David Marsh

This is why Oregon has failed to break into the State of Washington recruiting wise. Keep in mind during the Cristobal era that MC managed to pull top talent if not THE top recruit out of every single state in the Pac-12 footprint (and some outside of it) EXCEPT for Washington. This is the first HUGE recruiting win for Lanning. Breaking into the State of Washington has been impossible for Oregon to do over the years but pulling a Husky right out of the transfer portal to Oregon is a big start.

Another random thought ... I know TAMU has their plethora of NIL money to their recruits but the other side of things built into that contract is that those players are locked into TAMU if they actually want the money. The downside is that if a player finds themselves unhappy and stuck on the depth chart transferring comes at a huge expense.... But then again ... They are getting paid so that feels like a decision that is purely on them. I guess I would like to see NIL contracts to not come into play until those players have made it to campus and have actually engaged with the team. Beyond that... Talk about locker room dynamics right now. Money is flowing to those who haven't even registered for classes yet over those established on the roster. Money is going to recruits over the roster it feels like at this time and it will continue that way because the acquisition of talent is where donors are more interested in spending the money than on the existing players.

Just out of curiosity... Does anyone know the salary cap for NFL teams? Or at least how much money is paid out on average for an NFL team? My gut says that it won't take like for college football NIL to become more expensive to run than the pros.

A little bit of both probably. NIL is concerning because there really aren't any rules with it. I can see rules being put on NIL but it will come at a cost of a universal salary for every player in college football, just focusing on scholarship players at the moment and not even diving into the potential walk-on mess. With a salary that is the same for every player that means players are getting paid which means the NCAA, or whatever the institution that manages college sports is these days, can realistically come to law makers and say players are bring paid and we need a way to stop the insanity of NIL to restore some integrity to the sport. This salary would have to be universal across all schools, or at least division 1, or else there is the problem of a bidding war continuing which doesn't solve any problem. Or... We just go straight down the route of making this a true feeder league to the NFL in which case... Salaries for players anyways. I have no answer just random ideas. But I also know that Saban doesn't like being out recruited.

It is a crazy age with the transfer portal where players can now follow coaches... To a degree.

I am sure Lanning will be dipping into Florida and the south east on the whole to pull a few recruits every year. But the bread and butter for Oregon is the West... Basically every state effectively in the Pac-12 footprint. Oregon will be able to pull some talent from the south east but never enough to put together a whole class. Probably 5-7 players at most from the south east in any given year, I am not including Texas as part of the south east by the way.

If it makes anyone feel better ... This is probably the only year that Cristobal and Miami really dip out west for recruiting purposes. The Miami boosters who got him his job want him to own the state for Florida and the south east has plenty of talent close at hand. This year MC is pulling on recruits he has a relationship with already which just so happen to be out our way. Sucks on the short term but long term we will probably hear his name less and less.... Unless of course Lanning and co. dig right at the heart of Florida recruiting wise... Which is possible but on the whole Oregon needs to own the west coast and only pick up a few recruits from Florida.

LaGarret Blount... I know at Oregon he had that whole punch a Bronco in the head deal which is probably what he is best remembered for as a Duck... But he has a few super bowl rings to his name. The biggest problem with articles is that they have a limit of length due to readability. Realistically this should be a five.. or ten part series. Go Ducks!

Tuesday is the big day next week for ducks fans because that's the day he is full time at Oregon. Next week we get to really see what Lanning has in store for us. So far we have really just seen the set up for the Lanning era... Some initial hires some small recruiting and roster preservation and a couple pick-ups from the portal. Next week is full power Lanning. It is very exciting to say the least.

Verdell always seemed to look for contact when running up the middle. I have felt that the vision of the running backs has been lacking where they just run straight and into whoever is there rather than try to bounce to the outside or make a different cut to get into space. Cardwell has so far shown more patience and better vision which I look forward to seeing him develop.

I think that Mullens low balled Wilcox to force Wilcox into saying no. Wilcox was not given the same offer Lanning was given considering Wilcox has actually been a a head coach where Lanning has not.

I think this staff can absolutely pull in the best classes Oregon has ever seen. I also feel the emphasis made on big time recruiters is vital. You can recruit to Oregon but let's remind everyone that that doesn't mean it's easy to recruit to Oregon. Cristobal proved it could be done... But that staff worked their collective butts off to do it. Oregon can't afford to have coaches who take little interest in recruiting or aren't great recruiters because getting the talent to even show up for a visit can be a challenge. Let's put it this way... Lots of programs that sit in recruiting hotbeds get loafs of unofficial visits from top recruits. They show up on their own dime and get to look around and meet the staff and what not. Oregon gets some but that usually comes at the minimum cost of a plane ticket and the expenses attached. USC, Bama, Georgia, Texas and others have recruits just drive in and stay the day and leave at minimal expense. That's hard to compete with... Oregon needs to get recruits to campus and official visits do help hit there is a limited number of thosr. And at the end of the day, it's hard to beat those unofficial visits.

Not too surprising... Miami is an old school blue blood and Cristobal is a hot commodity from his last few years of recruiting at Oregon and "turning around a downtrodden program". Cristobal when promoted to ahC at Oregon was only considered like a B and a lazy hire for Oregon at the time. Miami is also east coast which helps boost their appeal. USC is well... USC so of course they get a big grade for the Riley hire because they needed to go major splash. As for Oregon... We are an interesting backwater program out west. We have some flash and are sometimes interesting but we aren't seen as much. We hire a up and coming DC as a first time head coach.. it's seen as an inability to hire anyone of substance. Right now this is a beauty contest. These grades really don't matter... The grades that matter from pundits (it any really do) are the ones in a year or two from now where they grade how good the hire actually was... I think Oregon scores a big win at that point.

I tend to find this sort of thing entertaining out of a case study of a program. At least for me it is so much fun to observe football as a sort of rise and fall of "empires". This probably comes out of my day job which is a social studies teacher ... but still looking at these sort of situations is fun in the short term and the long term. Also the Huskies totally hate us just as much as we hate them. The dynamic is a bit different than the Oregon State hate of Oregon where we don't feel anywhere near the same hatred towards them as they do for us. The feeling is mutual between Oregon and Washington and until the day comes that Oregon leads the series, I don't see that changing.

I don't see this being an issue for next year of maybe the next two years... But this year's class could create an issue later. But the proliferation of the transfer portal changes everything and allows teams to fill immediate needs with non-freshmen. Also... This class wasn't going to be a monster class like the previous three... Not enough scholarships.

Ok... this feels familiar... oh wait this EXACT same thing happened when Taggart left and Cristobal became the HC. We lost ALL of the receiver commits. I'm not implying anything by this and I think it is purely coincidental but it is kinda funny how in the last two coaches leaving that it has resulted in the loss of all our receiver commits. Also... I think this means we don't have any commits from Texas anymore. Kinda a shame, but not at all surprising. Going to have to build that Texas to Eugene pipeline under Lanning.

Ok... I did write about Oregon's failure to recruit the state of Washington last summer right after JTT decided to go to Ohio State instead. I just feel the need to do a little victory lap while also shamelessly show off.

Maintenance and equipment managers are a small price to pay, literally, for improvements on safety technology and allowing football to remain as a sport. So much money in football already and schools are on the hook for athlete's medical bills for a period of time after they leave the school so this is something that if it works and works well would be a great financial decision and a great health decision. That is a great combo for everyone.

Definately need another DB or two... we have some youth that should emerge and grow... but the loss of McKinnley and Wright REALLY hurts.

One receiver from the portal would be good... I don't think we have the scholarships for more than one. The youth is there and is emerging and will become a major strength for Oregon's offense. Though depth may be a concern but there are some receivers who were buried in the depth chart last year but should emerge this year with the departure of Johnson, Redd and Williams.

This will be a good recruiting staff and I expect some nice pick ups in the coming weeks but I just want to remind people that Oregon really doesn't have that many scholarships to work with right now. Last I checked out of our 85 scholarships like 31 we're sophomores. We aren't losing many players this year either so don't expect a top 10 class, barring a ton of 5 star recruits. I would also like to say that recruiting is based on relationships so next year's class will be strong... But don't expect recruits to flip to Oregon because of these hires. They only have a month to build relationships with perspective recruits where their opposition may have been working in these relationships for years. With all that said.... Really looking forward to seeing this recruiting staff work!

Good chance this kid gets to 4 stat level at some point... But more importantly, Lanning knows these relationships are built early and he can't wait for the stars to come in, just recruit because he knows the talent is there.

Seems odd but I would imagine the responsibilities of an analyst are less than those of a coach. Also getting into the P5 ranks with potentially the prospect of getting an on-field position at Oregon at some point?

We've had a few transfers announced already and no one is heading to Miami to date. Pittman was never going to follow Cristobal so lets not even count that one. Jayson Jones went to Auburn, not Miami. DJ James is still in the transfer portal I believe but if Miami was his destination wouldn't he have already declared it if he was even offered a spot by MC? Robby Ashford could end up at Miami but apparently Miami has some decent QB options and lets get real... would he really want to go to Miami to be in a Cristobal inspired offense? He's already seen what it does and he may be a decent fit for it but in truth I see Ashford ending up at a FCS school or a G5 school. I don't see a P5 team picking him up at this point because there are more proven options. We haven't seen anyone else leap into the portal yet. Not saying it wouldn't happen but I doubt we see many leave to follow MC or BMac to Miami. If anyone was going to follow either to Miami I would have expected them to have transferred by now.

There is a difference in playing the season to conclusion and skipping a random one off game. The season is still a body of work and character is still on display. Giving up on your college team that can't make the playoff isn't a good look for when said player is in the NFL and their NFL team isn't going to make the playoff. I would be a top team problem if anything because that's where the biggest stars will be. A middle tier player trying to get recognition at say an Oregon State level school needs all the film and eyeballs possible to get to the next level. Then the biggest thing to change opt outs at any level is for someone's draft stock to take a direct hit due to opting out of a game. Once that happens the opt outs are over. As it stands the NFL doesn't care about players opting out of bowl games. However, I am sure they will care if players opt out partially through a season. As it stands the way to opt out mid season is the transfer portal... And that does come at the cost of a season and potential exposure. We will just have to wait and see where this all goes...