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It was based on consistency for Dante and hubris, neither of which worked out well.

Thanks for the terrific post. In 2026, transfer QBs have started games for Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC, 77.77% of conference programs. In 2026, the only Big Ten team with two or fewer losses and playing a home grown QB is Minnesota. In the SEC, Georgia's Matthew Stafford, Texas's Archie Manning, A&M's Mercel Reed, and both of Tennessee's starting freshmen qbs are home grown. In 2026, transfer QBs have started games for Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt. In 2026, transfer QBs have started for 42 of the 68 FBS football programs, 61.8%. 2024-25 champion Ohio State, and 2025-26 champion Indiana, started transfer QBs. Will Howard and Fernando Mendoza were in the middle, not the top, of their respective group of QB transfers. Spot on noting that roster management today is a full time, year round job.

I'd imagine that as part of the sales pitch to recruits, schools will start offering official accredited personal finance courses that include how to handle windfalls. There is nothing bad with paying players a market rate for the services they provide. If people think it's too much money then stop watching and buying gear so there isn't as much revenue to share with them.

The New England Patriots were only worth $25k in the 60s?!

The best QB we've had since Marcus (Bo) came through the portal so it is possible. It's also highly possible you end up with a lemon here and there. Seems like the NIL / transfer era should have come with a "lower your expectations" waring.

I have been a paid customer there for maybe 25 years, but it gets snarky, and is not unique in the information it provides.

In 1960, my Dad and I attended the then Boston Patriot's opening game played at BU's Nickerson Field. The Pats QB was Babe Parilli, The Sweet Knetucky Babe, who won an SEC title playing for Bear Bryant at Kentucky. As you noted, the stadium's gone. It was replaced by dormitories. BS - before Schaffer Stadium in Foxborough opened, I also watched the Boston Pats play at Harvard and Boston College. My Dad;s friend, Billy Sullivan, bought the AFL Football League Boston franchise for $25,000. (Not a typo.) Notre Dame plays Navy on Saturday in today's New England Patriots Gillette Stadium.

This thread has images of Justin Roper and Chris Harper dancing through my head.

I should have titled this: "Why Growing Your Own QB Has Died a Quiet Death at Top-20 Programs"

We're spending pretty much league high money on getting player talent. And then, we apparently went 'on the cheap' regarding finding, hiring, and paying the absolute best proven OC that money could buy? That's still the part that I do not understand. For a program at our level, to have taken such a massive risk with an unproven OC coach like Meh is extremely strange to me (actually, the experience Meh did have was sub-par, at best). I'm still perplexed by what the hiring decision was based upon. I'm hoping that there's a much bigger picture here that I just don't see. My fear, though, is that the decision was based primarily on friendship, instinct, and ego.

Yes and no... bringing in any established defensive mind means that Lanning is open to the continued development of his defense and its evolution. The Mint defense is NOT perfect and has some significant weaknesses in it. No team has the players Georgia had in 2020 and 2021 and teams have learned to exploit the Mint defense. Change isn't admitting defeat because frankly the defense has been pretty good this year but admitting change needs to happen admits that things can get better. I would love new ideas to come into the program and elevate everyone.

Well, we're all about to find our how talented Coach Lanning really is. I'm still hopeful that he has the right stuff.

Hopefully one that actually scores. Oregon Football: Ducks crafting offensive identity under new play-caller

The best we can to for you is a retired strength coach named Brian Doyle. He played for another defunct Boston area college football program. The BU Terriers.

Many moons ago Chris Petersen was OC at Boise State. He ran an offense often known as “Pete’s Poison.” Opposing DC’s literally lost their minds trying to figure out how to stop it. It was Pete’s Poison that beat Oklahoma, Georgia and Oregon. Pete was HC, not OC at that time but the OC was Bryan Harsin and he was an understudy to Pete and definitely ran Pete’s offense. Eventually, Pete simplified that offense because it took a couple of years for incoming players to learn it. The more highly rated players he was recruiting because of the Fiesta Bowl win wanted to play much earlier so the offense could no longer require a Phi Beta Kappa and years of practice. Interestingly, the Boise State Broncos started to score fewer points and win fewer high profile games after the change. (Oregon has chalked up two straight victories over Bronco teams not running that insane offense.) Pete was/is an offensive genius. Those guys exist but they are few. Most are probably working and wouldn’t publicly commit to a move until the season is over. The Ducks would have to back a dump truck full of cash up to the door of a guy like Pete to secure a true offensive guru. But that’s exactly what Oregon must do if it wants to hoist the trophy at the end of the season. JMHO

Not really... Ka'ai, Samples, and Douglas are the only other three and NONE have play calling experience. The youth trap has hit hard! We can't do an outside temp hire because they won't know the system and more importantly the verbage. It would take them time to come up to speed and Johnson already knows it all and had called plays in the past. I do not expect the offense to suddenly look amazing... But that's where we're trapped.

Offense? What offense? Fight on!!!

Coach Lanning's comments on Akili Smith Jr. My question - Why not give him a chance to show what his arm and legs can do? Raiola and Thomas aren't getting it done. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning's Comments on Quarterback Akili Smith Jr. Spe...The Oregon Ducks’ football program dominated college football headlines three days in a row. Saturday’s third loss of 2026 may have knocked them out of College

Dan Lanning's Comments on Quarterback Akili Smith Jr. Speaks VolumesOregon Ducks fans are growing more curious about whether sophomore quarterback Akili Smith Jr. could play behind center in 2026. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning's Comments on Quarterback Akili Smith Jr. Spe...The Oregon Ducks’ football program dominated college football headlines three days in a row. Saturday’s third loss of 2026 may have knocked them out of College

Oregon Ducks to simplify offense after Drew Mehringer firing https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2026/10/28/oregon-football-qb-competition-continues-in-simplified-offense-dylan-raiola-dan-lanning/92461003007/

Dan Lanning believes Ducks have 'found some things' along the O-Line as rush attack has best game to dateOregon coach Dan Lanning feels the offensive line is beginning to come together after a poor start to the season. https://247sports.com/college/oregon/article/dan-lanning-believes-ducks-have-found-some-things-along-the-o-line-as-rush-attack-has-best-game-to-date-291855381/

Dan Lanning’s Chip Kelly Warning Ahead of Autzen Stadium ReturnChip Kelly is back in the Big Ten Conference as the offensive coordinator for the Northwestern Wildcats, and a recent photo of him is trending. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning’s Chip Kelly Warning Ahead of Autzen Stadium...The Oregon Ducks (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) Halloween game will feature a ghost from the program's past: Chip Kelly makes his Autzen Stadium return with the Northwester

Northwestern vs. Oregon: How to watch, weather, injuries, odds, announcers, and moreAutzen ZooNorthwestern vs. Oregon: How to watch, weather, injuries,...Coming into the season, no one would've expected to see the late October showdown between Oregon and Northwestern featuring the 20th ranked Wildcats facing an u

He has the look of someone who just found out what he inherited. 😧

The team has suffered from complacency and entitlement from the get-go. As Mike West has observed, the team is not talented at every position and does not have the same talent as the teams that blew out Oregon in the Rose and Peach Bowls and won titles. Unlike Chip Kelly's far less talented team that was so close to winning a BCS title, this team has no schematic advantage on either side of the ball. Marcus Mariota's squad was an awesome group, and Marcus was a run threat when needed. The Ohio State team that defeated Oregon in the title game had one of the most talented squads in CFB history. The loss was sad but understandable. Without a QB who presents an 11-on-11 threat on offense, Oregon's offense is predictable and not difficult to defend. Especially so when the O-line is mediocre at best. But all of these issues can be overcome by a kick-butt attitude and a desire to kick the whey out of the other guy. Of course, better coaching helps the cause, but ultimately it's not generals but the soldiers who have to hit the beach. From the opening game against a G6 opponent, where in Hades has been the desire to kick butt and win? A talented QB was decapitated, and I thought, with the way the team battled in LA after Dante's injury, this team was ready to fight and run the table. I thought leaders would step up in the locker room and on the field. I was wrong. Stuff happens. Bad seasons happen. I hope this isn't a Clemson-like, top-down, long-term endemic problem. We'll soon see. Next year's in-conference schedule is more difficult than this season's Big Ten schedule. BTW, $50 million? Bull Manure.