The Spread Offense: The Oregon, Urban Meyer Connection

Noah Smith Analysis

On January 12th, do not be surprised if you feel like you’re seeing double. Urban Meyer’s love of the spread option offense has been widely documented ever since his days at Bowling Green and then at Florida. Some people even claim that Meyer invented the read option play that we love to watch our Ducks run (Rich Rodriguez would dispute that claim). Regardless of who invented it, Meyer …

The Art of the Oregon Long Snappers

Jordan Ingram Analysis

Oregon doesn’t use its long snappers — true freshman Tanner Carew and redshirt freshman Connor Johnson — as much as other teams in college football use theirs. The long snapper is a specialist center, a hired cannon that is accepted as its own skill position within special teams. It is a job that requires repetition above anything else, and dedication of countless hours to develop muscle memory, form, …

The Art and Science of the Blitz — Boundary Pressure from Florida State

Alex Kirby Analysis

Note from Principal: Instead of the usual analysis I provide, I felt that Coach/Analyst Alex Kirby did a superb job explaining a blitz strategy never covered on FishDuck.com before, and would be something to watch for against Florida State. Enjoy learning as I did! Charles Fischer ————————————————————————————- There’s an oft-repeated maxim, especially among today’s football color commentators, that says, “Blitzing …

Oregon Defensive Line Secrets: Stopping the Run

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

Oregon’s defensive performance against Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship ranks as one of the best ever at Oregon for a game of such importance. The majority of the credit goes to the Duck defensive line which shut down the inside running game of Arizona using techniques that we have barely covered before at FishDuck.com. Let’s take a look at the …

Casey Matthews and the Road to Redemption

Joe Kearns Analysis

Time heals all wounds. That and good coaching. Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s decision to hire Chip Kelly as his team’s head coach was a blessing for linebacker Casey Matthews, one of Kelly’s former Oregon players who had struggled in limited game day action during his first two NFL seasons. Despite Matthews’s struggles in his early professional career, Kelly had …

Past Play Reappears: Oregon’s Mid-Line Zone Read!

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

Head Coach Mark Helfrich has brought new life to older plays in the Oregon playbook, but few are as odd as the Mid-Line Zone Read play. It seems to violate what we have learned about the Zone Read at Oregon, and it is a play that we rarely see. Readers of these Tuesday analyses are becoming as amused as I …

Coaches are Buzzing: Oregon’s Wildcat Power Zone Read!

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

The coaches and fans are buzzing about Oregon’s new play unveiled against Oregon State last Saturday night. I was on the phone with one coach that evening and with three coaches the next morning from across the nation as we were all fascinated with Oregon’s new Wildcat Power Zone Read. Now that is a mouthful, but the good news is …

Weapon in the Trenches: The Center in Chip Kelly’s Offense

Joe Kearns Analysis

When people talk about Chip Kelly’s offense, one of the most common buzz words they use is mobility. Although mobility helps running back LeSean McCoy burst through the line of scrimmage or receiver Jeremy Maclin get wide open, it is arguably more important for the offensive linemen who keep defenses out of the backfield. Kelly has been fortunate to have …

Chip Kelly’s Amazing Special Teams

Joe Kearns Analysis

Fans will not find football players listed on official rosters as gunners, wings or kick return blockers, but Chip Kelly went out of his way to ensure the Philadelphia Eagles have quality players at those positions. Newcomers Chris Maragos, Bryan Braman, Trey Burton and Darren Sproles are just a few of the players behind the transformation of the Eagles’ special teams …

Three Elements of Success in College Football That Nobody Talks About

Alex Kirby Analysis

Athletic directors at major schools all over the country are paid handsomely to know what makes a great college football coach, yet time and time again we see coaches fail — sometimes spectacularly — to bring success and a winning attitude to campus. So what’s the answer? Is it recruiting ability, X’s and O’s, enthusiasm, or something else? Some coaches …

Chip Kelly’s No-Huddle: A Growing Staple for NFL Offenses?

Joe Kearns Analysis

A pickup basketball game between the football coaches of the University of New Hampshire and Brown University in the 1990s was the first of many meetings between two future NFL head coaches. Then-New Hampshire running backs coach Chip Kelly and a Brown assistant coach named Bill O’Brien exchanged ideas about X’s and O’s on the first of many occasions. O’Brien was …

How the Oregon Spread Offense Confuses Defenses with the Load-Right

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck Analysis

Conditioning. Tempo. Team Speed. Everyone knows of these components that the Oregon Spread Offense attacks the defenses with, and it is assumed that process can be confusing for defenses in lining up during the haste before the play begins. What about the other elements of the attack that create confusion? Today we look at how one facet of the Oregon Football …