All Activity

My gut is Phil already called Mullens and let him know we aren't doing a first-time play caller type of Lanning buddy hire. I also think Mullens has already told Lanning you're going to hire an experienced top-level OC who can help you from getting blown out in the playoff in embarrassing fashion like the last two years. They might make him get a new high-profile DC as well, I would. Phil is a smart enough businessman to know it was a failure on his and Mullens part to let Lanning do the internal promotions for an OC and a DC. They run the program, not Lanning. We've been beaten like a drum and outcoached in the last two playoffs, they own some culpability letting Lanning make the stupid promotion move. They have another bite at the apple now and the question should be - who is the hire we win a NATTY with, cost don't matter.

This isn't burning it down, it's getting better and building, something it takes a critical eye and less blind loyalist eye to see. Chris Hampton is in his third year of as a DC, and he don't make a pimple on Aranda's butt as a DC. I'd fire him in a heartbeat at the end of the year if I can get Aranda for 2027. I'd sign Aranda today if he wanted to take a deal. We owe Hampton nothing, he got paid to do a job and if we can replace him with a NATTY winning DC then that is just Biz. Aranda has been the highest paid DC and possibly the highest paid Coordinator in the game at one point. He has been a Broyles award finalist with three different teams, he'd be the most decorated DC we ever had at Oregon! This is a business and a game that you have to be all in to get the best to be the best. Tampa drafted Jamies Winston #1 and replaced him with Tom Brady. They didn't sit around thinking maybe Jamies will get it and it will all click, and he will hit his peak, let's be LOYAL. No, they cut him loose and they went and got the best in the game and won a Super Bowl. This is a BUSSINES and Lanning needs to strop hiring his buddies or elite recruiter's and hire elite X and O coaches. I sure the hell want Aranda as my DC at my side in the playoffs, same goes with Locksley as the OC. Go load up for 2027 and come back strong.

I agree. As bad as the Offense has been no use risking his nfl prospects

I dont think the big time college coaches have enough time to coach the fundamentals. You either have those down or you dont. Spring and summer football are about conditioning and repetitions.

I'd love to see some smoke leading to fire around this idea.

I can't agree more. If a great hire is just there waiting to be had just go for it. We could easily miss out on A tier candidates while we're "leaving no stone unturned".

I don't disagree. Charles has been talking for a couple years about OBD being better off going to the portal for its QB rather than trying to grow them. Given this new landscape, are star HS QBs now better off going to second-tier programs with good OC and QB coaching in place in order to get playing time and development in hopes of transferring to a top-tier program? Seems like this is becoming the more common pattern...

Pretty much. Of course top tier teams will still recruit a blue chip QB each year simply because other recruits (WRs, RBs, etc.) will follow and build the recruiting class. If they develop into a solid starter, great! If not, an experienced incoming transfer takes over.

Good point. So those programs kind of become like Minor League Baseball teams, but for college football. All of those programs are our feeder schools.

Smell my feet, Give me some of that fresh Duck meat?

Things I like about Locksley are his success as a coordinator/QB coach, supposedly a good recruiter, not likely to be poached/looking for a head coaching job soon, so he could stay a while, bringing some stability to the staff. He'd be available to start soon (maybe as an analyst for the rest of the season), and he has some familiarity with Lanning. He checks a lot of boxes IMHO.

Trick or Treat?

Why can't we do better in the short term than Jay? And if we wait until the end of the season we'll be competing against Michigan A&M and other elite schools for a coordinators. So it wouldn't be the worst decision to hire a permanent replacement before the end of the season.

Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is some people's definition of insanity. You can take the existing playbook that has a lot of variety in it and call a very different game than Drew and Jay would have. Terminology issues can be solved with a decoder ring approach. Crash course, ready by Ohio State. Could still be a temporary gig.

AI could make quick work of a terminology decoder ring. Put a translator in the loop if you have to. If a guitarist can join a band in the middle of a world tour an OC can join mid season.

Wishful thinking on the part of the "burn it down" sect? I think the D has been demonstrating an ability to grow. It may benefit from minor tweaks, but a completely reboot/overhaul seems unreasonable at this point. It's obvious that a moderately serviceable offensive could result in a major boost.

The support staff migration is historically not unusual... Except at Oregon, prior to the ending of the Helfrich era.

Why would anyone think Hampton is being replaced? The defense has been pretty solid.

At least we know the playoffs won't get in the way🤪

While hiring a new Offensive Coordinator mid-season rarely works, bringing in a highly qualified outside analyst or two would be a massive win. Instead of a total system overhaul, fresh eyes could immediately help clarify exactly what isn’t working. They could provide the game-planning savvy and in-game adjustments this coaching staff clearly lacks. Sadly, there is zero indication that the front office is even considering this. When a system is fundamentally broken, you need objective, outside perspectives to diagnose the issues and find actionable fixes. Continuing with the same echo chamber isn't going to change the results.

Nowhere to go but up?

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? 😟

Johnson has been up in the booth sitting next to Mehringer the entire season.