David Marsh

I'm fully in the fire Mehringer camp now. These play calls are garbage. Three passing plays with one shot (should have been caught) no attempt to even run the ball. It's bad into bad into bad. That last play was a long shot to convert a third and long.

Never said they were smart with money... Only that they were too eager to spend it.

I think they were going to get outbid no matter what to be honest. LSU boosters will just keep writing checks. But there were plenty of other good linemen in the portal and we didn't seem to pursue them.

And yet... they only brought in one transfer? Turns out we needed at least three transfers to bring some stability to this line.

In fairness to the defense that game... The offense was even more mia. If the defense is on the field for like 2/3rds of the game it's hard for them to hold up. The defense in that game kept the Ducks in it but they couldn't seem to put it all together. But also the defense played poorly. It feels like the defense has settled since then as they also didn't play well that game. But let's also not forget to blame the offense.

This is at the crux of why I believe there need to be some major changes come the end of the season. There are teams with less talent that are doing more with it than we are and that needs to change. Not trying to get into ANOTHER conversion about coaching changes but it feels like that has become the dominate theme this season.

Happy Friday everyone, Here are some of my final thoughts going into the game tomorrow. Sadly the offensive line is still on the list but at least I put an amusing twist on it... Maybe. Final Thoughts Before Oregon v IllinoisAnother week and another game.

I'm ready for new uniforms. These are fine.

I know they do a LOT of cross training for linemen. In theory that means they are more flexible and able to rotate in and out of the lineup. However, I think what is happening here is that the coaches really don't know where some of these guys truly fit in the line. That amount of rotation is probably ok for spring where they are figuring out where guys fit and then the start of fall camp where they narrow down the positions they can play... but by the end of fall camp they need to know who their guys are and that's still not the case half way into the season. The pursuit is to put the best five on the field and maybe that was the case in those early lineups. Maybe those were the best five individuals but they weren't playing in their best roles. In your other post Charles you said that you don't expect Mehringer and Terry to be fired at the end of the season (Edit: I misinterpreted this! sorry). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if that were the case to be honest but maybe they need to change the way they train and prepare their linemen so they can be elite specialists in their positions rather than generalists who are mediocre all throughout the line. They didn't seem to mess with the transfers too much in 2025. They really did just bring in World at left tackle, Harkney at right and Pregnon at left guard as a plug and play group. They took these players and put them where they had already proven their success.

At this point due to my life schedule (and an absolutely awful weekend) I am just moving my featured article to Tuesday. So Marsh Duck Tuesday.... doesn't sound as good as Monday but it's what I can do right now. Pre-Season Concerns Still Haunt the Ducks in Mid OctoberIt’s strange in a season when there are a few concerns during the off season and those become the concerns during the season.

In 2022-23 Lanning did have a line of Cristobal recruits for sure ... But in 2022 I would say he offensive line coach at the time, Adrian Klemm who did have an NFL and extensive CFB background, got more out of the offensive line players than Cristobal ever did. Part of that was scheme but I'm sure part of that was position coaching. Lanning has brought in so many offensive line transfers that they have been able to cover up some of the developmental coaching but not this year. I have moved into the offensive line coaching replacement camp now.

Two thoughts on this... I think that was the logic behind the Mehringer promotion. Mehringer was apart of that original Lanning staff and in a lot of ways has been brought along for this job. I think it has backfired but I think that was the logic. Lanning needs to talk to Bellotti because how he worked with Chip feels like the relationship needed here. Keeping in mind that to make Chip's offense work it did require bringing Allioti in to ensure the defense aligned with the same mission. The defense had to adjust to being on the field longer because the offense either scored lightning fast or was 3 and out fast. Which also changed how the defense acted and reacted to the game situation. If the Ducks were up the defense got more aggressive at trying to force take aways... If the offense was down it was about trying to avoid digging a hole and putting the team more behind. Didn't always work but adjustments in game were always needed.

I think more likely it hasn't gained many new wrinkles or changes in the past few years. I think everyone has seen enough film now to know how this offense works and how to stop it. Or slow it. And it takes more than a wild cat package to make DCs second guess themselves. However, in final drive there was some great coaching. I think it was one of the 4th downs (it could have been a third down) and the Ducks show Davison wildcat. Nebraska didn't have the personnel on the field or aligned correctly so they call a time out. Great play call because either they get the defense on wrong place and convert the down or they force the timeout burning Nebraska's options later in the game. Now that alone doesn't convert that situation. The Ducks came out of the timeout with a DIFFERENT play call and converted. If they came out in the same package that would have been pretty dumb because Nebraska could have adjusted. There is some talent in this coaching staff but is there enough expirence? I don't think so.

I think if either were OC we would have been considerably more comfortable and would have probably won by two scores. But the offensive line play was just an outright liability. They sort of figured some things out in the fourth quarter. But this team has some major fundamental problems.

I do believe that Lanning needs to swing some of his coaching hires to the older and more experienced side of things. He's found some fantastic young guys... Dillingham, Stein, Samples and Douglas. But sometimes a team needs a veteran coach who can out think the opposition. I think Norvell would be a comfortable move for Lanning. I don't see Chip ever returning to Eugene. I know there are loads of OCs out there who would certainly consider Oregon for their next job. Same goes for QB and TE coaches. And offensive line.

Should they have pursued more OL talent from the portal? Absolutely! We all believed that they must have liked the pieces they had and they would be good enough ... That turned out to be wrong. And I'll happily eat my crow and admit I was one of those people saying the offensive line should be fine because in Dan we trust and if he was good with it it must be good.

No we don't turn down a bad bowl game... part of it is because we need to be team players in the B1G. There is revenue coming in from bowl games that gets distributed to all programs. We do get a full share of this revenue (we only get a partial share right now of the media revenue which is different). So even if we are all pissed off and bummed out about our season the Ducks should take whatever bowl we may get into and participate. Granted our roster might be a complete and total mess at that point. And we do this because we are team players in the conference and we do our part.

That's a good one. I keep looking back to 2015 and my first year teaching and just shaking my head because I was so bad compared to where I am today. Sorry 2015 students! Expirence counts for something.

Not every player is ready to play coming out of high school. But in this case it makes you wonder if they weren't coached up enough. Jack Smith a new coach (at least very young) and tight end has regressed this season. Terry has a mounting record against him at this point that he has done well with transfers coming in and done well with special players who seem to figure things out themselves but he has a TON of players on the roster who aren't developed enough to play. I've been hesitant to call for heads in the past but now I have enough evidence from where I sit.

Lanning has absolutely made great hires. I keep going back to the idea here that he has become complacent and comfortable with those within his staff and has not looked outside. He wants to keep the good thing going but with every coach that leaves he promotes a young coach from within is a net loss in experience. I think most of these young guys Lanning has promoted may yet turn into great coaches but is Oregon the place for them to cut their teeth in these expanded position roles? I don't think so. And at the end of the day each of these promotions from within with inexperience has finally hit a critical mass. There is too much inexperience (or lack of ability) to hide anymore and everything is coming undone. It's clear Lanning is upset with this turn of events. He doesn't want to throw his guys under the bus, nor should he, and no one is getting fired until the end of the season. But we saw what an expirenced and veteran staff can do with scheme and the transfer portal.... Indiana built a program quickly and managed to win it all with the right talent. Lanning has made some great hires and he just needs to do that again. One of the popular names right now for Lanning to go get is Norvell as OC (when it seems he is inevitably fired at FSU). That could be a great get for the offense. But Lanning needs to go out and get some experienced coaches from outside the program.

Good news is that he rights the ship in a timely fashion in the off season he reloads the roster with talent from the portal quickly and can be right back in contention next year. Rebuilds are faster than ever. Holding onto key pieces on this roster will be difficult but again communicating to players at least behind closed doors can ensure players stick around.

Oregon has had some pretty good success rates on 4th down under Lanning and if he wants to keep that going he needs an offensive coordinator who can make sure those short yardage situations are effectively a freebie. Anyone remember how frustrating some of those David Shaw teams at Stanford were? Fourth and 2 and here comes the jumbo package and they convert almost every freaking time. Part of that is power and part of that is scheme and part of that is just darn good coaching. I need to dig up the old article I had from 2022 but Dillingham's jumbo package was a thing of beauty. With that package it was almost a guarantee of converting in short yardage situations. Lanning wants to play like he has top tier coaches in the sport and is making decisions with that in mind. The reality is that he doesn't have those coaches. Lanning is the one who is going to need to make those changes to his coaching roster and he will need to own it. If not in public at least with himself. At the end of the day Lanning is ultimately accountable and the fan-bases' trust in him is breaking but I am not saying broken. He will get an opportunity to prove himself in the off season and next season. And yes, I am aware we still have half a season ahead of us still.

I've been saying it since the Ok St loss... but this coaching staff is just too young. When you get down to it a veteran teacher or coach is just going to run circles around a first or second year one. Talent is not an issue, the Ducks are getting out coached. Some Uncomfortable Decisions Are Coming at Season’s EndOregon demolished Portland State 84-0 on Friday night.

Marsh Duck Tuesday? Well I was unable to get to editing the article on Sunday evening so I pushed the publishing date off until today. I also had sword classes on Sunday which was great for my mental health but also made me a bit too tired to want to deal with some of these issues facing the program right now. Anyways I hope you find the article interesting... it wasn't the article I wanted to write and probably not the article you wanted to read this year about the coaching situation but here we are. Trust in Lanning is BreakingThis isn’t the article I wanted to write and this isn’t the article you wanted to read.

The defense has a few things working for them right now. The coaching staff has more longer term coaches and stability. Tuioti has been around for awhile and has a decent history. Hampton has had success as a DC before. And only the edge coach is actually a first year coach at this point. LB and DB coach are young and both were internal hires but they have at least been doing the job for a few years now. More vets on defense... All the defensive line is back and linebackers have two returning starters (though Jackson didn't start last year due to injury). DB has some absolute athletes. Defense is often more reactive than offense so a strong athletic showing can make up for a lot of flaws. Lanning knows defense and has probably stepped in tonight the ship a bit. Offense has 3/5 new line and no one is on the same page. Two new position coaches. An OC with limited past success and a team that just doesn't seem to be on the same page. Special teams has looked decent... Lorig is been with the program since Lanning got here. Kick offs have been a bit suspect but I don't know if that is partially by design or not because against BSU like all the kick offs were out the back of the end zone. Oregon has fantastic athletes and often those athletes keep the Ducks in the game despite the coaching malpractice. Seriously... Oklahoma State was only a loss by 9 points considering just how bad that game played out. UCLA was only a loss by 2 points with the defense on the file for 2/3rds of the game! That's all on the players... The coaching is the problem here.