All Activity

Recruiting may be low on the wish list, if the candidate can put out a burning Tesla... Chip doesn't exactly have Recruiting Chops high on his resume, either. Too bad none of us can read CDL's mind to see what his priority rankings are, eh?

I posted earlier about the “old days,” when at Oregon, we almost always developed our own QBs. Today, no program can afford to wait to grow its own. I can be slow to the party, but with NIL and revenue sharing, the quarterback has become the pinnacle of the true free-agent market. The transfer portal is where many of these players will make more money than many will earn the rest of their lives. The pay curve is steep. At a top program, a backup earns around $1 million, and a highly recruited backup gets closer to $1.5-2 million (reportedly, Dylan gets $2 million). A starter makes $3–4 million, and elite transfers get $5–6.5 million (Dante $5 million). And the crazy thing is, when we look at the massive amount of money involved in CFB, they’re worth it – even worth the risk. It finally occurred to me that a talented backup QB can no longer afford to 'wait his turn.' Every season he sits can cost him millions, and his value drops. I have to remind myself that most of these kids making $1–3 million per year will never take a snap in the NFL. For them, this is payday (and this is true of all other positions... the numbers are just lower). There’s always been a transactional relationship in CFB between the institution and the players and coaches. But it’s now finally occurred to me that it is almost entirely transactional… and on steroids. Both the kids and the coaches have understandably entered the mercenary-portal. As I said, I can be a bit slow to the party. But it finally occurred to me today that the old path in CFB of truly developing QBs died a quiet death.

Indeed. That's what the announcement indicated. It is likely very difficult concentrating on an outside hire while dealing with a burning Tesla in the dumpster...

I think it's a good move for the remainder of the season, but I'd be a little concerned if it turned into a permanent hire. Johnson isn't some inexperienced assistant being thrown into the fire. He's been an offensive coordinator at several programs, including Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan State, and Wyoming. His 2021 Michigan State offense was pretty impressive, averaging nearly 429 yards and 32 points per game on the way to an 11–2 season. Granted, having Kenneth Walker III in the backfield certainly didn't hurt. But there's another side to that résumé. Johnson was relieved of his offensive coordinator duties at Wyoming in the middle of the 2025 season, with his offense averaging just 20 points per game. That's not exactly the kind of recent success that screams he's the answer for a program with Oregon's expectations. That said, I think the interim designation makes sense. He's already in the building, knows the personnel, has experience calling plays, and has an established relationship with Lanning. Given the circumstances, bringing in someone completely unfamiliar with the program would probably create more problems than it solves. My bigger concern is whether changing coordinators actually changes anything offensively. Are we going to see a different philosophy, better adjustments, more creativity, and an offense that plays to its personnel's strengths? Or are we just going to have a different guy calling essentially the same plays? I'd like to see a commitment to establishing the run, better use of play-action, smarter quarterback management, and some actual creativity on third down. We have enough talent that moving the football shouldn't feel like pulling teeth. Ultimately, I give Lanning credit for recognizing something wasn't working and making a change rather than stubbornly riding it out. But I also think Oregon is in a position where it shouldn't have to settle when it comes to hiring an offensive coordinator. We have the resources, recruiting power, and national reputation to attract someone with a proven track record of consistently producing elite offenses. So I'm fine with Johnson taking the reins for now. Give him an opportunity to show what he can do, evaluate the results, and then conduct a serious national search when the season ends. The real question, at least to me, isn't whether Jay Johnson is capable of calling plays. It's whether Lanning recognizes that Oregon might need more than a different play-caller. It might need a different offensive approach altogether. Because changing who's holding the playbook doesn't accomplish much if we're still running the same damn offense.

Isn't JJ just an interim hire?

I hope Dan doesn't make the same mistake of letting his friendships come before the program.

Gat, good luck to your Gators and Nevada Dawg's Dogs in the World's Largest Indoor Cocktail Party game on Halloweenie. And GameDay's in Bloomington for the Hoosiers vs. the Gophers? After his trip to Salt Lake City, I guess Pat McAfee needed to head home for a hug. 😁

The Horseshoe(S)?

At what?

On3's Ari Wasserman's thoughts on Week 8. Not good for the guy standing in the middle of the photo. On315 thoughts after Week 8: Oregon's frustration, Texas' re...A lot happens on college football Saturdays. It’s hard to keep up with everything. So this season, in an attempt to bring everybody up to speed – while

DC - I'd go with Pete Kwiatkowski, now a D-line coach with the AZ Cardinals, who had a top-20 D at Texas and was fired by Sark because someone had to go from a team that didn't make the POs. Locksley? Zero experience recruiting the West Coast and an offense and team at Maryland that disappeared after September. Aranda? A California guy but not a great recruiter by any means.

Imagine a world where UCLA is in first place in the B1G, and Kentucky is in first place in the SEC.🫪... Oh wait, well imagine a world where Indiana actually is a football power.😬... Well okay. But, Texas A&M and Oregon are both top 10. Surely....🥺 Well Notre Dame is surely overrated as usual..😮‍💨. Ahh, all is well in the world. Florida can destroy a top five team, and then get blown out by two mediocre ones, only to sandwich that with a road win over Texas. I have no idea what to expect the rest of the year. The ACC is Miami and Wake Forest. The Big 12 is Utah..... and..... Texas Tech got beaten down by a Cincy squad that gave up nearly fifty the week before. BYU followed up their signature win over Notre Dame, by losing in double overtime to a backup QB at three loss UCF. USC scored seven, and lost to a Wisconsin team that passed for 57 yards . Tennessee lost to a South Carolina squad that looked dead in the water two weeks ago. Iowa lost some kind of pig to a forever middling Minnesota squad. Michigan and Indiana played "Who Wants to Score a Touchdown" for five quarters. Why can't Oregon beat Ohio State? Just throw Akili Smith Jr. out there, who knows. As the kid from 'Angels in the Outfield' said "It could happen". That's the mantra of this season.

That 2007 @ Michigan game (against a very good 9-4 Michigan team) was a masterpiece thing-of-beauty game. Dixon was an absolute maestro in that game, and was like a magician with some of his fakes (more than once, the network cameras got lost trying to find the ball). Anybody that would like to watch a really fabulous, fantastic, Duck game should try and pull that game up. And yes, losing him hurt like hell. And damn... it's one more reminder of just how close we've been on a few occasions to, I believe, winning the whole thing. But none closer than the NCG in 2011.

I hope Coach Lanning does the complete opposite of what he did when he promoted both coordinators last year. He also needs to de-emphasize the importance of recruiting and running a specific offensive system, and prioritize the importance of experience, measurable offensive production and player development.

I am open to both of these hires in truth. And probably get them at a discount because of their current buyouts. Usually contracts are structured in such a way that even when they take a new job they are still owed some of the money (though less than if they don't take another job). So if that's the case then all the better.

The coaching losses are the most significant...the focus has tended (rightfully so) on the loss of Stein and Lupoi. But all the supporting staff that went with them was probably just as detrimental and would explain so much of the sloppiness we're seeing from players this season.

There's a reason Ty Thompson and Austin Novosad never started for us. They transferred out and neither (I believe) wound up being a starter at their new school. Is ASJ the same? He's obviously a fan favorite, especially for those of us old enough to watch his dad. If DL thinks he's not ready I get it, but what we probably know at this point is that DM, DR or BT won't be starting for us next year. Why not give him a shot? This season is a bust and I'm not seeing that there's anything to lose. We most likely will be looking to the portal for next year's starter anyway.

Well, allow me to clarify... it's obviously not literally 'unbelievable'. But I'm somewhat confident that I'm not the only guy who didn't anticipate the season unfolding the way it has. Frankly, the way this season is/has played out wasn't remotely on anyone's radar. Anyone who has gone through at least the last 20 Duck seasons will recall 2007 when we were right in the middle of a national title fight when leading Heisman Trophy contender quarterback Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury against Arizona State, and an 8-1 team finished by losing their last three games. As painful as this year has been; quite honestly, it can’t even come close to the devastation felt at that time. And, that’s but one example that wasn’t on anybody’s radar. Regarding AS Jr, I’m as willing as anyone to give him a chance. The proof in the pudding will be the first time his legs won’t cut it, and he faces a 3rd down and long yardage.

Here you thought it was a game of, "Grab A$$". All along, they were whispering, "I causi mi abbruciàvunu"! It's Sicilian... Means, "My pants are on fire!" My buddy learned it as a tenager, while driving his Grandpa's Cadillac convertible. That's what the old feller shouted from the back seat when he dozed off, and the ash from his cuban cigar fell in his lap!

"....written by Paolo Uggetti. He is a USC Trojan graduate" Well, rock bottom may look more like 4-8 at USC in 2021? So, Uggetti does have that base line to compare.

We have a 75 million dollar staff and roster going to waste. Have the headhunters put out a APB for a $100,000 a week gig as the OC and see who picks up the phone. Is that really that off limits to do?

I like the idea of Locksley. I hope this doesn't last more than one or two weeks.

It's JJ! What could go wrong? (🤬😧🥸) This guy has more CFB frequent-flyer miles than a United Airlines pilot. He doesn't seem to be at the apogee of his career. (DUH!) Chip brought back the Winged T, and Northwestern and QB Aiden Chiles are lighting it up. Win one for the Gipper and bring back the Single Wing? No place is finer on December 22nd than Shreveport, Louisiana, and it's only a 40-hour drive from Eugene. 😁

I read nothing in the article that felt biased. His bringing up the coaching losses and listing them really helped me understand why coaching is so poor this year. A LOT of turnover outside players transferring out.

Best of fortune to Dante Moore. A fine young man. I'd do a thorough review of the offseason and the errors made that translated into a very disappointing, bordering on a historically disappointing, regular season. In today's CFB, you cannot lose the offseason and compete for championships. Texas A&M, with its starting QB not injured, made the same kind of offseason mistakes and is also experiencing a season out of Hades. Conversely, Will Stein perfectly mined the portal, including the O-line position, and has Kentucky winning the closest of games and is on top of the SEC. As Urban Meyer and many others have noted, O-line today is the toughest position to recruit to and develop, and quality O-line starters out of the portal are gold. Three O-line players who transferred to Oregon were part of a 2025 Joe Moore Award finalist line and are on NFL rosters. Accordingly, and as others have noted above, a dual-threat QB, or at least a QB who can run the ball when necessary, is more of a necessity than a luxury. Dylan Raiola was not the answer at Nebraska, and he's not the answer in Eugene.