loss even if SUC brings their A game.

Michigan: UM will be looking for a We're back! game and this one would fit the shoe. Hel ton! Hel ton! Hel ton! I can hear it now.

At Notre Dame: Again over their heads even bringing A game.

At Nebraska: The fifth gauntlet game in a row. This shouldn't be a tough game but will be. As confidence wanes, SUCs B game looks more like their C game and it costs them on the road.

Iowa: Of all the teams to try to get right again against, Iowa isn't who you want. A frustratingly disciplined team doesn't go away and again getting out coached. Disappointed SUC fans purchase Helton tee shirts from a savy street vendor on their way home.

At OBD: At this point, I almost feel sorry SUC fans. Almost!

UCLA: Like a garden rake to the nads, SUC over looks danger beneath their feet and pays the price.

After another humiliating season is done, SUC fires Riley, hires Chip and the 2026 Delusion Bowl Champions will be excitedly hoisting that invisible trophy yet again.

As if the Ducks are the only team standing between the Toejams and the Promised Land......delusional. If, God forbid, we melt down, there are 20+ other teams better than the Trojans, even in their "renewal phase."

I find it amusing that we constantly live in their heads. At some point their fans need to realize that they need better coaching and players.

They are now throwing around money, and are accumulating talent, good for them.

They really should be asking themselves whether Riley is the guy to turn all the money into a championship team. From what I can see, the longer he stays, the worse they get.

7 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

"Yes, other schools are upping their NIL to match what Oregon had been doing all along in recent years. If the Zeroes are not in position to up theirs even higher in response does possibly place it as NIL related. Just very unusual for them to have so many misses on bidding wars with USC, Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M to name a few recently."

I know this would sound crazy to a USC fan... but maybe Oregon doesn't just throw money and outright buy players? Maybe they actually recruit players based on other criteria?

Yeah.. no USC fan would buy that.

They have always bought players and they don't understanding that players sometimes play for something other than money.

15 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

New quotes from June, when Oregon was lagging in recruiting and USC fans were loving it.

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"I think if Phil was pulling back on NIL, the zeroes wouldn’t have grabbed 3 of the top OL, top safety and one of the top RBs in the portal among others. I’m only speculating here but I think Oregon’s recruiting failures are more about a change in strategy around HS kids than a lack of funding. I’d love to be wrong."

This is the correct answer. I think the Oregon staff is making wiser use of their NIL dollars. Likely spending the lion's share on proven players. I'm sure there are a few HS players who will be deemed worthy of some NIL deals, but we'll see who they are when DL starts flipping guys in December.

I was listening to a Dabo Swinney interview. As many of you may or may not know, he has taken some heat for taking his time in adapting to the use of NIL for recruiting. He has now adopted this same philosophy. He doesn't use NIL to recruit kids out of high school. It's only for proven players either already on the team or transfer portal targets.

The general strategy seems to be to simply spend the bigger $$ on players who will play right away, regardless of how old they are, but there are no absolutes or simple formulas. USC has an incredible HS class. We’ll see if spending a ton on HS talent upfront is a whiff in short order.

Although at a different scale and out of necessity, I think our buddy at CU was ahead of the curve on this front.

This is what will happen-USC will go 8-5 and Oregon 12+ wins and a run at the National title. Those freshman that chose USC over Oregon will not transfer to Oregon (or other better programs) and Riley will have to start all over again. It just breaks my heart!

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Duckman60

1 hour ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

The general strategy seems to be to simply spend the bigger $$ on players who will play right away, regardless of how old they are, but there are no absolutes or simple formulas. USC has an incredible HS class. We’ll see if spending a ton on HS talent upfront is a whiff in short order.

This used to be the correct strategy back when NIL didn't exist. Get as many great HS players as you can and pray for a minimal number of busts. USC is sticking to that philosophy but they're using NIL money knowing some of it will be totally wasted on players who don't work out.

6 minutes ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

This used to be the correct strategy back when NIL didn't exist. Get as many great HS players as you can and pray for a minimal number of busts. USC is sticking to that philosophy but they're using NIL money knowing some of it will be totally wasted on players who don't work out.

Before NIL the rules around recruiting were much different and I'm not talking about pay for play.

Recruiting classes used to be capped at 25 a cycle. Yes, there were ways to technically have more of players enrolled early they could count towards the previous years limit so you'd get one year with 23 recruits and the following year with 27 but they were technically 25 and 25.

Now if you have scholarships you can fill your class as much as you want. USC has more than 30 commits right now.

Many of which are good recruits but building a culture based on so many new faces is going to I be rough. Veterans set the pace of practice and locker room discipline. USC is going to lose some players to the portal and graduation before this recruiting class gets to campus. And they're not done yet with this class and they'll have some takes in the portal.

They're probably looking at closer to 40-50 new faces by next year's fall camp. That assumes this class stays together.

No veteran presence and the NIL amounts for some players will create a culture nightmare so we'll see if Riley can handle that.