In keeping with our announcement of shifting the site toward more total analysis (including the bad plays to learn from), I offer a brutal assessment of the Oregon football team from Mike Morris (the Grizzled Ol’ Coach). Charles Fischer What I saw: Probably like most of you, the Ducks defense surprised me only in the number of points [not] allowed, and the offense …
(In following with the policies of the University of Oregon Athletic Department, this article will not discuss plays, formations, blitzes, tactics, injuries or anything of a detailed nature before the 2016 football season begins. We will revert back to the days of the old “Fish Reports” where the information was primarily football gossip, yet enjoyed by all. More recent versions …
Charles Fischer asked me to express my thoughts about the Oregon defense and its new coordinator after spring practice. They’re almost all positive. I’ll admit I was not a Brady Hoke fan when he was hired. I wanted an “intellectual”, and I judged Brady Hoke to be a “tough-talking buffoon.” Wrong. Oh, the tough talking part was right — but …
As a retired high school football coach, I had the opportunity on a Thursday night (3-31) to hear Brady Hoke speak at the Oregon Coaches’ Clinic, and the next morning I got to watch my one-and-only practice of the season. I thought I would share what I noted, and what you might want to look for at the Oregon Spring Game. Some …
[A confessional from an old, retired coach. But first a warning to potential readers: There may be nothing in this article about Oregon Duck football. This article is about a SPECIFIC 4-3 defensive system, and the Ducks will be using the 4-3 next season. But the two systems might — probably will — differ a lot. The system Brady Hoke …
The title of this article was taken from the subject of a sentence. Yesterday [2-3], at the Oregon Club Recruiting Luncheon, Mark Helfrich, while eloquently praising and thanking many, uttered the simple 5-word sentence, “Don Pellum is a stud.” The audience responded with their loudest, and warmest, applause of the day. We got it. Well it’s time for me to …
FishDuck.com has gone off an active writing schedule, but the site will remain up so that all the prior articles can be found on the web. We are also open to guest articles from writers such as our beloved Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris. He is sharing some of his knowledge about the 4-3 defense and how the Oregon personnel could fit …
So why hasn’t Mark Helfrich already named Matt Lubick the offensive coordinator? Why is Helfrich making Lubick essentially “audition” for the job? BECAUSE HE CAN. I’ve always admired patience. Decisions are more often made correctly if all the necessary information has been accumulated. Rushes to judgment usually don’t work out so well. Mark Helfrich is showing admirable restraint in naming …
First, the news that everyone already seems to know: Matt Lubick will be the next Oregon offensive coordinator. He wants the opportunity and, as Mark Helfrich well knows, he definitely deserves it. Matt’s first game might be very interesting. The Ducks offensive play caller must match wits with arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football — Gary Patterson of TCU. …
The Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, has been instrumental in so many of us learning the Oregon Offense and Defense in the past four years. His “Skull” sessions with me in the FishDuck.com ManCave are legendary encounters in learning, and he does have some strong views about this team. Sometimes Mike raises more questions for us with his musings, and …
The Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, has made a number of correct predictions about the Oregon football team and many of their players in our “Skull Sessions” at the FishDuck.com ManCave. It was he, who in June, explained the special skills of Vernon Adams that I wrote about this summer and we now see and analyze. The coach was talking about the following …
There’s a big banner at the Ducks’ practice field, that I’m going to have to paraphrase … “To be ordinary, keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. To be great, requires the courage to go against tradition.” This move would require a lot of courage, and I’m well aware it’ll never happen. But since when should reality limit our dreams? My …