Haywarduck

Compare what Noah Sewell needs to do, to most of the others, is an interesting exercise when thinking about what we need out of the players. Noah Sewell has all the talent in the world at the LB position. If anything he needs to slow down and mature mentally in how to play at the college level. He ran past and through too many situations. The talent is there, it will just take coaching and effort which seems pretty attainable. I am actually extremely excited to see what Noah and Justin bring this season, year two of college ball. What we have seen from the skill players on offense is effort, some skill and even some acumen, but the elite talent level just hasn't presented itself. What we need is continued development from that list, but we also need the young guys to break through and show us what Noah has shown on the defensive side of the ball his freshman year. Bottomline the playoffs will happen if most of the guys on that list make leaps in development. Either that, or the young guys start taking snaps, and lead the team to the playoffs with the magnitude of their supposed gifts.

You know your getting older when......... the music of the young pisses you off, and so does the clothes they wear.

Oregon has had the perfect athlete. The competition for the perfect athlete is the decathlon, and Ashton won with the metrics which were created to show who was the best. As far as the perfect coach I'm not sure what the metrics are, or should be. One metric, most would agree on, is winning a NCAA National Title, and Mario hasn't reached that one yet. I will agree he may be the perfect coach for our program. The title, like the one for Altman, will come, if the stars align. For now all we can do is to continue to illuminate all we love, and question about our coaches, programs as we discuss our Beloved Ducks. Great article with lots of work put into the research and thought!

That is what the NCAA Tournament is all about, now. The little guy has a chance to make a run. This is why the NCAA Tournament is so popular. Back in the day the Kamikaze kids didn't even get a chance, when the tournament was just for the few. Now if the dawgs had been able to get in at 10 I would be singing a different song. The beavs getting in at 5 and the trojans, buffs and bruins falling to the wayside was fun to watch. Iron strengthens iron, and having a decent beaver program can only help the Oregon program. I think the Ducks may have even benefited by, again, seeing that if they don't bring it, every game, anybody can beat them.

The other element of the levels concept is to allow anyone in the green level to edit. Instead of one person being responsible, you have a growing number of people who are responsible edit, and like Wiki it is a live document to those who edit. The difference is you have only those who qualify able to edit. I know I work short to long stretches, and it would be easy for me to edit on the go, without a time period I have to be responsible for. The small group of editors doesn't seem like a viable option, maybe look at creating, which you might already have, a group of individuals who know what is right and wrong. You would be trying something completely new, but what you have isn't working. Also the definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, food for thought.

I suppose I am somewhat in Santa Rosa's boat. As a small business owner I don't answer to very many people, my clientele, and if I don't want to they're gone. The method I go by is I only sign up for what is a spelled out, closed ended commitment. Maybe you could spell out exactly the parameters of what you need? There may be more people like me who may be willing to help, but don't want to open up a door which will become a Pandora's Box of issues which aren't there now. This has definitely happened before where the best intentions on both sides added up to a negative sum total. What you have done is an amazing accomplishment. I think the limitations can be overcome, but may need to be spelled out a little more explicitly what you need, or maybe even a more creative way of filtering the posters? Is the job of moderator to pull anything suspect and let you rule on Friday, Saturday when you have time. This may alleviate even more potentially questionable posts as people won't want to even be questioned. This could definitely be a way for newbies to learn. I think most people who have been here for a year or more have seen and experienced your process. Maybe there can even be 'levels of posters'. Those who have been posting for over 1-2? years without a post being edited get freedom to post, the 'green level', and won't get edited until Saturday, when you can review posts. If their posts proves to be political then they go back to potentially having post banned until Saturday when you review all questionable posts, go back to the 'yellow level'. This may be wishful thinking, but it seems it is the newbies who don't get the rules. I do tend to think most people work well with the carrot and stick type of discipline. The carrot is if you post nicely you get to partake in an ongoing forum unlike any other. If you make a mistake you earn your way back on or go away. There might even be a way to have new posters post what they would like to post and earn their way onto the free forum. Just brainstorming, but what you have is worth saving and too many are posting in an enlightening forthright way to punish them for the sins of the few which could earn the right, the 'grey level'.

It does seem the focus fades as too many topics are brought up. Everybody wants to discuss the hot item, that happens every once an a while. The problem is there aren't that many hot topics people want to discuss without the well put together prose. Maybe have a topic the day after a new recruit signs, even if it isn't on the schedule. Seems like people are itching to discuss the very good and the very bad news, but interest wanes when the topic falls in between those parameters. The old format definitely seemed to work. You knew one topic was going to be brought up and many points to ponder were worth responding too. Without the hot topic interest drops when you don't have the magic Fishduck article.

Top NFL passing team used the TE on 40% of their completed passes. The TE caught 25% of the TD's. Oregon the TE caught 25% of their completed passes. The TE caught 40% of the TD's. Travis Dye led all players on TD catches, by the way. Seems to me when Oregon needs a catch, for touchdown, they look to the tight end. Oregon ranked 41st on 3rd down conversion, and might want to look to the TE. The leader in 3rd down conversion Alabama at 59%, Oregon at 43%, a critical stat! LSU went from 6th in 3rd down conversion to 100th, last season. I do think most Oregon fans would trade a couple of the runs up the gut on critical 3rd downs, for a short pass to DJ .

We have more TE's than any other position. It seems to be a priority, look at the numbers, but we don't use them. Kind of a quandary if you ask me. DJ Johnson looked like an absolute matchup nightmare, but then wasn't used. If there is a competition for the biggest unanswered question on offense, it would be why don't we use the TE more as an offensive threat? If we want to break in a qb there is no better way than giving him a big body to throw to. This is the way I feel when I see the TE get a ball thrown his way.

Great question on developing a supporting cast to help our qb's. I think this question can be moved onto the RB and TE positions too. My big question is why is the use of the TE so spotty. If you watch an NFL game the TE is a critical position as an offensive threat. At Oregon we look at the TE as primarily a blocking position. Every once in a while the TE is a threat with the ball, but too often he isn't part of the play. This needs to change with the talent level of our TE's rising and the need for offensive fire power. The TE creates a unique match up nightmare. The TE overpower a DB and should be able to get separation from a LB. My question, why don't we use out TE's more?! This would also lead into what Cristobal loves, a power game and the use of an offensive lineman.

I just want to see a DT from the transfer portal to the Duck roster, please!

A couple people have mentioned Don Pellum. The great thing about Don, as seen in the picture above, is he was a Duck player. That was one of the items which made Ernie Kent so enduring. Having a True Duck on staff is priceless. I applaud Cristobal for putting two Ducks on the staff as analysts and the recent hire of Tony Washington. There is nothing like having staff that has lived the dream, especially Tony, who had one of the classic Duck moments. A true duck isn't made, he is born!

Nothing to see here, not like their head coach just up and left, so he could do nothing. The problem with the dawgs isn't the ship sinking, nor something being broken, the foundation is gone. All signs point to the dawgs being much like when James just up and left, nothing is holding the program together. They went with an assistant as head coach and now lost their best assistant. If history is any guide they will see mediocrity, they'll fire Lake and mediocrity will continue. My prediction, for what it is worth, we hang another 12 on them!

Greatwood and Campbell are the guys who are much better at what they did then given credit for. Most assistant rise up to their level of incompetence, while the great assistant just do their job. Greatwood is one of, if not the greatest when looking through that lens.

Interesting we have Helfrich who was a great assistant, but seems to have pushed beyond his abilities. He would seem to be the perfect guy to step back, and again become a great assistant. The other guy is DeRuyter who also seemed to have stepped beyond his ability level and may stick around a while. I have a tremendous amount of respect for DeRuyter for continuing to give back to the game. I guess you can't fault a guy for wanting to give the head coaching job a shot. It would seem to be a smart move for Helfrich to step back into the game and again use his, quite considerable skills. I do wonder what his thinking is, maybe he just has the bank account, and can stick around for his kids? I also have a lot of respect for the Campbell's and Mirabal's who just do their jobs and do it well. These are the guys who are the backbones of a program.

Who is the best assistant coach at Oregon. I am not talking about how Chip Kelly would arguably be judged as our greatest assistant coach. He was just moving on, up and out. I am talking about the workhorse assistants who do their jobs, without ever angling to become more than what they love to do, and are extremely good at. In the past it could be argued Gary Campbell, my choice, was the greatest assistant of all-time. Some may argue Steve Greatwood was the greatest. He did more with less and allowed all those qb’s and rb’s to thrive. Some may see Nic Aliotti as the ultimate assistant. I wasn’t a big fan during his tenure, but have come to appreciate all he did at Oregon more, and more. This became true as I read and discussed Aliotti on Fishduck. The big question is who is the guy within Cristobal’s staff? Is it Mirabal, or maybe Big Joe? Maybe it is a guy who we really don't appreciate yet, like Nate Costa? The old head coaches like Moorhead and DeRuyter get all the big press. They also have a very large impact, but it is the everyday assistants which really are the foundation of any staff. Who are they and why are they the best? One note is Dana Altman would still be one of the best coaches in college basketball, but Tony Stubblefield is his rock. The greatest basketball assistant coach is without a doubt Tony Stubblefield.

Great article, which highlighted the amount of variables in play throughout college football. Alabama loses a tremendous amount of players so it is really anybody's to win this year. The Heisman race could actually be the subplot for who is the best in college football. Somebody is going to have to lead their team to a championship that isn't a complete frontrunner at the start of the season. I would say DJ has the best chance to win, but it is anyone's trophy, and any programs opportunity to create the next great college football player. Might that program be Oregon, who knows!

His MBA, and business plan was written at Stanford, but the dream started at Hayward, and the U of O.

A good guide, give away the good fortune we have all made. This doesn't have to be money, we all have much to offer. Agree PK has had an amazing impact on so many, far and wide. I mean he use to even give money to the athletic department in Seattle, didn't help there, but not much does.

This has been an advantage Oregon has had, seeing the potential in each athlete. With DAT it was seeing he could be an offensive threat, and being willing to guarantee his a chance at RB. SC saw him as a DB, and had plenty of amazing athletes, no time to see his unique talent. With this, is it Altman seeing a unique talent and thinking about having him for four years? It would also give Altman a talented kid without having to expend a scholarship. I imagine Altman has talked to him, and stated his intent, interest. I hope he gets a shot at TE if he plays football for us. He could easily go two ways and push for the Heisman if he works hard. That is the angle I would push, if you work hard and are successful, we will promote you until the end.

The heat is being turned up on the recruitment. Oregon Basketball offers J.T. Tuimoloau, the Nation's No. 1 Football Prospect by NBC Sports Northwest

I think of Brock Purdy, ISU, qb when I think of somebody with the "it" factor. I could go on, but I enjoyed watching him play and how the game, was a game for him. We have had many qb's like Brock in the past, but we seem to be looking more at the measurables now. I hope Tanner is one of those kids who is magic with the ball in his hands when the whistle blows. I also hope there is a guy on our roster, now, who has this "it" factor. This is a different skill set than being magic when a receiver runs a route during practice.

There isn't a Nike without Hayward Field. PK and Nike went all out to ensure there will be others affected by Track and Field like PK was.

I say these things sometimes to just get people questioning what is going on. The logic of questioning the moves is there. If we have already lost two pro style qb's to the portal, have another who may move down the ladder, why recruit another? I agree he throws a good ball, but we brought in an RPO OC who wants a running qb? One thing is for sure Cristobal can sell, but is it in the best interest of the kid and program. Again asking questions, not saying I know. I definitely don't know, much!

I think Altman is working towards the big award now. The small trophy's have been won, time for the big one! I would imagine he is also proud of his players awards. There is no greater joy than watching your kids win.