While I am known for being a Sunshine-Pumper when it comes to my beloved Ducks, the team of coaching consultants at FishDuck.com are much more grounded and can give a realistic assessment concerning the state of the Oregon football team after one game. Yes, you have seen opinions from sportscasters who are not any better at knowing things than the …
As it is time to reveal my 2016 Oregon football predictions – and the reasoning behind them – I look back to the last two weeks and marvel at how some notable sports journalists got called out here on FishDuck.com. Senior Editor Mike Merrell eviscerated Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports and then skewered Todd McShay of ESPN a few days …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out It’s time for my fourth annual calling out of three teams that I think are overrated. Qver the past three years, I’ve been right on 7 out of my 9 picks. Of course the two times I’ve been wrong, I’ve been very, very wrong (See Ducks, below, for explanation.), so take it to Vegas at your own …
A vast colosseum lies brooding on the banks of a wide lazy trout-filled river. Surrounded by nothing but forest and thick grass, both barely waving in a gentle breeze under azure cloud-dappled skies. Such is the vision of Autzen Stadium from the top of Skinner’s Butte on game day in the fall. A stadium, a field, soldiers marching to battle …
Handicapping the 21st-ranked Ducks’ chances of proving prognosticators wrong. This August, preseason polls have been unkind to Oregon compared to recent years, with the Ducks ranked No. 24 in the first Associated Press poll and No. 21 by Sports Illustrated. In 2015, by comparison, the Ducks were ranked No. 7 by the AP going into the season, and in 2014 were ranked …
Twenty-one Power Five coaches won nine regular season games in 2015. Nineteen of those coaches are back with the same school this season. Of the two coaches not returning, one is Art Briles, formerly of Baylor, who was fired not for how his team’s on-field performance, but rather his team’s horrifying behavior off of it. The other nine-win coach who …
This isn’t a case of man love, but you’ve got to admit that ESPN’s Todd McShay is one handsome dude. That suit he’s wearing had to cost more than my entire clothing budget for the century so far. McShay is a former college quarterback. It was at the University of Richmond where he served on the scout team before a …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out In Mark Helfrich’s short tenure as the Ducks head football coach he’s taken a team to the national championship game, developed a Heisman winner and turned a dismal 3-3 start into a 9-3 regular season finish. Yet who gets the kudos as top Pac-12 coaches? Stanford’s David Shaw you can understand. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham? Well, he’s done …
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out As reported by ESPN at the recent Pac-12 Media Days, Washington coach Chris Petersen turned the tables and begged the dogs — to not get their expectations up too high. It’s not false modesty. It’s an honest assessment from the one insider who knows the Huskies best. Petersen also knows that man’s level of satisfaction relates highly …
ALERT: The following quotes by Defensive Coordinator Brady Hoke are NOT accurate. He stated a very polite version of what you will read, and I dramatized it to make a point. (I am known for drama … but I always back it up as you will see) Coach Hoke cleared his throat and eyed the 60-70 high school football coaches …
In a recent article, Charles Fischer laid out his observations and visions for the new Oregon defense. One of his insightful takeaways was that, under Brady Hoke, we can expect to see more turnovers and shorter opponent drives. These insights inspired this article, which projects how the Oregon offense will benefit from longer time of possession TOP) and an improved turnover …
The anticipation of the ShrineDog Awards always makes me happy. If you’re not familiar with this FishDuck.com original award, you may get a better explanation from the first ShrineDogs article here. Another signing period is over, so that requires me to evaluate and analyze the talent that pledged for the next three to four years to their university of choice. Of …
