Fun Matters More than Ever for Oregon Football

[FishDuck Article]

Doesn't Oregon football feel fun again for the fans and the players?

 

Fun Matters More than Ever for Oregon Football

FISHDUCK.COM

---

The biggest thing that keeps getting repeated during spring practice is that the team is having fun again. Mario Cristobal was and still is all about the...

 

[Haywarduck]

I can tell you from experience having and coaching a growth mindset is much more enjoyable in comparison to the grind of just working hard. The whole grading system within a growth format is different. You don't start at the top, say an A and work your way down, or just try, and hold onto your A, you just keep earning, making mistakes, and learning.

 

The old system of thinking is what we saw with Mario. Student athletes just trying to stay at their starting spot, keep their A. This led to a very conservative mentality, protect the status quo at all cost. If a player did anything off script and failed, they could drop out of their coveted spot. If they merely failed while running into the A gap, well no problem, they would get another opportunity. 

 

What we see with Coach Lanning is a Whittingham bouncing to the outside and making a huge play. The team is ecstatic, and the coaches thrilled. A qb makes an interception and Lanning says 'so what, now what?' Making mistakes and taking chances is all part of learning and growing to your potential and that is exciting, not a grind.  

 

From the weight room, to the film room growth is looked for and rewarded. Players aren't so much graded, but given feedback on their growth. The grade of A isn't what is being sought, each players potential is what is worked towards. Each mistake is embraced as effort toward learning, and leaning in. It takes a lot of leaning in and out of ones comfort zone. 

 

That is what is so exciting about this team is they are leaning out of comfort zones and into the unknown. We as Oregon fans know the unknown is where greatness happens. From starting a shoe company out of the back of a car, to telling a 5* DB he can play on offense, greatness happens when chances are taken. Each player is taking chances and finding their path, that is exciting for each player who embraces their path.

[Just Ducky]

 I actually thought that DL is a genius more than I did before Saturday. He not only was letting the kids and the fans enjoy the game but he also warned the upcoming opponents that if they jam the box they may be down 14 points before they realize the game has started. No more 2 yards and a cloud of dust from Oregon football. Chip was an offensive genius and Dan may also be one and we just don’t know it yet. The message has definitely been sent.

[30Duck]

Fun is definitely important, David. Alabama looks like it's having fun, and I think that is part of why Alabama keeps winning the championships. Every season it starts again for them, keeping it going, don't lose to unranked teams, don't play down to the level of the opponent.

 

All of that would be a drag, for the players and coaches if they weren't having fun. Saban will retire when it stops being fun. Lanning sure seems to understand that getting the message across to the players is a lot easier if they're having fun.

[Jon Joseph]

Thanks David. Great and spot on take.

 

Vince Lombardi 'returning' as Mario Cristobal has me believing in reincarnation.

[David Marsh]

In my original draft I had a whole lot more Mario Cristobal comparisons... And decided to cut them because we are in the Dan Lanning era now and it is wonderful, and I say that with only a spring game available. 

 

In the off-season I usually get football hungry and I go through YouTube looking for some old games to watch, or at least watch some good highlights. This is an observation of my own behavior from the past several years of doing this... I will watch games from the Kelly and Helfrich eras and maybe some from the Bellotti era as well but usually the quality of those games is really bad in terms of the recording available. 

 

What I have found is that I usually don't watch any games from the Cristobal era not because there aren't some good wins, looking at the Ohio State game, but they are usually just boring games. I mean I love that Oregon won the 2019-20 Rose Bowl but that is NOT a fun game to rewatch, winning by 1 point in a slugfest is not as much fun as watching Oregon destroy Jamis Winston's Florida State team in the 2014-15 Rose Bowl. 

 

The Cristobal era had a fun off season but a pretty boring and aweful regular season in terms of fan enjoyment. 

 

Cristobal Has Spoiled Fans By Winning the Off-Season

FISHDUCK.COM

---

Mario Cristobal will be Oregon's head coach in 2022. The only way this doesn't happen is if he opts to leave...

 

 

But the product in the field on Saturday's Spring Game was lots of fun to see. It was also a little telling listening to the Rich Brooks interview just how unwelcome alumni and old coaches have been around the program under the previous regime of coaches. 

 

It felt like a major home coming both for the offense and for fan favorite faces. 

 

[David Marsh]

On 4/26/2022 at 6:24 AM, Haywarduck said:

Making mistakes and taking chances is all part of learning and growing to your potential and that is exciting, not a grind.

I worked pretty hard trying to find the article from years and years ago but failed. But I do remember Marcus Mariota throwing loads of picks at times during practice at Oregon. He was always pushing his limits, how small of a window can he throw through, how deep can he throw it? 

 

All those things that made him a better player come game day because he also proved he makes good decisions with the football.

 

And practice should absolutely be fun... Anyone who has been on any sports team at any level knows you spend way more time practicing than you do playing in an actual game. Better make practice fun or why play at all? 

[DUCati855]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:21 AM, David Marsh said:

The Cristobal era had a fun off season but a pretty boring and aweful regular season in terms of fan enjoyment. 

Very well put!

I was always pulling for him. But, was never impressed by the product on the field. Thanks goodness for Autzen traditions that made game day tolerable.

[Duck 1972]

I was a MC supporter. The grind it out games made sense because of the condition of the team. I do believe his recruiting success skewed my belief. I do believe he lost the team towards the end of the season.

 

After the hiring of DL and staff and this spring ball I definitely see a difference in the players enthusiasm. It's night and day.  Also the alumni that are sharing they feel wanted again.

 

I am now on board with the idea that Miami did us a favor. Everything is better now.

 

Go Ducks Fly High

 

 

 

[PittDuck]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:21 AM, David Marsh said:

winning by 1 point in a slugfest is not as much fun as watching Oregon destroy Jamis Winston's Florida State team in the 2014-15 Rose Bowl. 

 

Cristobal Has Spoiled Fans By Winning the Off-Season

Truer words are seldom spoken!  THAT was a fun game to watch!  The third quarter was absolutely EPIC!

 

Thanks David, for reminding me, I will watch it a couple more times waiting for late August.

[Haywarduck]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:25 AM, David Marsh said:

I worked pretty hard trying to find the article from years and years ago but failed. But I do remember Marcus Mariota throwing loads of picks at times during practice at Oregon. He was always pushing his limits, how small of a window can he throw through, how deep can he throw it? 

 

All those things that made him a better player come game day because he also proved he makes good decisions with the football.

 

And practice should absolutely be fun... Anyone who has been on any sports team at any level knows you spend way more time practicing than you do playing in an actual game. Better make practice fun or why play at all? 

There is a famous story about coaching arguably the greatest soccer player in history, and it parallels what Lanning is doing with each of his players. They saw the talent and said whenever he made a mistake, so what, now what. Any mistake they just let him try it again. They new he would grow into something special.

 

This seems the antithesis of how football is coached, or even most kids educated. This is why it is fun.

 

We learn failure isn't comfortable, this isn't innate. If we worked under the tutelage most athletes, and students see they would never have learned how to walk or maybe even talk. Think back to how cute it use to be seeing kids fail and how encouraging we were, and the success which was seen.

 

All of these athletes have potential to be amazing players. They just need to be in an environment where they can flourish. This is what we are seeing, an environment meant to grow student athletes, and become what the recruiters and scouts saw. This is also why we have seen so few transfers, Lanning is brilliant. 

 

Don't confuse this with an easy program to get a starting position with. Each player is expected to improve in all areas. The difference is there is a celebration of this process, not just an expectation. Or just an expectation one works really hard, mindlessly.