Haywarduck

I love history, and I love the future even more, Go Ducks!

If you can't handle the truth then go to another program, we deal in truth.

In the end I consider all of them Ducks, transfers in, out all the way to our 9 year Duck TE. We have no idea what these young men are going through in their decisions. I have been critical of Travis Dye, but wow, what a Duck he was and always will be. Also a guy like Colt Lyerla, who really understands fully the deamons he is fighting. They all came to Oregon with amazing dreams, and learned from the experience. We benefited, and for that I am grateful, maybe it is just the season we are in, I don't know. I do know most if not all deserve the benefit of the doubt. It is easy to be the critic, and accept the cheers for our cynicism. It isn't easy to put the effort and risk with one's best effort and fail, well down all our Ducks!

One item we need to focus on is Lanning is putting together his first recruiting class, high school kids along with transfers, and finally able to create his own team. Last year Lanning was holding together both MariØ's team and recruiting class. The next 12 months are going to be extremely exciting as we see what Lanning really wanted on the field and sideline. We are going to see just how good Lannings coaches are at recruiting, developing talent and creating their own culture. This is what we have been waiting for!

I am not so much against the transfer portal as the NIL, as we know it now. The transfer portal finally gives the student athlete a little power over their scholarship. When a coach who has recruited them jumps ship, a student athlete use to be locked into the school they signed on to. A defense or offense could completely change and the athletes skills no longer highlighted, or used. The coach moves on, but the athletes were locked into virtual servitude. The NIL has added another carrot, which is enticing even more student athletes to jump ship, and we now are seeing too many end up, as you said, without a chair when the music stops. I hope we continue to see the transfer portal, but see the student athletes become a little more savvy with their decisions. I suppose, just like the lure of the draft, too many student athletes will be drawn away from finishing what they started, but at least they have a choice. I also am interested in how Lanning turns this MariØ laden team into what he wants on the field. The ratio of transfers outs to transfers in is out of whack, but that will change. This will be one of the more compelling stories going forward. We should have closer to the culture and kind of student athlete Lanning wants soon, maybe not soon enough for most. I suppose I would say the portal isn't destroying college football, it is remaking college football. The portal isn't ruining the Oregon Football Program it is remaking the Oregon Football Program. I will also say with Mark Emmett finally leaving there is a chance, I said a chance, Charlie Baker can provide a little better guidance to programs going forward. Emmert was an undeniable destructive force to the NCAA and student athletes. Maybe Baker can provide some much needed vision and enlightened direction!

Also looks like OSU could have passed on us if we had focused on the run in that melt down loss we had. Beavs 13-19 passing, and running the ball. The beavs are a formidable team, Smith a very good coach.

You did see the recent headline about Leach, right? I do agree one can question his handling of college kids, and safely fall on either side of the fence on the guy. I actually like the guy, even with the occasional questionable judgement issues. He was no Woody Hayes, but no saint either.

Tosu just lost their 5* qb commit, welcome to the wild world of the new card game called high school recruiting with the addition of the wild cards, transfers. Just when you thought you knew what was in the hands of the players, the wild cards add a whole other dimension. With the pot these kids are playing for getting higher, and in the open, unlike when the SEC was the only place where money was fluid, things are only going to get more interesting. I wouldn't want to be on either side of this mess, but Lanning seems to relish it, thankfully.

I think perspective is critical. Dan Lanning has been a head coach for 1 season, that's it. This was like a 5* freshman player taking the reins at both QB and Middle Linebacker, he did pretty well I would say. I am not really going to rate him other than say there are areas of concern, but overall Dan Lanning has shown the foundation a great coach can launch from. My take is Lanning is learning how to run all elements of a football program. The responsibilities of a head coach of elite football are massive. I think a weakness of Lanning was he was too hands off, but that is how an excellent CEO does things. You hire good people, give them a framework within to work, and let them do their thing. Always making the decisions about in game shifts wasn't something Lanning controlled. We saw that happen the last few years, and the offense was stifled. The head coaches shadow was all over the program, and that shadow didn't allow growth. The question I have is can Lanning manage the disfunction within the defensive coaching group? This is where the true test will come from. Can he make the coaching changes needed to bring chaos, instead of the prevent we have seen so far. My bet he has made another great hire at OC and will let him run the show. At defense, can he tweak it enough to give us what we want. As a freshman coach I was thrilled with what I saw, and continue to see. A true winner, which I think Lanning is, gets excited when they see failure, and disfunction. The question is can we trust Lanning to deal with this failure? I give him my complete trust, but expect more failure, and issues as the freshman goes through his sophomore season. I did find this article about how Saban deals with coaches, and takes responsibility interesting. I imagine Lanning deals with in game decisions in a very similar way. Nick Saban not Placing Blame on Coordinators after Crimson Tide's Recent Struggles - Sports Illustrated Alabama Crimson Tide News, Analysis and More WWW.SI.COM The Alabama head coach said each person has to be held accountable for their role, but that the ultimate responsibility falls back on him.

Shocked, really just shocked! The whole thing was so well planned out, how did it go wrong?

Prove yourself and move up is the game in the transfer world. If you don't prove yourself you may get pushed out, also the back story, I would imagine, in many cases. The real game is for programs to figure out which student athletes, are pushed out, and which just want to keep moving up. Which student athletes are uncoachable in a situation where you need coachable athletes. Every player needs to be on the same page, there can't be lone wolves running around. So you try to pick high school kids who haven't been ruined by all the accolades they have received. Too often the elite athletes are full of themselves, and with the NIL money it won't get any better. A good case study would be Texas ATM. All I know is I wouldn't want to be competing in the world of Rivals ratings, transfer pools and NIL money. It has to be a wild wild world for coaches right now. I hope our staff is excited about the opportunity, and good at it. Time will tell, and we might be surprised by the outcome, on the upside, and downside.

Anyone reconsider their take on Leach after all the news out on him? I personally am going to miss the guy and the throwback personalities are fewer and fewer. He did have a good heart, just new it took some tough love sometimes, IMHO.

A lemming jumping off a cliff is the perfect symbol for what UCLA is doing. Lemming don't actually often die when they jump into the water to get to where they are going. They only die when the swimming distance is too far. Joining the BIG is going to be too big of a distance for their student athletes to be expected to traverse. The academics will suffer, but what is new in this new age of opportunistic decisions. Chase after the money at all cost. With the ability to transfer and NIL money it seemed like the student athlete was going to come out ahead. With the decisions of the Universities, and their leadership some of the school aren't thinking in the best interest of the student athletes. Maybe their will be a backlash, it will be interesting to see. I wouldn't want to send my child to a university with travel expectations like those laid out.

The game changers on offense last year were the RB and QB transfers. They came along and showed the offense what was possible. Kind of like they saw a wall, ran through it and everyone else followed them. Every team needs guys like that on the field to show what is possible and inspire the play on the field. On defense we had Gonzo, but he more like jumped over the wall and everyone watched him and said no way I can do that. Gonzo's play was inspirational, but nobody followed him. Nobody on defense was like Troy Dye, playing with an incredible football IQ while inspiring everyone around him. Whether it was playing with a broken arm, or just never stopping on a play, no one wanted to let him down. The question I have is of the culture component. Who can we bring in, or will we bring in who can be the Bo Nix, Troy Dye. I just hope we aren't missing that element again next season. I do think that position may be wide open with the players coming back. We definitely didn't have that on defense as the supposed alpha dog barely barked.

One thing is for sure and troubling. We were sold a high scoring aggressive offense under MariØ, and got the prevent offense, which led to his downfall with the Oregon fans. With Lanning we were sold a Havoc defense, and have a prevent defense that is an emasculated version of what we expected. With MarØ we had the vast majority of fans giving him grace and understanding with the most used excuse, he just needs time. Now we have Coach Lanning giving us the bait and switch with his defense with, again, an understanding fanbase, for the most part. I definitely see a culture Lanning inherited which needs to change. Is this what is holding the defense back. It may also be having the right guys, and we can wait and see if that is it. Some ponder if Tosh is the problem, or maybe a position coach? I suppose we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out. For now there is cause for concern, but the jury is still out on just what is happening with the bait and switch we see happening this time.

Went from 75th to 77th, statistically not significant. I think our defense can be best understood by our 2nd highest rated recruit ever, in the history of the program being a no show. Marios guys didn't always play to their potential. Charles had a great article on the Georgia way of breaking down elite recruits. When you get on campus the fun, accolades are over. I am not sure that type of culture was ever built, and that takes time. Seeing Flowe on the bench late into the season, and then transferring out indicates to me, it has begun. Also leads me to believe if Moore falls for the UCLA story, we don't want him anyway. We need grinders, again!

Chip Kelly is 27-28 while at UCLA. While at Oregon he was 46-7. Dante might want to consider where he wants to end up a little better than Chip did. He might also want to consider why Chip didn't have him come down for a regular league game. An empty stadium isn't a pretty site.

Agree not adjusting to almost certain running attack is something to ponder and to be critical of. I keep coming back to the extremely poor passing defense. If we had changed the defense and weakened the passing D, maybe we would be being critical of allowing an extremely poor passing attack able to successfully pass the ball? What if we had lost because we couldn't stop the pass, which was our history. I think it comes down to the real achilles heal of our defense. We had a first round DB, but the backfield was a liability. Why was our pass defense so poor, and what can be done to create a functional passing defense? Was Dorlus over rated, and what can be done to upgrade the defense? He was suppose to be our alpha dog, dominate defender, but was he ever, can he be next year? What are the critical moves, coaching and player upgrades to create a functional defense. Putting first rounders at D-line and LB would be the simple ask, but not probable. What was wrong with our backfield? Did it come down to you are only as good as your weakest link?

From never having played football college football, to his fascination with pirates, he was a true free spirit who had a large impact on a broad audience. The pirate left the world a better place, and had fun while doing it, a life well lived!

I remember when I blew up a supposed expert, self assured smart guy. I remember his response, and his red face afterwards, 'what do you do, stay in your lane!' I had the desired effect, didn't necessarily want the affect, and just walked away knowing I had done the right thing. You have to pick your fights, and expect repercussions.

Love to hear Lannings unfiltered take, but Charles and Dazed is an interesting take too. Thanks for sharing, the thoughts! My take is Lanning is the opposite of MariØ, the micromanager. Lanning lets his coordinators run the show, and is learning when he needs to step in. He didn't step in and put Nix in the game on that 4th down, nor real in some of the questionable trick plays, use of our back-up. He also didn't step in and run the defense as it failed, enough. The question going forward for me is will he take over when needed, and can he make the needed changes to a dysfunctional coaching group. There are some tough choices, and I think just a little tweak to how he runs the program. I personally don't care how good of a recruiter you are if you can't coach, you shouldn't be on the Oregon staff. The development of men into excellent players, teammates, and civic minded individuals is number one, two and three.

The question will be is he MariØ PriME, or can he coach too? If he can coach he still is a guy who will reach the Peter principle sooner than most. Colorado may just be that stop, but he won't stop moving until he reaches his level of incompetence. Deion is a coach just looking to fail. There are very few Morgan Scalley's who reach a spot where they know they are very good and stay there. After 15 years he is one of the best. If history is any guide he should last about 3 years before he moves on. He did this at the high school level and also at Jackson State. Mario and slick are the latest coaches to leave Oregon and reach their PP level.

I don't disagree with the risk you highlight, but I think there are two kinds of transfers. You have the disgruntled player and the player who wants the better stage to show his skills. It isn't easy to shift out who is in each category, but a Gonzo was, pretty much, a no brainer. I think we have to compete hard in the Gonzo category, and be careful about the Nix category. I will say I think we should bring in a senior type, experienced qb transfer until we have somebody step on the field and show they are ready to lead. The qb position is just too critical. Wasting a scholarship because Moore is ready day one is a risk I would take. That transfer would probably take off the next season anyway, and we would have a reliable back-up for the season. You make a great point about the risks I think few of us considered, thanks.

I would think the qb position would create the opposite argument. Both of our back-ups have done nothing for 2-3 years. Our transfer came in, started, and likely will leave after a productive year. Has giving a full scholarship to a 5* and 4* done anything for the program. The 4* took up massive training time 3 years of scholarship and now has transferred. The 5* has been on scholarship for 2 years may hang on for another, with little to show for his time here. He may go on to another program after all our training. The college game is different from the high school game, and there is no position which shows the risks of committing to a high school kid like the qb position. I would think being able to evaluate a year or two of college ball can be incredibly helpful when committing to the time, and effort it takes to develop, and know if a kid has the college game. I do agree coaches should be careful, but if you can see that a player has hit his peak in high school while on another team, why wouldn't you. Stay away from the time and money needed to get a player ready. Use the transfer portal like triple A in baseball. Call up the players who have proven they can play at the lower levels. You don't bring in high school kids, sit them on the bench and then hope they can play. Make players earn their playing time at other schools. Just like in baseball, there are plenty of kids who look amazing in high school. Once they hit triple A it is evident who was faking it, or couldn't hit the curve. It is going to take a lot of effort to figure who can help a program. The transfer portal just gives you even more data to evaluate.

Nix was our Heisman winner, who cares about the pundits! I wouldn't trade him for any of those guys. Should be interesting to see him matched up against #10 in the bowl game. Nix just kept getting better and better.