Bizarre: Former Players Wanted Justin Wilcox Hired

[Charles Fischer]

They wrote a letter (Including Marcus Mariota) led by Joey Harrington, and when they wrote of bringing back what made Oregon great...I thought it was the loss of our brand on offense.  Nope!  The letter is at the bottom of this article, and perhaps all of you can 'splain it to me?

 

Canzano: Ex-Oregon Ducks Greats Wrote Letter to AD Rob Mullens Worried About Program’s Lost Identity by John Canzano of OregonLive

 

[deschutesduck]

George Wrighster is going off about this in twitter spaces right now https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1LyxBomwyOoKN/peek

His name is on the letter but he doesn't agree with how it's being portrayed.

Edited December 13, 2021 by deschutesduck

[30Duck]

I'm sorry, 'This is not a blue blood program" The letter lost me right there. What is the tradition these players want to perpetuate? Celebrating "The Pick" is great. But that isn't the mountain top for Oregon football. At least I don't want it to be.

 

The past years of Oregon football, full of continuity, was largely full of teams in the Bottom 20. Phi Knight asked Mike Bellotti what was needed to make Oregon a winning program. Bellotti didn't tell him, "Continuity".

 

The players don't have to worry. Oregon is not like the Blue Bloods. Oregon is a Brand unto its own. 

. 

[McDuck]

Strongly recommend the twitter spaces link from deschutedduck.  Fascinating.  A couple players are almost livid how the letter is being presented by Canzano. 

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

Good Tweet from Geoff Schwartz.

[deschutesduck]

whoo boy... joey harrington has entered the chat (he's not happy the letter was released like this)

Edited December 13, 2021 by deschutesduck

[HawaiiDuck]

On 12/12/2021 at 3:15 PM, deschutesduck said:

George Wrighster is going off about this in twitter spaces right now https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1LyxBomwyOoKN/peek

His name is on the letter but he doesn't agree with how it's being portrayed.

Anndddd.... Joey Harrington is on right now talking about the letter, answering George Wrighster and Geoff Schwartz.

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

I’m listening to the guys now. They’re giving good explanations for the letter. They just wanted to make sure that the next guys cares about the program and not just a job to elevate their future endeavors. They’re not at all happy that the letter leaked. They all said it was meant just for Mullens’ eyes only.

[Tandaian]

And that is reason 1 million and 1 why I don't click on any of Canzano's articles.  He is almost 100% click bait. 

 

I personally wouldn't call him a sports journalist or sports talk show host. I don't waste my time reading or listening to anything he writes or says.

[jrw]

Canzano is a professional pot-stirrer and click-baiter who is sometimes right, but who would rather be wrong than be ignored. 

[30Duck]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:05 PM, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

They all said it was meant just for Mullens’ eyes only.

 

 This is what I was hoping. Complete irresponsibility by Canzano. 

[1Funduck]

Really? 

 

Joey, Marcus, and the rest if the fellas; we all love you no matter what. But, while you were enjoying your time as a star, we had already put in our time through the Journey of mediocrity. I love Oregon, No ifs ands or buts. Just once I would like to have the NC trophy propped up in the halls of Trophy's.

Alabama doesn't care where the great coaching staff comes from. NC's? I can't count that high. Oregon players come from all over the States. How many come from Oregon? Not many. Marcus? Hawaii. Jonathan Stewart? Washington. Kavon Thibeddoux? California. Haloti Ngata? Utah. So, when you say within the program, what is really meant is that you can come from anywhere but you have to play here to Coach here?

 

I'm sorry Joey, your squad was a diamond in the rough and doesn't come around very often to even sniff at. Once every 10 years if we are fortunate enough. And....it has Never come home to the Hall that matters most. So, no Joey, I don't agree with you. We have never had a coaching staff that was NC caliber.

 

A splash in the pan doesn't mean it was NC caliber. Chipper was the closest. But, he lacked defense to make a true fight of it. But, thank you, Joey Heisman. Your presence and play on the field had me believing we would win every single game no matter what. A truly great time to be a fan.

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

On 12/12/2021 at 8:21 PM, 30Duck said:

I'm sorry, 'This is not a blue blood program" The letter lost me right there. What is the tradition these players want to perpetuate? Celebrating "The Pick" is great. But that isn't the mountain top for Oregon football. At least I don't want it to be.

 

The past years of Oregon football, full of continuity, was largely full of teams in the Bottom 20. Phi Knight asked Mike Bellotti what was needed to make Oregon a winning program. Bellotti didn't tell him, "Continuity".

 

The players don't have to worry. Oregon is not like the Blue Bloods. Oregon is a Brand unto its own. 

. 

Joey Harrington explained the Blue Blood remark. He said that the term means “from royal birth”. He said Oregon was built and had to work to get on the level of everybody else who had their foundations built decades ago (Norte Dame, Oklahoma, USC, etc).

Edited December 13, 2021 by DrJacksPlaidPants

[Duck 68]

Joey was a great player, but he's been sliding ever since he left Detroit. 

[30Duck]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:10 PM, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

Joey Harrington explained the Blue Blood remark

 

 More evidence of Canzano's culpability in this. By publishing this letter, he turned it into a modern version of the " Telephone Game" where context is impossible. 

[1Funduck]

My bad. JH got railed. Conzano leaks this letter and apparently gets taken out of context. Not what JH meant from what I could tell.

[1Ducker1]

I wonder how Canzano got ahold of the letter?

[1Funduck]

I'm left wondering: Was JH covering his tail feather? I truly don't know. 

[deschutesduck]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:44 PM, 1Funduck said:

I'm left wondering: Was JH covering his tail feather? I truly don't know. 

 

didn't sound like it to me, he said he just wanted Wilcox to have a shot at the job and that's basically what is said in the letter

[Haywarduck]

Canzano finally got a primary document on the subject and publishes it. I wonder if he tried to call any of the authors, or just wanted to look like he knew something, anything? Quite the reach, if you ask me.

 

I will say I hope Lanning reaches out to Bellotti, maybe hires a Duck alumni, I have suggested some candidates in the past. What the players wrote is correct. The program reached out to those who weren't really of the Oregon type. I think Lanning will speak to a lot of the Duck alumni and is a very respectful person. 

 

Basically  Canzano is back to his clown act. He should get back to his investigative reporting. Maybe the Pac-12 commish is doing something, or something wrong, stay in that lane. He did a nice job with that report, otherwise, questionable at best.

[deschutesduck]

Akili Smith saying they wanted Wilcox to be interviewed but didn't want him to bring the mediocrity of the Cal program 

[RkyMtnGuy]

I like Wilcox....he seems like a good guy and I suspect he's probably a better coach then the record says. But he's a catch 22....there's no way to know if he's good or not. To say he's strapped by the restrictions at Cal is obvious....but you can't infer from that that if the restrictions went away he's necessarily good....you can't know.

The best thing Wilcox could do in my humble opinion...assuming he want's to advance his career and not just hang at Cal....is get out. Take another job and prove that with the obstructions gone he can coach at a high level, recruit at a high level and put together a winning program.....who knows. Maybe he didn't want the pressure that is Oregon.

In the mean time I'm happy as a clam with Lanning.....he may build a solid program and stay for a decade. We'll see....but lets get behind him and give him a chance.

[Buzby]

On 12/12/2021 at 5:21 PM, 30Duck said:

I'm sorry, 'This is not a blue blood program" The letter lost me right there. What is the tradition these players want to perpetuate? Celebrating "The Pick" is great. But that isn't the mountain top for Oregon football. At least I don't want it to be.

 

The past years of Oregon football, full of continuity, was largely full of teams in the Bottom 20. Phi Knight asked Mike Bellotti what was needed to make Oregon a winning program. Bellotti didn't tell him, "Continuity".

 

The players don't have to worry. Oregon is not like the Blue Bloods. Oregon is a Brand unto its own. 

. 

I'd love to know how anyone would think Oregon's blood is blue? The players are not knocking the program, but they have more right to do that than anyone else. They played the games right? They were in the locker rooms. How many of us can say that? Ripping the opinion of former players is amazing to me

 

. I believe the letter writers want to acknowledge how Brooks, Bellotti, and Kelly neared the top of the mountain (they didn't make it remember?) with the help of staff who bled Oregon green. They had been through the bad and the good. They knew how to squeeze every once out of a Duck football player to get success.

 

Almost all of those staff were dismissed by Taggart. How're we doing since? Won some Pac-12 championships against Clay "Who?" Helton and Jimmy "Slappy" Lake. I think they wanted to emphasize the loyalty and shared vision that they saw in those who coached them and incidentally, got to the Natty in the first place. As much as I hate to say it, the only brand unto its own in the college football world is Alabama.

[toketeeman]

I respectfully disagree with the letter. The Oregon football culture does not need to be re-established or re-created. It needs to be MODERNIZED to today's competitive reality. We are NOT top-echelon, just a BIG DUCK sitting in a little west-coast pond. But we do have the POTENTIAL in every way EXCEPT COACHING to reach that stratospheric level. Going to the next-gen of coaches such as Lanning is a promising sign.

Edited December 13, 2021 by toketeeman

[30Duck]

On 12/12/2021 at 7:35 PM, Buzby said:

I'd love to know how anyone would think Oregon's blood is blue?

 

 Buzby, thanks for expressing your view on this. You articulated a look at the letter that I didn't account for in mine. 

[Washington Waddler]

     I know it’s hindsight to say, but if they’d just dropped the heart felt justification to Mullens and just respectfully requested the extension of an offer to Wilcox, then it doesn’t really matter if Canzano gets the letter or not, and we’re not all left trying to wipe this stuff off ourselves flying from that turbo fan he calls a column.  He’s always seemed a Beaver in Duck’s clothing to me anyway.

[Arctuniol]

After listening to former players, and current players and parents, and hearing what Joey had to say, Conzano is a dumb dumb, in y opinion he is a walking talking reason why coaches don't stay for what he did, and what he tried to infer with his article on the letter. I completely get what the former players were saying, but Oregon was. built on innovation, taking risks. Even the coaches of old took risks with their hires, and play, the one thing they did well was coach up the players.

 

I think Cristobol had an issue with coaching up players, he expected 5 stars to play like it right out the gate, and one or two will, but ones that needed coaching, he either did not play, or said they were not ready and let em sit. 

[1Ducker1]

Canzano is paid to stir the pot and that he does.

[WiseKwacker]

Wow, the never-ending hatred for Canzano is pretty evident among many Duck fans. While he's not my favorite sports reporter, I appreciate the fact that he's out there digging for information to share. In the first place, I appreciate learning about this letter being sent by the ex-Duck players to Mullins. So, was Canzano "irresponsible" for putting out the story, or would he--as a journalist--be "irresponsible" if he didn't? I would submit that the latter is the case. 

 

So, did Canzano make up the existence of this letter? If not, how did he learn of it? Did he break into Rob Mullins' office to steal it? Did one of the ex-players share a copy with him? Did someone in the U of O athletic department share it with him?  Whatever the case, if you're angry that this information came to light, shouldn't you blame the person who shared the information with Canzano, the JOURNALIST.  Canzano is just doing what he's paid to do.

 

And, after reading Canzano's article, I think James Crepea's follow-up article about the ex-players' reactions adds some clarity. I have no idea what Joey Harrington knew or had heard about the coaching search at the time he wrote that letter. Clearly, the letter was sent before some of the interviews were conducted and before any job offers were made. Did Wilcox learn about the letter at any point before he turned down Mullins' job offer? If so, did it's existence actually turn him off for some reason? We'll likely never know the details. I can live with that.

 

What matters now is that we've got Lanning. I'm excited to see what this guy will do. And, at this point, I'm envisioning that the program will improve in EVERY area next season. As a matter of fact, I'm going on record predicting that we go undefeated next year. By the way, where is the "natty" being held in 2023? Are tickets available yet?

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/13/2021 at 10:32 AM, WiseKwacker said:

While he's not my favorite sports reporter, I appreciate the fact that he's out there digging for information to share.

 

I completely agree; whether we like him or not...he often makes observations that others miss, and digs out stuff nobody else does.  I just sort through his articles for the good stuff versus the nonsense.

[30Duck]

On 12/13/2021 at 10:32 AM, WiseKwacker said:

I appreciate learning about this letter being sent by the ex-Duck players to Mullins

 

 And there is where we differ. I don't feel better at all knowing about this letter which was intended to be read only by Mullens. I also would think that as a journalist, Canzano has a responsibility to measure the upside/downside of making it public. He chose to publish it. and it generated a big response. 

 

Crepea's article presented context and hopefully closure. 

[McDuck]

What I find ironic is during the Twitter Space conversation segment I heard there were four names that should be considered because they wouldn't use Oregon as a stepping stone.  Three (Chip, Tedford, and Petersen) all left the Ducks for a promotion.  Isn't that the very definition of stepping stone?  I still can't figure out the purpose of the letter.

[Utki]

So all of these guys asked for Wilcox to be interviewed and according to the narrative he did and was offered the job and then refused it?  That seems odd.  If true did none of the players ask Wilcox before sending the letter?  That seems unlikely.  Anyone care to make sense of this nonsense. And yes Canzano is only invested in clickbait and no I truly don't think he ever comes up with any interesting angles. But he is a good promotoer and muckraker.

[Orebcker]

On 12/12/2021 at 8:10 PM, toketeeman said:

I respectfully disagree with the letter. The Oregon football culture does not need to be re-established or re-created. It needs to be MODERNIZED to today's competitive reality. We are NOT top-echelon, just a BIG DUCK sitting in a little west-coast pond. But we do have the POTENTIAL in every way EXCEPT COACHING to reach that stratospheric level. Going to the next-gen of coaches such as Lanning is a promising sign.

Having played in two of the last ten national championships isn’t top echelon?

[Mike West]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:09 PM, 1Funduck said:

Chipper was the closest. But, he lacked defense to make a true fight of it.

 

I must disagree with that assessment.

 

Stats and all, the greatest start of that Natty appearance was the defense holding the second best offense in college football that year to TWENTY POINTS LESS than it's average in both conference (that is the SEC and OOC).

 

Chip's offense lost that game.  

 

To further emphasize the point, not only did Scam Newton limp of the field at the end of the game, TWO turnovers were taken off the stat sheet.  One resulted in a TD the next play, the other would have been a fumble TD.  

 

Allioti's defense held the Tigers to six second half points.  That is championship caliber play.  

 

That defense was one of Oregon's best ever. 

[30Duck]

On 12/13/2021 at 12:27 PM, Mike West said:

Chip's offense lost that game.  

 

 Yes it did, thanks to Nick Farley, and Kenjon's decision to go the wrong way. It was a theme that the defense didn't break in the big games, the offense stalled. 

[Just Ducky]

Clownzano