Can Lanning Learn From Smart’s Mistakes?

[FishDuck Article]

Kirby Smart is one of the best coaches in college football. He not only understands that championship programs are built by acquiring elite talent, but he also recruits better than just about anybody in the country, even rivaling Nick Saban. As a defensive mind, he’s second to none. His defenses are improving by the year, while just about every other ...

 

Read the full article here...

[Guest Axel]

On 12/15/2021 at 2:05 AM, FishDuck Article said:

Kirby Smart is one of the best coaches in college football. He not only understands that championship programs are built by acquiring elite talent, but he also recruits better than just about anybody in the country, even rivaling Nick Saban. As a defensive mind, he’s second to none. His defenses are improving by the year, while just about every other ...

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Source

Read the full article here...

Note to Joshua Whitted: This is a well-crafted piece. You've astutely pointed out the Achilles' heel of Georgia football. I look forward to reading more of your articles.

[Log Haulin]

On 12/15/2021 at 2:05 AM, FishDuck Article said:

Kirby Smart is one of the best coaches in college football. He not only understands that championship programs are built by acquiring elite talent, but he also recruits better than just about anybody in the country, even rivaling Nick Saban. As a defensive mind, he’s second to none. His defenses are improving by the year, while just about every other ...

Read More

Source

Read the full article here...

Great article, thanks. I am starting to get my football mind back after taking a couple years off from sports for personal reasons. Fishduck and a couple other sites have really helped me to catch up. Duck fans are smart and well informed. Add another layer to the game experience that I really enjoy. 

[Haywarduck]

Great article and it was the chink in our armor too. From 20' away it all looked good. As one got closer the chinks looked worse and worse.

 

Top recruiting was something we could hang our hat on. We were elite, and when it all lined up we could justify that mentality. Much like the run up the gut against the dawgs, it worked. All we had to do was focus on our recruiting rankings, right?

 

The problem was a limited offense limits the output. In this day and age if you don't have an important element others have, you are at a disadvantage. An aggressive passing attack, and explosive plays are fundamental football, at the elite level.

 

I will look for a downfield passing attack, and more discipline on penalties as my two elements to see if Lanning has changed the Oregon Football Program in a productive way. Wins and staying in games are just fluff. We need to have progress towards making teams sweat again on defense, not drool.

 

We also need to see everyone on the same page, and nobody acting selfishly, or without discipline.  That change, hopefully, began when Cristobal left, and Lanning landed. This is probably the single most important element Lanning can bring.

[30Duck]

Great article, Joshua. Let's hope that Lanning is smarter than Smart when it comes to offense. They were both on the sideline as Alabama made their historic defense look silly. Lanning mentioned "explosion plays" in his Presser. Those have been in Saban's arsenal since he switched to Tagovailoa at halftime, against Georgia and won the championship with a walkoff touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

 

Alabama won championship's with Game Managers like Greg McElvoy, this year, their QB, Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy.  Thompson or Butterfield might not be Bryce Young. But it seems like Lanning is going to be smart enough to let the Ducks QB air it out to the talented WR Corps Oregon has assembled.

[Just Ducky]

Good stuff Josh. This is exactly why MC’s stubbornness will keep him from winning what the Miami fans are expecting.

 

I think from what DL has said so far he won’t make the same mistakes. Only time will tell if his dream ( and ours ) will come true. I think he has a great nucleus of players already in the stable to make this happen. 

 

Goanna be fun for the fans and the players. 

 

Go s

 

[HappyToBeADuck]

Joshua, another spot on article.. Thank you!

 

As the MC Era unfolded, game after game, I kept asking myself.......

 

How does MC and the OC expect to get to the CFP, let alone the Natty with this type of offense?

 

Charles and others wrote many articles on this very topic. Charles mantra of 45 points a game continues to echo in the empty halls of my brain.

 

Let's face it, just a couple a handfuls of coaches have won the Natty, this century. Most all will not even reach the CFP.  Maybe MC included. They don't have the pedigree, facilities, coaches or players. Let's face it, Cincinnati is in because a number of blue bloods are down. Which is great by the way.......

 

Almost 50 years ago, I was privileged to coach youngsters in football. We scored alot. 5 years into the program,  a couple of opposing moms came storming at me after we beat their team 46-14.

 

In my face they yelled and criticized me for running up the score, every game. RIGHT in front of all the kids.

Parents that's a no no.

 

I asked them to give me a moment to gather my team, congratulate them and then shake hands with the other team. As the field thinned out of fans, I could see more parents gathering with the moms who confronted me. Just what I needed.

 

Now mind you, I was very young and lacked wisdom. Hec I couldn't even spell wisdom. But I was smart enough to know these moms were scary. Some of the moms on my team were standing there, too.

 

They bombarded me with why I continued to run up the score? My answer......

 

We don't run up the score. We practice plays designed to score. No matter who is on the field.  The kids are playing in front of their parents, other family members and friends. They want to do well when it's there turn to play.. They want to score from the first play to the last play of every game. I play all the kids on my team. The team who scores the most points win. Our players play to win. I don't control what happens on the field. The players do.

 

It was going well until I said it's your teams job to stop us from scoring.

Then it got worse when a 13 year old player, on our team said....

 

Your team wouldn't have scored any points if coach hadn't told the defense to take it easy on you... 

 

Someday I will finish the rest of the story.....

 

Point is that the team with the most points wins.  Was then is now. You can win alot of games by just playing to win. You want the CFP and Natty, then it takes 3 things.

 

Score alot of points every game. Break the morale of your opponents early and often. Every game.

 

Then have a defense that can win games when the offense is having an off day. And have a defense that can throttle the high scoring offenses in the CFP and Natty.

 

Lastly, you have recruited youngsters who love to play and win. Give them plays (schemes) designed to score. Designed to win the chess match of footbsll.... Then turn em loose and let em play.........

 

[Jon Joseph]

Spot ON Joshua!

 

Not only did Mario win nothing his way, I'm sorry but a 1 point win over a 3L Wisconsin in a Rose Bowl exhibition game is not a big deal, he put a choke collar on the NFL rookie of the year and had an Epic Fail at ASU. Just like the Epic Fail this season at Stanford and the 2 no shows against a Utah team that lost at Oregon State. 

 

Nick Saban brought in Lane Kiffin and reinvented the Bama O. He also went for quicker, faster players on the D side of the ball. Mario played an average QB throughout the 2021 season, content to grind out 1 score wins. As a teammate of Mario's once said, 'He'd rather hit you in the mouth and gain 5 yards then run around you for a TD.' Mario came as close as possible to destroying the Oregon Brand that took years to build.

 

No one covers the SEC like the folks at Saturday Down South. They all predicted that if Smart started Stetson and not Daniels against Bama, UGA would take the L.  Like Mario with Moorhead, Smart did move to update the UGA O with the hire of Todd Monken. UGA was one of the top 10 scoring teams in the P5 in 2021. But when the chips were down against Bama, Smart left Daniels on the bench. 

 

If Smart starts Daniels versus Michigan and in a likely rematch against Bama, UGA will be a national champion. If he plays Stetson, a journeyman game manager, he could lose the semi-final game.

 

Like Dabo at Clemson in the ACC, Oregon with its roster should roll through a conference that  produced but 6 bowl eligible teams. But Dabo didn't win titles without Watson and Lawrence at QB.

 

I think it is wrong that Lanning as of now, is trying to serve 2 masters. A recruiting class has to be saved and the portal has to be picked.

 

Joshua is so correct that without an NFL quality QB, no team will win a Natty. Mac Jones is not the most mobile guy at QB. But he won a title and is playing great ball for the Patriots. If Herbert had been free to play at his level, the Ducks would at least have been in the Final 4 in 2019. And who knows what would have happened in 2021 if Thompson had played QB and Mario's head was in the game and not in Miami.

[Drake]

Good article. 
 

QB’s play a major role determining whether a team is a legit contender. If one of the nations best college QB’s is having a “good” day it  can be a thing of beauty to watch. 
 

We watched what happens when an offense (QB) has limited ability to attack defenses.  The Ducks rarely had comfortable leads in the second half. 

 

Top 10 teams demolish lower competition.  Miami may be paying a lot of $$$ to find out the real reason that we weren’t really that good.
 

A new chapter is starting at Oregon. Can’t wait to “read it”. 

[77Duck]

M C, for all his admirable attributes, was a near disaster for Oregon Football. I am delighted with Dan Lanning’s potential-:)

[HappyToBeADuck]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:13 PM, 77Duck said:

M C, for all his admirable attributes, was a near disaster for Oregon Football. I am delighted with Dan Lanning’s potential-:)

77Duck

 

We did avert a near disaster.

 

MC had no culture except every man for himself.

 

You can feel the potential with Coach Lanning.

[Charles Fischer]

Joshua....thank you for stating what needed to said up-front; playing Cristo-"ball" will not win a 'Natty, and that is one thing Lanning should not emulate from his mentor.  GREAT article...

[Haywarduck]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:06 AM, Jon Joseph said:

Mario came as close as possible to destroying the Oregon Brand that took years to build.

What is amazing is Mario leveraged Oregon's Brand like nobody, while destroying it. The problem was the leverage was beginning to run out, we lucked out indeed!

[PittDuck]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:06 AM, Jon Joseph said:

 

Not only did Mario win nothing his way, I'm sorry but a 1 point win over a 3L Wisconsin in a Rose Bowl exhibition game is not a big deal, he put a choke collar on the NFL rookie of the year and had an Epic Fail at ASU. 

Jon, I have nothing but respect for most of what you post, and I admire your knowledge of the game.  That said, I just can’t agree with a couple points you keep making on OBD Forum.

 

First of all, 10-3 was “winning quite a bit, his way”.  The Rose Bowl is still “The Grandaddy of Them All”, and a Rose Bowl win is a win whether it is by 1 point or 50. That 3L Wisconsin team still placed 2nd in their conference.
 

As far as a choke collar on JH, he shared that distinction with both WT and MH.

 

I agree that Mario is not (and never will be) an elite coach, but he gave Oregon his all right up til Miami poached him (the week before the 1st Utah game).  

He was a hard worker who put in more hours on his job than any of his predecessors.  While I am glad he is gone to the disaster that is The U, I still acknowledge he did some good things for Oregon in his time as a Duck.

Edited December 16, 2021 by PittDuck
Added a thought

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 8:01 AM, Axel said:

Note to Joshua Whitted: This is a well-crafted piece. You've astutely pointed out the Achilles' heel of Georgia football. I look forward to reading more of your articles.

Thanks, Axel! I appreciate you reading it.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 8:59 AM, Log Haulin said:

Great article, thanks. I am starting to get my football mind back after taking a couple years off from sports for personal reasons. Fishduck and a couple other sites have really helped me to catch up. Duck fans are smart and well informed. Add another layer to the game experience that I really enjoy. 

Happy to have you on the board! We hope to continue to hear your thoughts as you shake some of the rust off.

[VegasDuck]

Is he smarter that a 5th grader or an ex O-line coach? 

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 9:04 AM, Haywarduck said:

Great article and it was the chink in our armor too. From 20' away it all looked good. As one got closer the chinks looked worse and worse.

 

Top recruiting was something we could hang our hat on. We were elite, and when it all lined up we could justify that mentality. Much like the run up the gut against the dawgs, it worked. All we had to do was focus on our recruiting rankings, right?

 

The problem was a limited offense limits the output. In this day and age if you don't have an important element others have, you are at a disadvantage. An aggressive passing attack, and explosive plays are fundamental football, at the elite level.

 

I will look for a downfield passing attack, and more discipline on penalties as my two elements to see if Lanning has changed the Oregon Football Program in a productive way. Wins and staying in games are just fluff. We need to have progress towards making teams sweat again on defense, not drool.

 

We also need to see everyone on the same page, and nobody acting selfishly, or without discipline.  That change, hopefully, began when Cristobal left, and Lanning landed. This is probably the single most important element Lanning can bring.

Fantastically put, Hayward. That's perfectly stated! I agree 100%.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:45 AM, 30Duck said:

Great article, Joshua. Let's hope that Lanning is smarter than Smart when it comes to offense. They were both on the sideline as Alabama made their historic defense look silly. Lanning mentioned "explosion plays" in his Presser. Those have been in Saban's arsenal since he switched to Tagovailoa at halftime, against Georgia and won the championship with a walkoff touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

 

Alabama won championship's with Game Managers like Greg McElvoy, this year, their QB, Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy.  Thompson or Butterfield might not be Bryce Young. But it seems like Lanning is going to be smart enough to let the Ducks QB air it out to the talented WR Corps Oregon has assembled.

Great points, and I am with you; I do believe Lanning understands the importance of an explosive offense. The Dillingham hire shows that.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 11:07 AM, Just Ducky said:

Good stuff Josh. This is exactly why MC’s stubbornness will keep him from winning what the Miami fans are expecting.

 

I think from what DL has said so far he won’t make the same mistakes. Only time will tell if his dream ( and ours ) will come true. I think he has a great nucleus of players already in the stable to make this happen. 

 

Goanna be fun for the fans and the players. 

 

Go s

 

Absolutely! As always, I'm super excited to see how everything plays out. 

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 11:12 AM, HappyToBeADuck said:

Joshua, another spot on article.. Thank you!

 

As the MC Era unfolded, game after game, I kept asking myself.......

 

How does MC and the OC expect to get to the CFP, let alone the Natty with this type of offense?

 

Charles and others wrote many articles on this very topic. Charles mantra of 45 points a game continues to echo in the empty halls of my brain.

 

Let's face it, just a couple a handfuls of coaches have won the Natty, this century. Most all will not even reach the CFP.  Maybe MC included. They don't have the pedigree, facilities, coaches or players. Let's face it, Cincinnati is in because a number of blue bloods are down. Which is great by the way.......

 

Almost 50 years ago, I was privileged to coach youngsters in football. We scored alot. 5 years into the program,  a couple of opposing moms came storming at me after we beat their team 46-14.

 

In my face they yelled and criticized me for running up the score, every game. RIGHT in front of all the kids.

Parents that's a no no.

 

I asked them to give me a moment to gather my team, congratulate them and then shake hands with the other team. As the field thinned out of fans, I could see more parents gathering with the moms who confronted me. Just what I needed.

 

Now mind you, I was very young and lacked wisdom. Hec I couldn't even spell wisdom. But I was smart enough to know these moms were scary. Some of the moms on my team were standing there, too.

 

They bombarded me with why I continued to run up the score? My answer......

 

We don't run up the score. We practice plays designed to score. No matter who is on the field.  The kids are playing in front of their parents, other family members and friends. They want to do well when it's there turn to play.. They want to score from the first play to the last play of every game. I play all the kids on my team. The team who scores the most points win. Our players play to win. I don't control what happens on the field. The players do.

 

It was going well until I said it's your teams job to stop us from scoring.

Then it got worse when a 13 year old player, on our team said....

 

Your team wouldn't have scored any points if coach hadn't told the defense to take it easy on you... 

 

Someday I will finish the rest of the story.....

 

Point is that the team with the most points wins.  Was then is now. You can win alot of games by just playing to win. You want the CFP and Natty, then it takes 3 things.

 

Score alot of points every game. Break the morale of your opponents early and often. Every game.

 

Then have a defense that can win games when the offense is having an off day. And have a defense that can throttle the high scoring offenses in the CFP and Natty.

 

Lastly, you have recruited youngsters who love to play and win. Give them plays (schemes) designed to score. Designed to win the chess match of footbsll.... Then turn em loose and let em play.........

 

That story is so awesome, and this is the best comment I've seen in some time haha! Absolutely incredible; for what it's worth, I'd have been on your side defending you against the angry moms lol. Thanks for sharing and for the terrific comment.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:06 PM, Jon Joseph said:

Spot ON Joshua!

 

Not only did Mario win nothing his way, I'm sorry but a 1 point win over a 3L Wisconsin in a Rose Bowl exhibition game is not a big deal, he put a choke collar on the NFL rookie of the year and had an Epic Fail at ASU. Just like the Epic Fail this season at Stanford and the 2 no shows against a Utah team that lost at Oregon State. 

 

Nick Saban brought in Lane Kiffin and reinvented the Bama O. He also went for quicker, faster players on the D side of the ball. Mario played an average QB throughout the 2021 season, content to grind out 1 score wins. As a teammate of Mario's once said, 'He'd rather hit you in the mouth and gain 5 yards then run around you for a TD.' Mario came as close as possible to destroying the Oregon Brand that took years to build.

 

No one covers the SEC like the folks at Saturday Down South. They all predicted that if Smart started Stetson and not Daniels against Bama, UGA would take the L.  Like Mario with Moorhead, Smart did move to update the UGA O with the hire of Todd Monken. UGA was one of the top 10 scoring teams in the P5 in 2021. But when the chips were down against Bama, Smart left Daniels on the bench. 

 

If Smart starts Daniels versus Michigan and in a likely rematch against Bama, UGA will be a national champion. If he plays Stetson, a journeyman game manager, he could lose the semi-final game.

 

Like Dabo at Clemson in the ACC, Oregon with its roster should roll through a conference that  produced but 6 bowl eligible teams. But Dabo didn't win titles without Watson and Lawrence at QB.

 

I think it is wrong that Lanning as of now, is trying to serve 2 masters. A recruiting class has to be saved and the portal has to be picked.

 

Joshua is so correct that without an NFL quality QB, no team will win a Natty. Mac Jones is not the most mobile guy at QB. But he won a title and is playing great ball for the Patriots. If Herbert had been free to play at his level, the Ducks would at least have been in the Final 4 in 2019. And who knows what would have happened in 2021 if Thompson had played QB and Mario's head was in the game and not in Miami.

Jon, great points as always! I know you mentioned it as an aside at the end, but goodness gracious, isn't it absolutely incredible (in a bad way) how much we held Herbert back in his last two years. He's a bonafide superstar in the NFL... That has to be Mario's biggest failure during his time at Oregon.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 2:28 PM, Drake said:

Good article. 
 

QB’s play a major role determining whether a team is a legit contender. If one of the nations best college QB’s is having a “good” day it  can be a thing of beauty to watch. 
 

We watched what happens when an offense (QB) has limited ability to attack defenses.  The Ducks rarely had comfortable leads in the second half. 

 

Top 10 teams demolish lower competition.  Miami may be paying a lot of $$$ to find out the real reason that we weren’t really that good.
 

A new chapter is starting at Oregon. Can’t wait to “read it”. 

I couldn't have said it any better myself. Success in football starts and stops with the quarterback. It's not the only thing that matters, but it is certainly the most important.

[Joshua Whitted]

On 12/15/2021 at 6:27 PM, Charles Fischer said:

Joshua....thank you for stating what needed to said up-front; playing Cristo-"ball" will not win a 'Natty, and that is one thing Lanning should not emulate from his mentor.  GREAT article...

Thanks, Charles! Fingers crossed, but I'm thinking we're finally turning the corner offensively with this OC hire.

[Guest Axel]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:13 PM, 77Duck said:

M C, for all his admirable attributes, was a near disaster for Oregon Football. I am delighted with Dan Lanning’s potential-:)

77Duck, that's a perfect summation in two sentences. 

[Guest Axel]

On 12/15/2021 at 3:34 PM, Haywarduck said:

What is amazing is Mario leveraged Oregon's Brand like nobody, while destroying it. The problem was the leverage was beginning to run out, we lucked out indeed!

So true, and I shudder to think that Rob Mullens didn't see this--he offered Cristobal multiple years at $7 million per to stay at Oregon. Worse, Mullens offered Justin Wilcox the head-coaching reins. Wilcox is perfecting mediocrity at Cal. The football gods must have a soft spot for the Ducks, because Dan Lanning has somehow been delivered to us. Good is the enemy of great; Lanning has the chops to be a great coach. Good is all that Cristobal and Wilcox can aspire to, and as of now, both aren't even close. 

[Guest Axel]

On 12/15/2021 at 6:24 PM, PittDuck said:

Jon, I have nothing but respect for most of what you post, and I admire your knowledge of the game.  That said, I just can’t agree with a couple points you keep making on OBD Forum.

 

First of all, 10-3 was “winning quite a bit, his way”.  The Rose Bowl is still “The Grandaddy of Them All”, and a Rose Bowl win is a win whether it is by 1 point or 50. That 3L Wisconsin team still placed 2nd in their conference.
 

As far as a choke collar on JH, he shared that distinction with both WT and MH.

 

I agree that Mario is not (and never will be) an elite coach, but he gave Oregon his all right up til Miami poached him (the week before the 1st Utah game).  

He was a hard worker who put in more hours on his job than any of his predecessors.  While I am glad he is gone to the disaster that is The U, I still acknowledge he did some good things for Oregon in his time as a Duck.

Cristobal should have released that choke collar on Justin Herbert, placed on him by other poor coaches. With an elite coach to guide him, Herbert could have been a Heisman candidate. The two humiliating Utah losses are a dark stain on Cristobal's tenure that won't easily be forgotten or forgiven. His lack of focus cost the Ducks a shot at the College Football Playoff and a Rose Bowl appearance. Cristobal may have put it in a lot of hours, but he would have been better served by working smarter, not longer. 

 

Yes, Cristobal did do some good things for Oregon, mostly in the recruiting realm. However, his product on the field left much to be desired.