It wasn't long ago that your average team considered it a successful year if they played a New Years bowl game. This meant you were a contender in your conference and each game you held your breath because the air was relatively rare. To go 10-2 was a stellar year and 11-1 or better was euphoric to say the least. This is not the case anymore. Now? Lose one game and your school asks for your head.

Lose two games and the media is writing stories about your HC's ability to retain his job. Lose 3 games in the same year? Buy out a $50 million contract. (4) but who's counting? Oregon State has a new coach mid-season, so does Oklahoma St., Penn St, Florida, Arkansas, UCLA, VA Tech, Colorado St, Alabama-Birmingham. Is Wisconsin next?

Some of those teams needed it. But, mid-season? ....maybe. In my opinion we are seeing an overall change in expectation due to NIL. Schools, and their donors, are now allowed to drop serious money into their programs. One must ask, "If I donate $50 grand then shouldn't I get some return on my investments?" If the program receives 'Investments' that are north of $20 million then what's your expectation?

Ohio St is rumored at $35 million. Texas Tech $28 million. A quick Google search revealed that 15-20 teams have 'Invested' in the neighborhood of $20 million and up. Why? Not to come in 2nd place. And yet 8 of them won't even make the playoffs. The reality is that over the last 25 years most of the teams that have won a NC are named LSU, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio St, and Clemson. We have some singles in there and of course they are mostly Blue Bloods. NIL has evened the field to be sure...Texas Tech anyone? Indiana is a darling of a story. Will they be a perennial power?

If the NIL comes then they will demand it. And don't think for a second that Oregon won't (has already) drift(ed) into this thinking. It wasn't long ago that we all knew Oregon was punching above their weight. It wasn't until the last 2 full years we started seeing the difference. The results of the Cool school with the cash to flash has this team vying for a National Championship last year as well as this year.

But, ask yourself, 'if Oregon was a 10-2 team 3 years in a row, how much howling would be going on? Would Lanning be on the Hot seat? This is the face of ALL college football now. 10-2 is not enough. It's playoffs, first, period. We all would rather have a playoff bid rather than a conference championship. Fair enough. But, would you fire your coach that got you there just last year because they had a poor showing this year. Possibly. Storied programs have little patience anymore. The investment is too great.

When asked about the James Franklin firing, Dan Lanning spoke of how every coach including he...."were just two weeks away" from job insecurity. He stated that it goes with the territory as HC, so they certainly know the stakes.

1 hour ago, 1Funduck said:

But, ask yourself, 'if Oregon was a 10-2 team 3 years in a row, how much howling would be going on? Would Lanning be on the Hot seat?

That was basically life under Cristobal. We were howling that we were bringing in great recruiting classes but always lost one or two games we had no place in losing.

When Cristobal announced he was leaving for Miami that was one of the strangest feelings we have ever had as a fanbase.

On the one hand we were losing someone who had gotten us close to the playoff, had won a Rose Bowl and two conference championships. Cristobal was and remains a good coach but he wasn't going to be the coach to bring the Ducks a national title. We'll continue to see how he does at Miami. He has this strange way of winning enough, and often winning some of the big games to keep people happy but he always finds a way to lose the games he's not supposed to.

Cristobal is kinda the opposite of James Franklin.

Franklin wins the games he supposed to (until the collapse that is) but fails to win the big ones. Cristobal will win many of the big games but lose some head scratches.

Of course the Fighting Ducks. However I think Bama is going to be in the mix too.