Mario Might Want to Think Again…

[Jimmy G]

I lived in Orlando Florida when Scott Frost took over an 0 and 12 UCF team and took them to heights they had never seen… I went to games at the bouncy house, to be honest, it felt like Autzen when Chip was there… Then Nebraska came calling (His Alma mater) According to Frost, it was the hardest decision of his life… I don’t think so but anyway… How’s that worked out…?

 

Remember Chip…? Remember slick Willy…? Things don’t always go as planned when you jump to greener pastures… For people chewing their finger nails waiting to see if Mario is leaving or not, ask yourself, is he a good coach? Or a good recruiter…? I would say the latter… I would also say, Oregon as a brand kind of recruits itself… players want to come here. Nike, uniforms, state of the art facilities… You can recruit the best talent in the world, but if you can’t coach em, it doesn’t matter…

 

Talent can elevate a program to a higher level, but championship caliber football has to be coached… Sorry, just not seeing it from this staff… If he goes, bye bye… I don’t think it makes Miami a championship team… And perhaps Oregon can find a coach that can elevate the talent it gets into a national championship…

[Haywarduck]

Great point, and I am not too worried about our defense. If we keep DeRuyter, and stay healthy next season we will be a very good defensive team.

 

The problem is the offense is pathetic. I agree with many, Oregon playing offense like this doesn't make me want to go to the bowl game, or really any game. 

 

I left with the Stanford game on the line, because I knew what was possible. In the past I would never leave, because the Ducks had the ability to win any game. We now have the ability to lose any game, while winning, the majority of the time, ugly.

 

The defense gave us a shot last night, the offense gave us no chance. When was the last time our offense gave us no chance, with our starting qb on the field? 

 

Whether Cristobal leaves or not, we need to revamp our offensive mentality. I am extremely skeptical after last night, and really, the last few years. Oregon hired a very good offensive mind in Moorhead. Having a good OC isn't going to change much, nor is having a very good qb, if history is any guide to the future.

[Jemangi]

I am not a Mario hater and hope for continuity that he stays.

But,  Eugene is not for everyone, it is not a big city,  the weather sucks and a different kind of diversity than most cities.

 

If he prefers to live in Miami, (I sure would not) then he just may not be the right coach for U of O.

There are good quality football players who (and their parents) who prefer being in a safer and small community, and those who

prefer the glitter and life in the city.

 

There are coaches whom would prefer to live in Oregon too Im sure.  We, need a great coach whom also wants to be here and to stay.

Open the pocketbooks and find him If Mario feels like he must go home to that mess.

 

I was born in Texas, raised in So Cal and came back to Oregon by choice from Hawaii.  So, I know and understand the benefits of warm weather, ocean, etc.

If this is what he prefers, for whatever reason, then just let him go, we do not have to beg!   I would never live in Miami myself.

 

Then, let's spend (not my money lol) and get the best coach in the country who would appreciate the lifestyle in Oregon over cities, glitter and easier recruiting ease.  We need not only a quality coach, but stability.  I don't blame the players for not showing up with this nonsense going on.  The Sumataia in particular and Pittman mid season departures are concerning.   I would love to hear more about it, but presume that Mullens has more knowledge than I do.

 

So I hope Mario love it here and wants to stay and grows as a coach,  but if not, so be it.  It is a mostly free country and people should have the opportunity to live and work and play where they choose without much recrimination.

 

I think that we are going to see who Mario really is soon.

[SmithRiverDuck]

On 12/4/2021 at 10:20 AM, Jimmy G said:

I lived in Orlando Florida when Scott Frost took over an 0 and 12 UCF team and took them to heights they had never seen… I went to games at the bouncy house, to be honest, it felt like Autzen when Chip was there… Then Nebraska came calling (His Alma mater) According to Frost, it was the hardest decision of his life… I don’t think so but anyway… How’s that worked out…?Remember Chip…? Remember slick Willy…? Things don’t always go as planned when you jump to greener pastures… For people chewing their finger nails waiting to see if Mario is leaving or not, ask yourself, is he a good coach? Or a good recruiter…? I would say the latter… I would also say, Oregon as a brand kind of recruits itself… players want to come here. Nike, uniforms, state of the art facilities… You can recruit the best talent in the world, but if you can’t coach em, it doesn’t matter… Talent can elevate a program to a higher level, but championship caliber football has to be coached… Sorry, just not seeing it from this staff… If he goes, bye bye… I don’t think it makes Miami a championship team… And perhaps Oregon can find a coach that can elevate the talent it gets into a national championship…

If Oregon was a brand that recruited itself Helfrich would still be the coach.

[Jemangi]

I do agree with Hayward Duck and as so glad I had car issues and did not drive to Las Vegas yesterday.

No desire whatsoever to go to a bowl and watch this offense plod about.  Or Mario call time outs in first minutes of game etc.

But, winning cures most everything in football for better or worse.

 

[Jemangi]

Smith River Duck..  If Helfrich had not coached the worst half of losing football in the Alamo bow that I have ever seen, he might yet be the Oregon coach.  True the best thing about Mario so far is recruiting.  Do remember though that the snake recruited well also.

[OregonRich]

On 12/4/2021 at 10:30 AM, Haywarduck said:

We now have the ability to lose any game, while winning, the majority of the time, ugly.

My major complaint. And why I don't see it ever getting better with Mario. 

[Jimmy G]

On 12/4/2021 at 10:44 AM, SmithRiverDuck said:

If Oregon was a brand that recruited itself Helfrich would still be the coach.

Umm maybe I should clarify… Mario can recruit, I’m not saying he can’t, what I am saying is, I think Oregon is an easier school to recruit players too, opposed to schools like Washington, Washington St, Oregon St, Cal, Arizona, Arizona St… Because of the brand, uniforms, facilities ext… I believe Mario does sell the brand, but the brand sells itself as well…

Edited December 4, 2021 by Jimmy G

[CalBear95]

My wife and I were talking about something akin to the decision Mullens faces but in the context of whether we travel to see our parents with the news of the omicron variant being in the US and - it appears - 2x as effective as Delta all but ensuring it will outcompete today's predominant strain of the virus.

 

Holiday travel is ~3 weeks away.  In that time I expect we will know transmissibility (see 2x) and the rate of vaccine breakthrough.  What I really doubt we will know is virulence given that is usually a 2+ week lagging indicator and the known sample size likely isn't representative or large enough for reliable directional guidance.  So if omicron is both highly transmissible and largely evades vaccines, should we go see our 70+ y/o parents?  I have no idea of the risk I am putting them in because virulence is likely a total unknown.  The risk of being wrong is rather high.

 

Granted the above scenario is about the risk of putting the health of your parents at risk versus football which is quite trivial by comparison.  But the framework is applicable to Mullen's current spot w/MC.

 

The reason is the beta on MC is really high.  A relatively impartial read on the past several years support both the views that he's a great recruiter but not a great coach and that he is a great coach but has just had some challenging circumstances in the past 2 years that have skewed the results.  If you lose him because you undervalue his potential then you have lost a true opportunity to take the program to new heights.  Conversely if you pay him like a James Franklin and it turns out the bearish read on his future value you have hung an albatross around the program's neck.

 

Mullens has limited data and has to make a really hard decision as it relates to predicting future.  As I said, massive beta.

 

I think the reported $7MM says Mullens is placing a soft Put on MC's stock.  If Miami wants to get into Tucker and Franklin type compensation, they are, in Mullen's view, overvaluing the 'asset.'  I think that price is fair market value.

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:12 PM, CalBear95 said:

My wife and I were talking about something akin to the decision Mullens faces but in the context of whether we travel to see our parents with the news of the omicron variant being in the US and - it appears - 2x as effective as Delta all but ensuring it will outcompete today's predominant strain of the virus.

 

Holiday travel is ~3 weeks away.  In that time I expect we will know transmissibility (see 2x) and the rate of vaccine breakthrough.  What I really doubt we will know is virulence given that is usually a 2+ week lagging indicator and the known sample size likely isn't representative or large enough for reliable directional guidance.  So if omicron is both highly transmissible and largely evades vaccines, should we go see our 70+ y/o parents?  I have no idea of the risk I am putting them in because virulence is likely a total unknown.  The risk of being wrong is rather high.

 

Everybody reading this take note:

 

What you read above is a reasonable conversation about choices to make due to the virus.  DO NOT go further in the COVID discussion, the politics,...anywhere with it.

 

CalBear95...you are new and do not know of how even touching on COVID as a topic and its impact on Oregon football has been destructive on other sites, and requires great diligence on our site to keep it from turning into a brush-fire quickly.

 

That being said....you write extremely well, add a lot to our discussion, you add paragraph-reading spaces so we do not have continuous text so....you are an ideal new member to the OBD forum.  WELCOME!

[C J]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:12 PM, CalBear95 said:

Mullens has limited data and has to make a really hard decision as it relates to predicting future. 

I think at this point predicting Cristobal's future output is coming into focus. After four seasons we have seen the same issues on offense each and every year. We had the best QB in the nation in 2019 and watched him plod along trying to battle in a phone booth leading to very inconsistent showings from him.

 

I believe the writing is on the wall. To me the decision from Mullens is obvious. Either let Miami buy Cristobal away or we suffer with who knows how many more years very similar to this one because without a Herbert on the roster there is no way we are going to be competitive in big games (sans the fluke in the shoe).

Edited December 4, 2021 by C J

[CalBear95]

@Charles Fischer Thanks for the notice.  I will avoid that subject going forward.

[CalBear95]

Agree.  MC is gone. 

 

I think Mullens has played this well.  My guess is he has an eye to future negotiations for a future hire and doesn't want to put a contract offer into the ecosystem that starts as that next target's agent.  It also allows him to say, quite rightly, he did all he reasonably could to keep MC.

 

I am OK with this outcome probably because it was a bomb that was going to explode somewhere down the road be that now or 3-4 years down the road.

[CalBear95]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:32 PM, CalBear95 said:

My guess is he has an eye to future negotiations for a future hire and doesn't want to put a contract offer into the ecosystem that starts as that next target's agent....

 

I am OK with this outcome probably because it was a bomb that was going to explode somewhere down the road be that now or 3-4 years down the road.

 

Yikes...I wrote the above and even I can't be sure what it means.  Also, horrified of repeating 'down the road' twice.  I am mailing my degree back to Cal

Edited December 4, 2021 by CalBear95

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:36 PM, CalBear95 said:

Yikes...I wrote the above and even I can't be sure what it means.  Also, horrified of repeating 'down the road' twice.

 

No sweat.  Everybody has up to an hour after posting to go back and edit your post.  Click on the three dots in the right corner and then select "Edit" and the Posting Box returns!