Is Lanning Taking Secrecy TOO FAR?

[Charles Fischer]

Be sure to enjoy the incredible collection of articles curated for the FishDuck Feed, and I sure thank NJDuck for joining the team and killing-it.

 

Below is crazy, and never been done at Oregon...ever.

 

 

[Kurt Rambis]

I'm fine with it.  Football is so competitive, even the smallest edge may make a difference.

[McDuck]

Interesting move that I disagree with.  Don't you want the fans involved?  

[Charles Fischer]

I am spitballing here as to why....Dan Lanning and Kirby Smart know each other well, and if Oregon is planning to surprise the Bulldogs--disclosing the positions up front would help Georgia's preparation. Are you starting a fifth defensive back?  Or not?  That tells them about the new defense, and the profile of player you put in that spot tells Coach Smart a ton as well.

 

I understand the chess game, but it sure makes covering the team more difficult...and I think this is over-the-top.

 

[lownslowav8r]

Let’s hope the kids can tell their parents. 

[David Marsh]

He has basically this one time at Oregon to take advantage of the secrecy and it making sense. There isn't a lot of footage of what schemes he wants to run. There are assumptions as to who may be the starters but still a lot of question marks. 

 

Lanning probably knows more about the Georgia team than Smart knows about this Oregon team. 

 

Lanning as an opportunity to spring some surprises and I am sure there may be a few surprises on the depth chart. There will also be a lot that aren't at all surprising. Right now it makes sense, moving forward it makes less sense. 

 

As for restricting access to the program's coaches. We don't get much useful information out of them anyways so besides of the playing nice to the fan base aspect there isn't a whole lot we are missing. 

[Quackerbacker]

Fine with it especially for this game.  We need every  advantage we can get for this game.  It means Georgia has to spend more time preping for more options that could come their way next week.  

 

Now as we move into the season the cat will be out of the bag already, so I'm guessing we will get more info prior to each game.    

[Haywarduck]

Brilliant move, love it as it brings us back to our roots. Once again we are doing what a coach has been dreaming about doing without reverence to what has been done, or what others think we should do. Much like the hurry up offense, I hope this pisses off a few programs. Maybe Saban will even chime in and say it isn't fair.

 

Brings me to my favorite quote from Saban, which hasn't aged too well, because hurry up has led us to where we are.

 

"I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking is this what we want football to be?"

 

[Tandaian]

Well, it is the 1st game, so I think it is fine.  Plus, it is against his old HC, so there is that part of the equation as well.  Once, this game is played, if there are no injuries, 90% of the players who started this game, will be starters the rest of the season.

 

You can only be this secretive for the 1st game of the year.

[Charles Fischer]

From another thread...

 

shawnski asked...."Do you really think the defending Champs, from the SEC, playing on the home turf, are really concerned who Oregon's safety or db's are going to be?"

 

Yep.  I've spent quite a few hours prepping on the Georgia defense, and frankly have a long ways to go yet.  There has been quite a transition on defense the last couple of years, and Smart began a change on the Georgia defense from lining up in reference to the boundary/field versus the formation strength.

 

In fact the Mint defense at Georgia was a change from how Alabama does it, although the 'Tide made the change as well.  Do you line up the Star position toward the passing strength, or to all the space of the field that can be exploited? It does make a difference in how offenses can attack defenses by understanding their alignment calls.

 

But with all of that....not announcing starting lineups going into the first game of the year is....

 

[The Kamikaze Kid]

I think Lanning far more than any of us truly understands what we’re going up against in a week.
 

Just think of how many coaches meetings he’s been in with coach Smart. How many times he’s seen a master mind coach take the smallest scrap of information and build a winning game plan from it.

 

I think because the Ducks have been the most mismanaged powerhouse team in the country the last few years, they are also the most unknown team. I see Lanning using this to his advantage.

[Washington Waddler]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:36 AM, Charles Fischer said:

shawnski asked...."Do you really think the defending Champs, from the SEC, playing on the home turf, are really concerned who Oregon's safety or db's are going to be?"

     They’re foolish if they aren’t. They didn’t get to where they are by ignoring details. Kirby believes in playing by his last name; not in being stupidly smug.

[Gizmoduck]

I see no  advantage to telling reporters and fans who is starting week to week. If I was the head coach I would never announce starters. The players know who is going to play, that's who it should matter to the most. Fans have game programs to see the roster. The fan experience should not expect to gain insight to the innerworkings of a program. We can disagree, it's ok if you think different than I do. 

 

At the end of the day it's Dan Lanning's name on the "progrum". Nobody is going to cut him any slack if the team doesn't perform up to snuff. I don't blame him for trying to squeeze every single advantage he can legally get to make this the championship caliber team he has envisioned.  Is that a little frustrating for us as fans? A little, but will we accept it if we get the results desired? You bet, and we'll call him a genius and defend him with our last breath, and ask why other coaches don't do the same. 

 

The tradition of not being traditional is what makes Oregon so special, it's hard to accept at first, but when we see spectacular results, it all makes sense.

 

Is it gameday yet?

 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Gizmoduck

[Drake]

Not announcing the starters until game day also keeps the media from putting additional pressure on the starting QB for the first game against the defending champs.
 

That is the marquee starting position battle that most people want to know about anyways. The questions, or analysis, from the media about the players involved can be a little hard to take sometimes. The next big question always seems to be how far do you let a starting QB struggle before sending in QB2.
 

Not announcing until game day is not a big deal to me, but I understand why people want to know. I guess we will all find out for sure just before kickoff. 
 

 

[noDucknewby]

OK let's be real we have seen enough projected two-deeps to get a pretty good idea of who's starting on Sept. 3 and so has KS, so I don't think any official announcement really matters much.  To me what the offense is going to do schematically is the biggest question and I really don't think that's going to change much regardless of who the starters are.  

 

The one advantage we have over Georgia is film (or lack of).  It is a small advantage to be sure, but we need a lot of things to fall into place to come away with a win.  Besides, this advantage is the most relevant when the team has yet to take a snap and diminishes with each game as the data set gets larger.  In short, now's the best time to do this.

 

Of course we want to gobble up all Duck data bits or we probably wouldn't be here in the first place, but I'm fine with waiting until Sept. 3 to see what DL has in store for us, just builds the anticipation.

 

 

[30Duck]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:15 AM, Gizmoduck said:

I see no  advantage to telling reporters and fans who is starting week to week

I'm with you. When the game starts on Saturday, and I see who the QB is, or the WR's or TE or whoever, that's fine with me, and if it keeps the opponent in the dark, then absolutely it's the right move. 

[Bathtub Ducky]

Crepea is quite full-of-himself, and I can tell you from what I've heard from others....many of the other journalists..."do not care for him."

[Mic]

Could mean a lot of things but the simplest is usually the best: he either isn't sure at all the positions yet and/or he feels nothing to be gained by revealing anything to Georgia.  Hey, I liked Kelly's closed-mouthed approach so why wouldn't I like Lannings?

[Steven A]

On 8/26/2022 at 11:51 AM, Bathtub Ducky said:

Crepea is quite full-of-himself

Agreed.  When I listen to him and Frentress that comes through loud and clear.

 

 

[Steven A]

Why not name Butterfield (unless he is the starter).  Same for any other position.  Then on game day when some other player trots out there, they know they can't rely upon what you say.

[Mic]

Then every yahoo out there will think the "starter' is injured....lol !

 

I think Fischer is right, why give the Bulldogs anything when there's nothing to be gained?

 

 Plus, this keeps the players themselves in the 'competition for play' mode and, (sadly) staves off any thoughts of transfer for a bit longer, maybe.

[Charles Fischer]

On 8/26/2022 at 12:23 PM, Steven A said:

Why not name Butterfield (unless he is the starter). 

I think then the coaches would be dealing with an inferno of questions from the media.

 

From my point of view, learning the starters on gameday instead of before adds a lot of stress and analysis time during and immediately after a game.  (I imagine that might be true for others in the media as well)

 

I especially would like to know the starters on defense, as that tells me a lot about how Lanning is going to run his defense.  And that is why when Lanning is asked....

 

[CountryProf]

On 8/26/2022 at 1:15 PM, Gizmoduck said:

 

The tradition of not being traditional is what makes Oregon so special, it's hard to accept at first, but when we see spectacular results, it all makes sense.

 

 

 

 

I love that. Very well stated.

 

[CountryProf]

On 8/26/2022 at 3:32 PM, Charles Fischer said:

I think then the coaches would be dealing with an inferno of questions from the media.

 

From my point of view, learning the starters on gameday instead of before adds a lot of stress and analysis time during and immediately after a game.  (I imagine that might be true for others in the media as well)

 

I especially would like to know the starters on defense, as that tells me a lot about how Lanning is going to run his defense.  And that is why when Lanning is asked....

 

I hadn't thought of that. It must be very frustrating for an analyst like you not to have the information you need up front to maximize your understanding of what might happen in the game. It's also frustrating for people like me to not be able to benefit from the careful analysis that analysts like you provide in advance of big games.

 

And, I think Lanning being this closed mouth gives him the best possible tactical advantage he can have against Georgia. And we're going to need every single advantage we can get against that team.

[David Marsh]

On 8/26/2022 at 11:53 AM, Mic said:

Hey, I liked Kelly's closed-mouthed approach so why wouldn't I like Lannings?

It works if the coaches and teams are winning. Kelly got away with it because he was winning. Helfrich got away with it until 2016 really when Oregon wasn't winning. 

[Mic]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:12 PM, David Marsh said:

It works if the coaches and teams are winning. Kelly got away with it because he was winning. Helfrich got away with it until 2016 really when Oregon wasn't winning. 

It's tough on reporters wanting to fill space in their columns and Lanning will probably get better at giving them bones w/o divulging secrets.  That's one key to being a good HC, I think.  Public relations - something they all probably dread but must be addressed.

[Mic]

On 8/26/2022 at 1:13 PM, CountryProf said:

And, I think Lanning being this closed mouth gives him the best possible tactical advantage he can have against Georgia. And we're going to need every single advantage we can get against that team.

Indeed.

[30Duck]

On 8/26/2022 at 11:53 AM, Mic said:

Could mean a lot of things but the simplest is usually the best:

Occam's Razor

[Augduck]

On 8/26/2022 at 11:51 AM, Bathtub Ducky said:

Crepea is quite full-of-himself, and I can tell you from what I've heard from others....many of the other journalists..."do not care for him."

This is consistent with what I have heard and to DL's credit, he's far more patient with JC than Mario ever was.  The veins in Mario's neck were bulging Everytime JC opened his mouth.

[Flaps2]

Chip was the ultimate lockdown coach when it came to information and access. I could be wrong but I remember the week leading up to the loss to Barkley and USC in 2011, Fentress or Jude or Grife was able to see a tenth of the practice field from a stair case that was a blind spot that hadn't been covered up yet and Chip spent all week being upset about it.